The New Kindle Scribes Are Great, but Not Great Enough | Hacker News Reader

The New Kindle Scribes Are Great, but Not Great Enough

wired.com

25 pointsthm55 comments

So far every image I've seen of this thing is too professional to trust. It looks like they solved the kaleido contrast problem, but none of the reviewers are actually saying that in the text. I'd really like an amateur side by side against something with a carta 1300 so I can judge the b/w contrast properly.

( if you are not familiar, here is a sample. The device on the left has a color screen. The extra layer causes the background to be darker: https://i.imgur.com/4W7YZu3.png )

Amazon has a generous return policy. You could always order one to test it then return it if it's not good enough.

I have both a Kindle Colorsoft (1st gen) and whatever the latest gen Paperwhite is and there's a noticeable contrast difference, but not nearly as bad as shown in that image. I find lack of sharpness to be more of a problem for very small fonts than the contrast.

I actively use both. I toyed with getting a Scribe because I read a lot of full size PDFs which aren't a great experience with such low refresh rates and small screens, but opted for an iPad instead. I owned a ReMarkable 2 a few years ago and don't really have anything good to say about it.

I own last years Kindle Scribe model and enjoy reading with it. Technically, I probably just like e-ink devices and this was my first e-ink purchase. The Notebook's (now Workspace?) are a compelling experience but it is unclear how the syncing feature protects data privacy. Pen and paper still has a cozier vibe when trying to keep drafts of ideas secure.

Two critiques: - Kindle would be a much better product if kindle.amazon.com took me to a dedicated UX that is not washed out by the e-commerce bloat that currently surrounds it. - You have to carefully purchase Kindle editions of books. There are definitely Kindle edition books for sale that are digitally scanned, imported, and compiled as a Kindle edition with no proof reading having occurred leaving you stuck with typo riddled messes.

I've _never_ read an ebook w/o finding at least one typo --- and that includes _Dune_ which I didn't download until after the ebook had been out for over a decade ("pogrom" was mis-spelled as "program" and there was an error in formatting in the glossary) --- but this happens w/ print books as well, my second printing of Tolkien's _The Fall of Arthur_ had a typo (which when reported, I was promised would be fixed in subsequent printings).

The worst was the free copy of Heinlein's _Space Cadet_ I got from Sony on my PRS-505 because I was browsing their store on a day when they offered a $10 credit --- it was so riddled w/ typos that I had to get a print copy from the library to determine what some of them were.... the hilarious thing is that that "purchase" made me eligible for the ebook price fixing settlement, really should have kept and framed that check.

> I've _never_ read an ebook w/o finding at least one typo

This is unacceptable. Typo's are not just aggravating but as they accumulate they begin to veer towards mutating the authors original intent.

Unfortunately, ebooks as a technology are young, and editors aren't paid as much as they used to be --- if they're being employed to review books at all in some cases.

Don't get me started on the typos in Lost Art Press's _Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley_ --- they mis-spelled the subject's name on the inside cover and duplicated one photo, so a pair of flat pliers is shown twice and there is not detail photo of the iconic twin pair of jeweler's pliers, and didn't do a "cancel" reprinting that page as any reputable publisher would.

> Don't get me started on the typos in Lost Art Press's _Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley_ --- they mis-spelled the subject's name on the inside cover and duplicated one photo, so a pair of flat pliers is shown twice and there is not detail photo of the iconic twin pair of jeweler's pliers, and didn't do a "cancel" reprinting that page as any reputable publisher would.

I am not familiar with those books or their content but that definitely reads as if the intent has been substantially changed. A typo 100 years ago might have been a letter off in the type setter; the typos these days are rewrites!

They aren't that serious (if you search for my name and "Virtuoso" the list of typos I found should pop right up.

There are so many, that I've come to assume that the wrong set of files was used for printing.

In the universe of the Butlerian Jihad are you SURE that replacing "program" with "pogrom" was a mistake?

Three or four generations of Kindle Scribes since 2022. Still no new Kindle Oasis. At this rate I think my Oasis is going to be a family heirloom passed down the generations, as Amazon steadfastly refuses to release an ergonomic e-reader with buttons.

at this point it may be considered as form factor that has been deprecated, despite the advantages it brings

I have an Oasis and if I could buy a new one with USB-C, I would. In fact, I'd probably buy at least two so that I have a backup.

The Scribe is interesting, but it's too small. Where's the 13" version? I want to mark up PDFs on a full size (A4 or Letter) display.

I'm afraid to replace the battery in mine, since it's glued together. It's only a matter of time before it's unusable. The latest Kindle software is already glacially slow on it (waiting multiple seconds for taps to register).

I'd take the exact same form factor and screen but with the latest CPU and a new battery, even if it cost $300.

