Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite
theverge.com
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Kindle software is software made by people who hate reading. If you want an ereader, get literally any other device. Don't support Amazon's disdain for the market it has a stranglehold on.
The Nook has had the colour-temperature changing feature for a few years now. I have two devices with that feature.
When using Kobo's kepub format, you basically get a modern Webkit renderer. (Note that regular epubs trigger the much worse ADE renderer.) It's a pity you have to use their kepub format, but fortunately kepub is just epub with some extra HTML. I've been hoping for years that Kobo will get its act together and enable their good Webkit renderer for plain epubs so we can stop having to make kepubs, but that hasn't happened yet.
Additionally I believe you can install other software like koreader on Kobos, so if you don't like Kobo's own software you have options, unlike Kindle.
Literally set and forget. Install plugin, get kepubs always.
I imagine there's probably some sort of Sales Executive over at Rakuten that thinks keeping an inferior rendering engine present on the device is just enough incentive for the average user to do as much of their shopping as they can within the Kobo ecosystem.
A bit big for an eReader perhaps (10") but supports Epub and PDF, is a fairly open platform with lots of community activity and they are about to add the ability to sync with cloud services which I think will enhance its usability.
Not to mention the ability to take notes with a pen.
Or there are three similar Onyx Boox products.
The Boox has many different models so specifying a price without a model wouldn't make sense, so I assume you were referring to the RM2.
The RM2 is US$400, which is expensive compared to e-readers, but is not $800. And BTW, yes, it is annoying how USD are just assumed, but that is our reality for better or worse (and I'm not an American).
There are a bunch of little things that would improve the epub experience, like improved navigation and bookmarks (never really made use of these on my Kindle though). The biggest missing feature IMO as a Kindle replacement is the lack of builtin lighting.
Rarely ever had a problem with that, it's just one additional step with emailing your kindle address with the book.
Worked for me really well, it's great at bulk conversions. and I used to charge it on my desk anyways, so it wasn't much of a hassle to remember to sync.
[1] https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/generated/en/ebook-convert....
That alone is sufficient reason never to use one.
I personally don't want a list of all the "subversive literature" I read nicely compiled for corporations and government to exploit, fuck that 100x.
You don't even need a threat to desire privacy. It's a human right.
> I personally don't want a list of all the "subversive literature" I read nicely compiled for corporations and government to exploit
Not wanting your literature choices under surveillance is a common type of privacy that many people, myself included, desire.
The library knows which books you checked out, and the book store knows which books you've bought. Is this really that much different?
> subversive literature
Many books I read were on a list (as in, jail for possession) less than 40 years ago where I live.
> nicely compiled for corporations
It's literally the explicit purpose of collecting this data.
> and government
Yes, there's no way a government could ever exploit detailed data about their citizen's behaviour, inclinations, political opinions, etc.
Are you "paranoid about catching gonorrhea" if you decide to wear a condom? :-)
(1) Never connect the device to the Internet. There's really no reason to.
(2) Use KFX Output in Calibre, blocking access to the Amazon servers. This is a bit of a hassle but it is doable. Especially since books take hours to read, so you're really only doing the work for a few minutes to get hours of spy-free enjoyment.
It works great for my purposes.
https://www.pine64.org/pinenote/
https://www.pine64.org/2021/08/15/introducing-the-pinenote/
I purchased the original B&N Nook (e-ink) and later one with the front-lit screen. The low price and ability to side-load epubs were the deciding factors, along with there being no freedom respecting alternative. But, later discovered that Nook too phones home with all your reading habits including side loaded content. I rooted both of them (the Nook runs Android), and installed a firewall to block all comm with B&N, and just side-load everything. Acceptable hardware, but the software on the newer models is a dumpster fire (crashes unless you restart device after every few hundred pages read, loses track of what page you were on, have to navigate more screens to do most common tasks, terrible to navigate to book if more than a few loaded onto the device, etc.)-- the original version's software was better in all respects, but still lacking for managing more than a few titles loaded onto the device at once.
(edited to make links clickable)
This attitude by the designers shows fundamental cluelessness.
They just began offering a more commercial (supported) experience on some devices if you pay a little more. But, historically, if you purchased a Pine64 device there was no expectation of support beyond a 15 day hardware warranty.
They also want to emphasize the difference between the part of the org that sells stuff, and the main org. All commerce takes place on pine64.com. Everything else (forums, wiki, etc.) is on pine64.org.
Basically freedom loving hobbyists building stuff and getting it into the hands of other freedom loving hobbyists. And, if it weren't for that second part, none of their devices would be usable. They rely on the community to develop the software for their devices.
Not for everyone. But, a worthwhile trade off for some of us.
Commercial products leave out the SD card 1) to encourage you to pay for their own services for purchases, rather than plopping some videos/mp3s/ebooks on a SD card, and 2) so they can price discriminate by offering less storage on some models. Pine64 doesn't have that excuse.
