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Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

reuters.com

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Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#91

Post by neves »

fodkodrasz wrote: post #10
onidj wrote: post #5

Having used an early kindle and a recent kindle, they are incredibly similar. One of the main innovations of the new models appears to be adverts you have to pay to get rid of.

Also gradually phasing out support of formats like mobi, in such subtle ways that if you open a mobi file you cannot go back to the library, but have to cold-reboot your device... My current kindle is my third one, and is the last. I will never ever pay for a kindle to Amazon, due to its user hostility. Oh, and also you cannot move ebooks between accounts, even not with a lot of friction, eg. support tickets, which w…

It's what I hate the most: I can't lend a book to my wife to talk about it.

Just US and UK have family accounts.

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#92

Post by neves »

bwilliams wrote: post #71
WithinReason wrote: post #22

Just got an xteink x4 and flashed crosspoint on it, I've been tuning fonts by modifying the font generator and now it renders great. https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4

Same. It’s the best ebook experience I’ve had so far despite its size and I’ve tried a myriad of ereaders. The only missing feature is a backlight for reading at night.

Back light is a necessity for couples or places with bad light. It is one the greatest Kindle features of all time.

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#93

Post by paulcole »

A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #34

Amazon's attitude towards its Kindle device customers is one of lofty disregard. Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc. But they appear to exult in dashing the hopes of their customers, or at the very least they don't care about them at all. They've doubled down on no-key devices with stupid pens, pointless and p…

> Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc.

WWII fighter plane with red spots on it dot gif.

The vast majority of people who buy Kindles simply read books on them and don’t repeatedly cry online about features that are never coming back.

I’ve bought about 10 of the things dating back to 2012 either because I wanted to have the latest model or because I wanted to give one as a gift. They are all amazing devices.

I’ve never thought, “boy I better go online and complain about this one.” I’ve just been too busy buying and reading books on them!

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#94

Post by rahimnathwani »

WithinReason wrote: post #22

Just got an xteink x4 and flashed crosspoint on it, I've been tuning fonts by modifying the font generator and now it renders great. https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4

Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't see the appeal of reading on an eink device that's smaller than my phone, which I'm always carrying. Maybe if I'm reading outside in sunlight rather than in bed? Or if I'm worried about getting distracted by a FB/X notification?

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#95

Post by rahimnathwani »

lagrange77 wrote: post #45
Weryj wrote: post #15

If only there was a way to download e-books and upload them to a Kindle with Calibre.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but there is! I've jailbroken my Kindle Scribe and installed coreader and feed it my Calibre library and its awesome. Oh and i kept it in airplane mode from the first day, which is important so it doesnt self update and break the jailbreak.

s/coreader/KOReader/g

Voice input or autocorrect?

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#96

Post by oddeyed »

neves wrote: post #89

Does anyone has experience with Android e-ink ebook readers? Are they worth it? Brazilian Government just released a great public library of e-books: https://meclivros.mec.gov.br/ An Android e-ink reader would be perfect for it. And I'd use kindle app to read my kindle ebooks. But I don't really see people using them.

I bought a second hand Meebook M6 on ebay. At least, it was listed as second hand but seemed to be fresh out of the box when it arrived. I completely love it.

For actually reading ebooks, I'm using Koreader instead of the built-in reader because I find the UI a bit easier to get my head around. I mostly use it for PDFs related to classroom learning, but have the odd epub knocking around from project gutenburg etc.

It has Google Play support, so I can use the Libby app to access my local library's ebook collection (including offline access to travel guides - so useful). I also use the Sefaria app to read Hebrew scripture (also supports offline). These apps tend to use the battery faster than Koreader and having scrolling controls instead of page-turning controls is a bit of a pain, but quite manageable.

I haven't tried the Kindle app, but I'm sure it would work fine.

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#97

Post by devilbunny »

rando1234 wrote: post #74
kyranjamie wrote: post #9

My 14 year old Kindle functions so perfectly I've no desire to upgrade. This is exactly why KOReader and all the jailbreaks exist.

So it will be possible to jailbreak it and upload my own files still?

Yes. And you can sideload without jailbreaking.

They aren’t bricking the devices, they are making them not work with the Amazon store and library features anymore. My Kindle Keyboard (3rd generation device) still works perfectly well with sideloaded books. It’s jailbroken and runs KOReader, which lets you read ePub directly.

It’s easier to read things on my Kindle Keyboard than on my original iPad.

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#98

Post by Insanity »

__rito__ wrote: post #77

I will just stick with Kindles. Indian heat and humidity make a Kindle unusable in 7-8 years, unless you have a 100% AC life. Kindles last a month on a charge or two. It's very light. It's affordable. It doesn’t show colors, but I have an android tab to read papers and technical content, anyway. I tried looking at alternatives, but low price + extreme power efficiency + being able to sideload books is just great.

There is a Kindle Color. Haven’t used that yet either.

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#99

Post by Insanity »

paulcole wrote: post #93
A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #34

Amazon's attitude towards its Kindle device customers is one of lofty disregard. Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc. But they appear to exult in dashing the hopes of their customers, or at the very least they don't care about them at all. They've doubled down on no-key devices with stupid pens, pointless and p…

> Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc. WWII fighter plane with red spots on it dot gif. The vast majority of people who buy Kindles simply read books on them and don’t repeatedly cry online about features that are never coming back. I’ve bought about 10 of the things dating back to 2012 either because I wanted…

+1. It seems like there is just a vocal minority who complain about the missing HW buttons etc.

I’m sure Amazon has enough actual customer data to make their product decisions based on what moves the most volume.

Re: Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers

#100

Post by devilbunny »

literalAardvark wrote: post #44
kuboble wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can and will still use mine to read files. What is discontinued is integration with Amazon account. Which seems fair to me to be fair.

It'd be fair if they unlocked them.

The device isn’t locked, and you can continue to read anything on it. You just can’t put new things on it directly from Amazon via its built-in interface.

An original-model Kindle has more of its original functionality than an original-model iPad.

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