Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 226 posts

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#71

Post by syntaxing »

wiether wrote: post #34

I hear the complaints about Kindle but... How are we supposed to do? In three "taps" I buy a book and 10s later I start reading it. Legally. The device just works. The alternatives? Libraries here (France) have a very limited offer of ebooks. Even for ebooks in English. I owned a Kobo circa 2013 and it was awful. I tried friend's devices more recently, and it's not the UX I expect from a "book". A simple comparison;…

Uhh what? There’s like four tabs for the Kobo interface, one specifically for books. You literally just click the book you want to read…Not sure what more you want from an ereader or how much easier it can get.

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#72

Post by [deleted] »

Uvix wrote: post #55
42772827 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can still download books you paid a license to Amazon for, you just have to use a Wi-Fi or 4G LTE-enabled Kindle to do it.

Assuming that you have Wi-fi and that your Kindle is compatible with it. Someone with a hardwired-only connection, an older Kindle that doesn't support Wi-fi at all, or one that doesn't support WPA3 will be stymied. (The models that don't support Wi-fi at all originally had cellular service for wirelessly downloading books, but that was sunset a few years ago. So there will be literally no way to copy new books to th…

[deleted]

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#73

Post by 42772827 »

goosedragons wrote: post #53
42772827 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can still download books you paid a license to Amazon for, you just have to use a Wi-Fi or 4G LTE-enabled Kindle to do it.

Which may or may not be possible. For 2G Kindles like the Kindle 2 there is no more 2G service and there is no Wifi. Download and Transfer was the only remaining way to load books on from Amazon without ironically removing the DRM.

Accurate info, edited my comment to specify.

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#75

Post by t-writescode »

syntaxing wrote: post #70

I don’t really get the Kindle hype. Kobo is a vastly better experience and the unlimited plans are more affordable. Kobo is $8 a month, $10 for books and audiobooks. Kindle is $12 flat. Kobo has g drive and Dropbox integration. Also the e-readers use the same screens (minus the “colorsoft” which is still a e-ink product).

Marketing, first mover advantage, brand recognition, entrenched userbase, ubiquitous company name.

People use Kindles because they’re the easiest to find, most well known, integrated with one of the most popular online shps on the planet that also encourages easy publishing, were one of the first, used to “just work”, don’t need to be changed, already have their books on there, and so on.

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#76

Post by tormeh »

poisonborz wrote: post #3

Bad, but anyone sideloading would skip Kindles anyway for a long time now for much better products.

The Pocketbook Era Color is the best e-reader right now if you don't care about stores. Or at least it was the best device out there when I was in the market for a reader.

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#77

Post by EA-3167 »

addicted wrote: post #62

I’m not sure why anyone buys Kindles when there are so many better options available. I bought a Kobo Clara years ago, and it supports regular MOBI and ePub files. My book purchases are no longer liked with the reader and I’ve never had a problem in all these years. And this wasn’t even the best or best value for money device I could have bought. Today there are so many other better alternatives in all price points a…

I couldn't agree more. I use a Boox e-reader, and I had no interest in using the Kindle app, so stripping the DRM (on books I'd purchased, for my own use only) was a selling point. Without that I'm just moving my business over to Kobo, Calibre + a plugin and there's no DRM issue.

I won't pretend to know if there are enough people like us to impact Amazon's calculus, but I hope there are.

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#78

Post by josteink »

syntaxing wrote: post #70

I don’t really get the Kindle hype. Kobo is a vastly better experience and the unlimited plans are more affordable. Kobo is $8 a month, $10 for books and audiobooks. Kindle is $12 flat. Kobo has g drive and Dropbox integration. Also the e-readers use the same screens (minus the “colorsoft” which is still a e-ink product).

Uh. My Kindle cost me $100 like 8-10 years ago and has literally zero running costs.

What are these figures you are mentioning?

If a Kobo means a monthly fee, I swear I’ll never even consider getting one.

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#79

Post by poisonborz »

loeg wrote: post #22
poisonborz wrote: post #3

Bad, but anyone sideloading would skip Kindles anyway for a long time now for much better products.

I use a Kindle and pretty much exclusively sideload. The display and form factor are fantastic. Battery life is very good. Last time I was in the market (late 2021), nothing else was as good.

I think the value of Kindles lies in Amazon's ecosystem. Hardware-wise I think most competitors catched up. Kobos especially are great, and have a much more open software platform.

Re: Kindle is removing download and transfer option on Feb 26th

#80

Post by poisonborz »

permo-w wrote: post #29
marklar423 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kobo is definitely superior to Kindle in my book. The hardware is great and it's completely open to sideloading and even modding (it runs Linux under the hood). I can't speak to their digital bookstore but they integrate with Overdrive for library borrowing.

besides books, which you can sideload very simply with kindle, what do you need to sideload to your e-reader

Better reading software. KOReader is fantastic (also on Kindle, if you jailbreak).
Post reply on HN