Lots of hackers all around the world don't make anywhere near the incomes of e.g., SV developers. So, this is more, "Lets keep the price down to make the community as large and inclusive as we can." The projected price point of the e-reader is, unfortunately, already too high for many.
I wonder if all the mentioned issues can be fixed by using koreader.
The Kobo Libra H2O had an extremely inconsistent backlight that was blue on one side, yellow on the other. The Kobo Clara HD had no landscape mode (why?), and some ghosting issues. I've heard reviews say the Kobo Forma has a barely-functional power button. On top of all this, the build quality just feels cheaper and more plasticky than the Kindle.
I really hope someone makes a better e-reader soon so I can stop supporting Amazon and their ecosystem.
And how is boox. I've been looking for an ereader with a very big screen and haven't found a decent one yet, but the boox might be the one. Is the drawing any good?
Here's the link I followed to set up cloud sync for reading positions/notes/bookmarks:
https://raymondlamsk.blogspot.com/2018/03/moon-reader-how-to...
Calibre is a very useful piece of software regardless of what ereader you end up with, and there's this feature request about syncing back to calibre too but I haven't personally explored it. https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/3814
One annoying thing I sometimes run into is that if you keep wifi off, you'll have to remember to turn it to sync. But that's understandable.
Drawing is very good in my experience, though I haven't tried the reMarkable or the Kobo Ellipsa. Maybe I just got used to it really quickly but it doesn't lag enough for me to actually notice when I'm writing on it, and hasn't slowed down at all since I got it.
An audio player that played proprietary files by exactly one record company would be obvious bullshit.
Somehow publishing has allowed itself to be squeezed into the e-reader equivalent. The result is a predictable lack of quality in both hardware and software - never mind consumer choice and delivery options.
Yes, you can dislike the Kindle, but to say it's a bad e-reader is like saying a bicycle is a bad car.
All I can tell about it is that it’s a mediocre reader and that’s it. I don't upgrade it to any other reader because it just works, so I’m going to keep it till it won’t.
The only reason why I've stuck with a Kindle paperwhite is because there's nothing out there that is as readable under so many conditions in that form factor. OLED/LED displays are garbage at the beach and weigh a ton. Similar displays (Kobo, Onyx) are bulky and heavier. The paperwhite is perfect hardware. It's just the ecosystem that eats ass.
Creating collections directly on the kindle is a soul breaking experience. And it can't be done from Calibre without a jailbreak.
I didn't find one redeeming quality, and I'm one of ~those~ people who hate using icons, enjoying words better for interfaces that change so frequently.
Rename extension as txt, then use the send to kindle tool.
I have used it a couple of times (50MB limit though)
This sounds just about right. How many people read books these days? And of those that do, how many use a Kindle. And of those, how many are the kind to explore other devices and think about user experience? Of those, how many work at decision making roles at Amazon?
With the bad reputation that Amazon has, none of the good developers that I know who also read, want to work there. And even if they do want to, most devs would prefer the AWS team. In India at least, the Kindle team is supposed to be very toxic. I had a chance to interview with them 6 years ago and while the idea seemed super tempting, I'm glad I passed on the opportunity because I'd just joined another company and didn't want to leave the moment I'd joined.
Sadly, Amazon's latest UI change goes against everything that was great with the earliest Kindle designs as well. I'm never buying a Kindle again. I want to get the Boox Max 3 or the Remarkable 2, if I can somehow get these in India.
I feel like kindle have two kinds of users:
- Orthodox user: only buy amazon books
- Unorthodox user: sideload books because doesn’t agree with drm or any other valid reason.
Ways in which amazon mess with unorthodox users:
- you can only sync using mobi and now you have a completely crippled book with horrible formatting;
- you have an almost good enough formatting with azw3 + calibre css kung fu but now you don’t have sync;
- want to see the cover on your sideloaded book? You need to either use it offline or use calibre workaround disconnecting the usb and reconnecting after sideloading it.
- Want to jailbreak your device? if you’re on the newest firmware you’re absolutely out of luck
So, if you’re an unorthodox user, do yourself a favor and buy any other brand of ereader. God knows whatelse amazon will do to nudge us into their walled garden on the years to come.
Other brands of e-readers don't have sync for any format of side loaded books.
- want to see the cover on your sideloaded book? You need to either use it offline or use calibre workaround disconnecting the usb and reconnecting after sideloading it.
Don't use AZW3, instead make your books KFX with the correct amazon id and you won't have to worry about covers.
So, if you’re an unorthodox user, do yourself a favor and buy any other brand of ereader. God knows whatelse amazon will do to nudge us into their walled garden on the years to come
Amazon does suck, but the Kindle hardware is the best in the business.
Kobo has some nice software features, but their hardware kinda stinks. The Forma and the Libra H20 both have terrible lighting with a giant dark band on one side.
The Nook is a joke that Barnes and Noble stopped caring about years ago.
Boox violates the GPL by refusing to publish their kernel sources. I'm unsure of the hardware quality because I've never know anyone who's had one.
If only they could ship to Indonesia...
