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Comment by paranoidrobot | Hacker News Reader

It's trading customisation/flexibility for ease of use, at a (potentially) higher cost.

The older kindles with 2G/3G "Whispersync" functionality had another major drawcard of working just about anywhere, even if you didn't have wifi coverage or a phone with data services. I have in the past used this to load several more books while in an airport in a foreign country between flights.

Many people if you hand them a Kindle can easily navigate the store and buy a book.

Without that built-in store, then they're now going to have a bunch more hurdles: they need a computer, internet access (or an offline store), the skill and ability to run and use Calibre, the knowledge of where to get eBooks from, how to get them in the right format (or convert them), etc.

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The Kobo Store is really easy to use - plus Overdrive (library ebook software) is natively integrated into Kobo as well.

It’s basically equivalent to Amazon and when you purchase from Kobo (or check out from local library) it shows up automatically when you sync via wifi.

They’ll even price match Amazon (credit for difference in cost +10% bonus) just by filling out a form.

Kobo doesn't have wireless sync for third party book. That's a killing feature for many people on Kindle.

Kobo's default OS has Dropbox and Pocket support. You can just drop a book in your Dropboox and it'll appear on your Kobo through wireless sync.

Dropbox is only available on Kobo Forma, Sage, and Elipsa. It isn't available in more popular Libra 2 or Aura HD.

It's not native, you're right. Many of us have been using Kobocloud for years to automatically sync to cloud drive services: https://github.com/fsantini/KoboCloud

I won't lie, I was excited to see the technical solution here - but this appears to be a stack of horrific shell scripts fixing everything via curl. Is it dependable, in your experience?

You can use KoReader built in Calibre remote push, or you can try https://github.com/fsantini/KoboCloud/pull/35 There is working tgz but you will have to find it on your own.

koreader really is the way to go.

https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-Ko...

But the Kobo does have a built-in store. And it does support WiFi sync. I don't see any way how a Kobo is harder to use for a non technical user than Kindle. No trade-off there x)

Well, there is also price and features. I've got a Kobo Elipsa, it was an impulse buy at a book store and I regret it because for just a little bit more you can get a Remarkable 2. The Remarkable is lighter, less bulky, faster, and has this fantastic warm backlight. The Elipsa felt like outdated, heavy tech from the start, isn't waterproof, and its notetaking functions are unusable (it's just too slow). The OS is rarely if ever updated.

Equivalent Kindles seem to be much cheaper cheaper, though, and with overall better features and maintenance. And the store is much larger. The downside is obviously that you make yourself dependent on a fairly evil company that destroys culture and the lives of many aspiring authors. But most people don't care about that.

> The Remarkable ... has this fantastic warm backlight

It doesn't have a backlight at all!

Then I must have confused it with some other brand. A colleague showed me a thin one one with light that can be regulated from cold to warm and had very fast notetaking functions.

The Remarkable 2 also isn't waterproof and also doesn't have a front light (warm or cold) at all. That's how they got it so thin. It's also awful at reading ePubs but I guess better at note taking.

Kindles aren't much cheaper. Compare the Kindle Oasis to the Libra. All you really get is a metal case for an extra $100. And the stores are pretty similar in size with the exception of like self published books which IMO are worth stripping out of search...

> functionality had another major drawcard of working just about anywhere, even if you didn't have wifi coverage or a phone with data services

I have around 50 books and a dozen of comic books on my e-reader.

It works perfectly without any connection whatsoever.

I'm not sure that being able to download a book while sitting on top of Mountain Everest it's a such an important feature, but YMMV.

Ha, funny you say that. Last time I was at Everest Base Camp nearly everyone had an e-ink kindle. The long battery life and light weight are ideal for long isolated stretches in the Himalayas.

Check and Mate.

> Last time I was at Everest Base Camp nearly everyone had an e-ink kindle

that's not surprising.

it's the most popular e-reader.

anyway, base camp is not the top of the mountain :)

where they downloading e-books with the device 2g connection from there?

> The long battery life and light weight are ideal for long isolated stretches in the Himalayas.

modern e-readers last weeks on battery and weight less than 200 grams.

> where they downloading e-books with the device 2g connection from there?

Someone able to prep for Everest knows to load all the ebooks they want on their Kindles before they leave home.

My dear Sherlock,

not to brag, but I am the same person who wrote

"I have around 50 books and a dozen of comic books on my e-reader.

It works perfectly without any connection whatsoever.

I'm not sure that being able to download a book while sitting on top of Mountain Everest it's a such an important feature"

The point being: you can preload years worth of reading material on e-books, a connection is not needed.

It was in response to a post that said

"The older kindles with 2G/3G "Whispersync" functionality had another major drawcard of working just about anywhere, even if you didn't have wifi coverage or a phone with data services"

It wasn't about mount Everest.

Sincerely yours

> where they downloading e-books with the device 2g connection from there?

Yes. The nearest village (30 min walk) had cell towers when I was last there 7 years ago. I recall having surprisingly fantastic cell service in the entire Khumbu region.

I was really sorry to see Whispersync disappear in the the most recent Kindle Paperwhite. I was more than happy to pay extra for it.

However, I've never had the kind of battery life I'm seeing on my Kindle these days. It was always good (until my previous Paperwhite suddenly went toes up) but now it's amazing.

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