Kobo offers two separate models with buttons https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ereaders/kobo-ereaders-with-butto...

PocketBook and Kobo both have good alternatives. Go for them instead of Kindle.

I appreciate the tip, but I'm afraid my situation is more dire than I had let on.

First, I'm already completely locked-in to the Amazon Kindle ecosystem. (Kindle jail.) I've literally purchased >1200 books via Amazon, and it would be serious labor (the work of months) to get them off the platform or, where possible, to download pirate copies. Amazon makes it extremely difficult.

Second, books tend to be generally more expensive on Kobo/Rakuten. A few bucks here, a few bucks there... Over those ~1200 books, even if the average price difference was $3 (and I think that it was historically larger than that,) I'm down $3600. This is what made it hard to make the switch earlier.

Lastly, there are quite a lot of books that are only available on Amazon. A lot of good old-time science fiction writers are now self-publishers. David Gerrold, for instance:

> https://www.amazon.com/Praxis-II-Makes-Permanent-ebook/dp/B0...

These books are available on Amazon, but not on Kobo/Rakuten's platform.

So I'm pretty much stuck. I'd be happy to give Amazon more money if they made a reader similar to the 2019 Oasis. As things stand, I regret not pirating from day one.

Kobo does price matching. Still it’s a little more work on your side.

Was in the same situation last year and gave up waiting for a new Oasis or Voyage. Bought an Android Reader (Boox Go Color 7) with Buttons. Battery life is comparable to the Oasis, Buttons are OK. The Oasis is much better made. I really enjoy the App Koreader and the support for Bluetooth Remotes. I transfer my Epubs remote via Calibre.

I replaced my Kindle (2nd gen, 2009 vintage) with a Boox Go 7 (non color), can flip pages with the two side buttons, it’s very nice hardware and the software doesn’t get in the way.

Amazon doesn’t care about my super old kindle so I decided to also not care and just moved my collection of purchased books over to the Boox (using Calibre).

I have a(n admittedly fairly old) Boox and I like it in concept, it's great that I can install multiple e-reader apps and read a book in any format with any DRM, but the battery life and performance seem a lot weaker than the early-generation do-one-thing Kindles.

Which sucks, because the battery life and performance were the huge selling point for e-readers not just being shitty tablets.

Mine lasts for weeks! I disabled wifi (only on when I need to transfer some books and keep the backlight at a not super high level but am not otherwise careful in how I use the thing or try to preserve battery.

Maybe mine's just an older version with worse battery then!

Mine is not comparable with the Early Kindles but it comes close to the Oasis with the tiny Battery. I have to charge it every 1 - 2 Weeks. Wifi is disabled, Bluetooth turned on. I only use the Koreader App, sometimes Wikipedia. Powersafe triggers after 24h of inactivity what really rarely happens because I read every evening.

Future buyers, be aware that those are "small" margins. You can't make them smaller without modifying the ebook file itself.

https://media.wired.com/photos/6938a3ba3f357ab2a44d03b1/mast...

I think they are missing something important in the review, what they are saying it's incorrect.

You CAN write directly, but only to PDFs.

Epub and kindle get the notes slapped in a box of some kind.

The other thing they miss is that most ereaders don't have access to kindle's huge book catalog. A few full-on android devices do, but given the very outdated version of android they have, they night get cut out (as is happening for some) from the Kindle app, so no more books.

> most ereaders don't have access to kindle's huge book catalog

Are you saying there are a lot of exclusives in their catalog, or just that Kobo devices (for example) can't access DRM'd Amazon books in the same way Kindles cannot access DRM'd Kobo books?

I've recently started buying books from Kobo even though my ereader is a Kindle just because I can strip the DRM from Kobo books.

It's a combo - quite a lot of self published books are basically kindle exclusives and their Drm and format is now annoying to crack.

What nemnorax said, essentially some are kindle exclusives and it's annoying the get rid of the DRM.

You can obviously ignore this fact, but console gamers had to deal with this for a long time and not mentioning it as a feature of the "device" is doing it a disservice.

I bought the older version for very cheap and have been really enjoying it.

My daughter loves it: she reads on it and does homeworks on it.

It's the "tablet" that kids could he allowed to use: slow refresh rate (no videogames), can only read books and write.

And that's what she does! She reads books and writes on it, along with sketching or drawing mazes.

Kindle/ePub and audio books are great, authors are publishing more content from what I've seen that would be prohibitive to do so with print.

Personally, I need to not stare at a screen at some point and need to use print. It would be great if Amazon or someone else had a service that would take pdfs and epubs print them as mass market paperback and ships it to you. A lot of content is kindle/digital only these days unfortunately. I would think it won't cost > $20 per-print, I'd be willing to pay twice that plus shipping. Even for older books, you can only get used versions, and even then if you're lucky. It would be nice if the digital versions were available for on-demand printing.

