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Comment by aaronbrethorst | Hacker News Reader

To be fair, I find it much easier to fall asleep after using my Kindle Paperwhite than I do with an iPad. But, virtually every aspect of the Kindle ecosystem user experience is an experience in mediocrity. In some respects, I feel like the company is like what you'd get if you crossed the worst aspects of Microsoft and Google.

(And apologies to my friends who work at Amazon, but let's be honest: you're all going to quit within a year or two to work somewhere that's less abusive of its employees.)

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While there are plenty of mediocre aspects of the Kindle ecosystem, there are plenty of excellent ones as well. For example:

1. Return policy. Amazon has the best ebook return policy in the business. It seems essentially the same as their physical book policy. The last time I checked, Google Play was next-best (7 days no-questions-asked, regardless of jurisdiction) and everyone else grudgingly had a return policy where it was required by law (i.e. Europe) and none otherwise.

2. Sideloaded books. AFAIK, of the major ebook retailers, only Amazon and Google will let you sync books you didn't purchase from them to your cloud library. Other retailers might let you read sideloaded books in their clients, but you have to use Dropbox or an equivalent for backup and syncing across devices.

3. Client support. If it supports third-party applications, Amazon makes a Kindle client for almost anything you might want to read an ebook on, plus they have a web-based reader. Meanwhile, Google and Apple are busy paying "strategy taxes" for platforms it isn't in their interest to support, and B&N and Kobo don't quite have the resources to keep up.

One frustrating thing about side loaded books, you cannot read them with Kindle for PC, Kindle for Mac, or Kindle cloud reader.

I was under the impression that you can, though they might show up under Documents rather than Books - assuming you've side-loaded by sending the files to your kindle e-mail address. It's not something I try to do very often though, so I might be mistaken - they don't seem to appear in the Cloud Reader though.

In any case, since you can just open the files in the desktop version of Kindle, it doesn't seem like it would be such a big deal.

It's annoying because I rely on Kindle's progress syncing. Why do some of my books randomly not support this useful feature?

Eh, I use both the Nook and Kindle apps for my iPad -- daily -- and Nook is just as good. It's the hardware. If i wanted to buy an e-reader, i wouldn't want to invest in B&N hardware.

What negatives have you found with B&N hardware? I have a Nook Simple Touch, and I've been very happy with it.

That it's unclear what future investment will be made in the ecosystem.

Unlike the Kindle with its proprietary format, the Nook reads standard ePub files. Even if B&N went out of business tomorrow, the Nook would remain a perfectly usable device.

Amazon's service is fantastic; I buy from them even if they're a little more expensive purely for the service.

I have a Paperwhite and I couldn't be happier with it. It's the best manga reading device I own and it does a pretty good job with PDFs.

I stuck with my gen 3 kindle -- more memory than future gens, no ads, and the option of audio books (never used it). As technology progresses, I expect more not less. That said, it doesn't have the backlight and using a cover w/ built in light while the significant other tries to sleep? Yeah, no.

I've resorted to using a camping headlamp set on "red" (not as bright/obtrusive) when I want to use the kindle to read. However, I mostly just use my phone and the Kindle app.

Advances in the display beyond the gen 3 (first I bought) didn't merit any sort of upgrade for me.

Haha your parentheses is what I hear every week since I came living at Seattle. Too bad for Amazon I suppose.

Why would Amazon want to help you fall asleep while reading a book. More awake time, more books read, more $$$ :)

Mostly a tongue-in-cheek comment but somewhere deep in the halls of Amazon I bet that discussion was had...

I too fall asleep easier while reading on my Paperwhite. Rather annoying actually.

Did you try reading something less boring? ;)

I will vouch about this statement for myself. Rather than how I am reading the book (physical or ebook), kind of book I am reading play more significant role in helping me sleep.

Amazon seems like Microsoft but without the massive profits from cash cows (windows+office) to subsidize R&D.

Actually, Amazon plays that same game, to the hilt.

They're very profitable, but reinvest almost all of their money.

http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2014/9/4/why-amazon-has-n...

I found it easier switching my iPad into night mode.

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