Bad, but anyone sideloading would skip Kindles anyway for a long time now for much better products.
The one thing that really bothers me about Kobo is that they no longer have a b/w reader in the Libra format. The Kobo colour has so much worse contrast. That degradation is not worth the slight benefit of mediocre colours for me. It really means always needing the blacklight.
I can't speak to their digital bookstore but they integrate with Overdrive for library borrowing.
Another benefit is the ability to sideload software without jailbreaking it. I'm not going to say it is easy, since you need to know a bit about Unix to package your own software for sideloading (verses something that someone else packaged for you), but at least you can do it using trusted applications (rather than downloading something from a random third-party).
And it has physical buttons. I was clinging to my oasis for the buttons.
Genuinely interested: how good does the screen have to be for mimicking text on paper? I have a Kindle from around 2013, I don't think I would ever need a better quality?
> I telnet into my kobo and installed tailscale then pointed the api to my calibre web instance
Wow that sounds great! This would make me consider a Kobo now (though my old Kindle is still good enough) :-).
The 300 DPI screens are a nice step up, as are the variable colour-temp backlights.
Except when you can't, like literally yesterday: subscribed to Asimov's, sent ePub, got a link, clicked a link, "that link is not valid". Repeat, same message. Why? Who knows?
My next ereader won't be a Kindle.
Now I suppose it will just be Anna and me doing the sideload.
They are for the specific purpose of officially supported sideloading so that is also being removed. Sideloading books from other sources is still ok.