I'm not an expert, but I think they'd probably have to negotiate additional rights with the authors, even for print-on-demand.

everybody wins. amazon, publishers, authors, they can all get more revenue. Especially for things like novellas, short stories, mangas,etc.. where mass market publication doesn't make sense. or to gauge interest prior to mass-market publication. But for existing works, you're right, that might be a pain, especially then the authors are deceased.

I have a Supernote Nomad (https://taoofmac.com/space/reviews/2025/01/18/2335) and am quite pleased with it given I can sideload Obsidian and other Android apps for those extra geeky things I want to do occasionally on it. But I have been looking at newer devices with color (and backlights), although I wouldn’t want to get stuck in Amazon’s ecosystem…

hard to care about anything kindle since amazon started to remove download and transfer options, they are willing to pull the rug out from under you on anything and everything

I keep waiting for the Kindle to allow notetaking by dictation. It works well on an iPad; it’s so much quicker and smoother than handwriting notes.

ebooks as a platform will never evolve until ereaders (like these) get ~30FPS refresh rates. That's when "scrollytelling" can enter the race and could very well expand the industry into new territory.

The previous Kindle Scribe had a slow refresh rate, and it showed every time you tried to turn a page. All I want so far as refresh rates are concerned is seamless page-turning – page-turning that doesn’t make me wait. Will this version of the Scribe be any better? The Wired review doesn’t say.

It's close --- used to be I would start the page turn when on the next-to-last line on the page, but more recent Kindles are fast enough that I don't bother, and it doesn't feel _that_ much slower than turning a physical page.

“scrollytelling”? Scrolling? Or tap to slideshow, which doesn’t require scrolling? Or some novel format that uses scrolling as a gesture to “advance”? Wouldn’t that have taken off somewhere other than overwrought marketing pages on Apple.com? Is it different than tapping?

What do you imagine would use that? I can only think of smooth scrolling on a web toon or something, but you would want much better color reproduction first.

I remember the early days of the ipad 1 where publishers and technologists were stoked about all the cool new interactive things they could do with this format.

It flopped. It turns out interactive infographics and scrollytelling are fun (and costly) to make but readers don't really like them.

The smashing success story wasn't actually what you can do with the new devices' screen, it was audio. It turns out audiobooks (and podcasts) are a huge hit when the price is right and you make it accessible enough.

Not familiar with wired. Is this an ad? Reads like a “review” but there is a “buy now” button, permanently covering about 25% of the bottom of the screen.

Wired is the online remnant of a once-popular computer magazine. Like any industry mag, it makes most of its money from ads, so its reviews should always be viewed with this in mind.

Nothing wrong with ads in the correct context, a good part of why we bought print computer magazines was to look at them as well as the articles.

From TFA last paragraph

> Ultimately, if you already have the second-generation Scribe, I don't think you need to upgrade.... you might as well upgrade to a reMarkable tablet.... a pretty big investment for a still-limited device.... neither of them would be my go-to pick.

Don't think reviewers are getting paid to shill for Amazon.

If you look at the query parameters of the Amazon links you can see that they are affiliate links. It might be more or less an honest review but they do earn money from it.

I don't think magazines using affiliate links necessarily makes a review unbiased. Recommended or not, if someone buys it from them they may as well make a cut.

That said, many of these type of articles are just thinly veiled paid advertorials.

We’ve discovered the review that says the thing is bad, is actually an ad for the thing, because the buy link has an affiliate code.

Am I understanding you right?

I feel like we have stumbled into a classic HN tarpit, where people try justifying something obviously wrong by adding one observation and implying it can be twisted into one segment of the obviously wrong thing.

It’s a tarpit, because as soon as I point out this doesn’t change anything, you can either point out you were just observing or claim some other claim was what was being implied

That's not correct; Wired still produces a print edition every other month.

Wired used to be more popular here, they aren't as they used to be it feels like, but it was basically a primary source of tech news for many of us.

So you’re not familiar with Wired (!?), and think this is an ad, along with a side of review-in-scare quotes? “you might as well upgrade to a reMarkable tablet.... a pretty big investment for a still-limited device.... neither of them would be my go-to pick”

And you’ve been on HN 15 years, just like me?

Something tells me you’re cranky this morning and trolling a bit

The day I trashed my huge collection of WIRED print mags, including that one Y2K dark glossy cover, was a sad day

I still bemoan selling the first couple of years of issues to someone on ebay. I needed to get the stuff out of the basement, but feels like I should have kept them just for the technology history lessons.

I'm still looking for the very early Wired issue that has an ad that goes something like "they laughed at you when you were growing up because you were different. now they wear a uniform with their name on it. and you don't."

16 years on HN, and enough karma to indicate that you regularly participate, but never heard of Wired magazine, huh?

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