I really don't like Amazon though, so it's been a hard justification. Kindle is the only thing left I use that is Amazon.
I've thought about switching to Kobo, but I'm not sure it's worth it with how easy everything is on the Kindle.
I run a docker container with Calibre, and I use it to send all my books to the Kindle over e-mail. I would lose that functionality on the Kobo. I'd have to go back to manually syncing which would be a pain.
In my experience thin bezels are a liability in an e-reader. The thin bezel means I often accidentally touch the screen and it advances (or goes back) to another page.
It doesn't help that Amazon insists on marketing them "based on a half hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13". This doesn't align with my reading habits, so there's always a bit of subliminal disappointment at misleading-promises.
Anyone who used the previous Paperwhite version have thoughts on the tradeoffs of this versus the most basic version or an Ipad? I read a lot and might use something like an Ipad for netflix but I basically perpetually have my laptop with me anyways (just don't enjoy reading on it as I like something I can slip in my back pocket).
The problem as always is not being able to quickly navigate around a book. Not a huge problem for linear fiction but for anything else, even more complex fiction (I'm currently reading The Divine Comedy), it's really annoying when you want to jump forward and back through the text. End notes are getting better with links that open up an overlay on the page but if I want to reference a previous section of the book I have to figure out where that section is and how to get there, sometimes using the search function -- all of this means I rarely bother.
I have a book light that was too bright so I wrapped a few layers of masking tape over it to make it much dimmer and warmer. I'm going to start using that with physical books I think.
I'm on a 6yr old Paperwhite Kindle still, still have another 9yr old one that works too (these things last forever).
The new one felt like instant page turns to me and I like that the screen isn't inset, but there is something weird about the screen that I don't care for, so I went back to the Keyboard.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/09/amazon-announces-new...
Anyways, despite the new model I'm still fairly happy with my purchase. I don't read a lot (in fact I bought the Kindle just to use it while on a vacation), but I have to admit that epaper in general is something I never had the need to use - until I tried the Kindle.
The software still sucks though, but that will probably not change with an upgraded HW release :)
As other people mentioned here, Amazon is really locking in their users on formats that are beneficial to them only - but for its price I guess that these kind of limitations are okay-ish
I've been ok reading my Mannings books on it, and I love my selection of Prime books. Will give current device to my son.
It's not going to be as simple as a Kindle but for anyone who understands what sideloading is (books or apps), I strongly recommend it. There's are larger screen p78 (7.8") and p10 (10") as well. And if you care about having stricter quality control and are willing to pay, Boox products also an option. Boox also run android.
After I jailbroke my kindle keyboard and then my kobo glo hd, there's no way I could ever go back to limited reading formats. The most useful app in each situation is KoReader.
KoReader runs on Android and so before you decide on a ereader, try our that software and see if it's something you want to live without. It supports "(PDF, DjVu, CBT, CBZ) and reflowable e-book formats (EPUB, FB2, Mobi, DOC, CHM, TXT)" and runs on Kindle with jailbreak, Kobo without Jailbreak, Remarkable, and android so Likebooks and Boox.
And Calibre is the useful regardless od what ereader you have, it's even great for iOS.
Kobo has dropbox sync and Android has a native app as well as apps like foldersync to do native syncing.
If you're okay spending a little time setting things up how you like them, Kindle is the least competitive device on the market in terms of features.
Its overall dimensions are 0.3" taller and 0.3" wider than the current Paperwhite. At that size it will no longer fit in my pockets (my current one just barely fit), and thus will no longer be convenient to use, meaning it's worthless to me.
I never used my Paperwhite and though, "Gee, I wish the screen was bigger." I guess I'm not their target audience. I like to read wherever I go, and that means being able to take my Kindle wherever I go.
I wish Amazon kept it small, I need a new eReader and was holding out for Amazon's update, but now I am going to have to look elsewhere.
Of course it doesn't have to be either/or, but I suspect a lot of older people would be very happy to have larger readers.
I also suspect the margins on these readers are insane.
I wish companies would start getting challenged on this. It is NOT water PROOF. It's water RESISTANT.
Literally no electronic device is perfectly waterproof.
Very old kindles had a headphone jack. This was also always a nice thing to have.
The tactile feedback from buttons compared to the terrible touchscreen of the Oasis was such a disappointment that it made me read less books on the Kindle platform.
Have been using Kindles since the DXG, which I still have.
Thinking about it, usb-c cable and faster ui are valuable. Larger screen, probably not a big deal.
Unfortunately because Amazon has little to no competition in the space and offers no choice, you cannot vote with your wallet as it were.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindle-Oasis-now-with-adjusta...
what's the advantage of a new device? somebody convince me.
For what it’s worth, the variance in behavior between USB-C cables is so large I almost prefer micro at this point.
> For what it’s worth, the variance in behavior between
> USB-C cables is so large I almost prefer micro at this point.
USB-C's greatest asset, that it is becoming truly a universal cable, is also kind of a problem--but probably less of a problem than the one it solves.