15 ms·
The hardware's fine, but software-wise Kindle is still a horrible ereader. It still refuses to read epubs, the de-facto ebook format used by the rest of the wor
by acabal 5y ago
The hardware's fine, but software-wise Kindle is still a horrible ereader. It still refuses to read epubs, the de-facto ebook format used by the rest of the world. Its native formats are terrible: mobi is an ancient, horrible proprietary binary format. If you get a nicer modern mobi but use "send to Kindle" to transfer it, Amazon inexplicably and silently removes all advanced formatting, effectively downgrading it to a mobi from 2002. azw3, its own proprietary format that competes with its other two proprietary formats (the third being kfx), is kind of a repackaged epub but more annoying to create, not open source, still lacking in many of the formatting features we expect from ebooks in 2021, and incompatible with "send to Kindle"!! The fact that Amazon has three competing proprietary ebook formats, each more terrible than the last and one of which literally can't be sent to its own devices, should be telling.
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.
- xutopia 5y agoWhat good alternatives are there though? I failed to find anything good a few years ago when I needed an e-reader.
- deadalus 5y agoKobo is the best alternative and they provide software updates to sort out issues. It supports epub and pdf.
- zcmack 5y agoi almost bought a Kobo earlier this year but talked myself back into the Kindle ecosystem just for whispersync. while i vastly prefer reading on the kindle itself, i do often find myself reading on my phone during unexpected downtime. MOBI sucks but even self-converted epub MOBI seamlessly syncs progress.
- josefresco 5y agoToday on HN there's an extensive thread about Kobo readers. Here: http://devinlogan.org/e-readers.html http://devinlogan.org/e-readers.html Thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28585129 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28585129
- SamBam 5y agoI've enjoyed the Kobo. It's easy to side-load books using Calibre, and they're store is fine, and library integration using Overdrive is fine.
- dotancohen 5y agoI love my Nook. And you can easily install a launcher and other apps on it via ADB. I use mine to study with Anki (Ankidroid). The Nook has had the colour-temperature changing feature for a few years now. I have two devices with that feature.
- acabal 5y agoPersonally I still use a Kobo Aura One from ~2016. IMHO it's a perfect ereader: Larger form factor, eink, amber frontlight, and the 2nd-best renderer on the market. (iBooks being the best, but obviously not an option for eink.) 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.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- cassianoleal 5y agoThere's a plugin for Calibre that converts epubs to kepubs automatically when you send them to the device. Literally set and forget. Install plugin, get kepubs always.
- AdmiralAsshat 5y agoI had written a comment that some sites just add KEPUB output into its CI/CD pipelines, but then I re-read your username and remembered who I'm talking to. :) 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.
- tomComb 5y agoWhat about a 'remarkable'? 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.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y agoFor reading it does a bad job (check the reddit) and at a pricepoint of 800$, a boox might be better
- tomComb 5y agoNot sure where you got the $800? 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 $800. And BTW, yes, it is annoying how USD are just assumed, but that is our reality for better or worse (and I'm not an American).
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago800$ was at the remarkable 2, but I didn't realize it put the pricing in Canadian Dollars, so the total for a tablet + "pen plus" ended up being 800$ CAD, not 800$ USD.
- sabauma 5y agoI've replaced my Kindle with a Remarkable 2 and am generally pleased with the overall experience. The larger screen is nice, as is the ability to read/annotate academic papers on the same device. 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.
- nafizh 5y ago
- r00fus 5y agoAmazon should have been investigated 10 years ago for monopoly action on e-books, not Apple.
- input_sh 5y agoThere's a class action lawsuit filed this year against Amazon, alleging conspiring with the Big Five book publishers on e-book prices: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/85499-big-five-publishers-now-defendants-in-e-book-price-fixing-suit.html https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/p...
- dmix 5y agoCalibre is your friend when you get a Kindle. I've converted a hundred epub books by now. Rarely ever had a problem with that, it's just one additional step with emailing your kindle address with the book.
- spicybright 5y agoTo add, I used to keep my kindle not attached to an amazon account (so no email), but I plugged it into USB like a flash drive and synced books with Calibre. 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.
- fascistdang 5y agoI also use Calibre but I tend to get formatting issues around at 15 percent. Still love it but isn't full proof
- Salgat 5y agoIt really depends on what you're content is. Technical books with equations turn into garbage when I convert, and the formatting is all off. It's just easier to do PDF for me.
- AdmiralAsshat 5y agoHave you tried the KindleUnpack plugin? [0] I originally used Calibre's built-in "convert" option, but I found I've gotten much better results from KindleUnpack. It gives a much "cleaner" EPUB with less of the annoying Calibre watermarking in the CSS and such. [0] https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/KindleUnpack https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/KindleUnpack
- unicornporn 5y agoJust rename your .epub to .png and they can be emailed as is to your Kindle. Yes, it's insane and mostly works.
- 5y ago
- sneak 5y agoIt also phones home and reports everything you read, how much, and when. That alone is sufficient reason never to use one.
- fullstop 5y agoThat's used to synchronize between devices, and you can disable it.
- andrepd 5y agoNo, since it's proprietary software you don't know what it's being used for. But I'd bet a great deal of money in how they store and analyse all that data for purposes of advertising and worse. 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.
- fullstop 5y agoI get it, it's not the device for you. You can leave it disconnected from WiFi and sideload everything if you are that paranoid.
- calcifer 5y agoIt feels like the "Just don't do X if you are that paranoid" attitude is singlehandedly responsible for the increasingly egregious privacy invasions from the last decade.
- fullstop 5y agoI didn't say that. I'm saying that if you don't like how the device operates you can still use it in other ways. If the Kindles forced WiFi to be active and connected to Amazon servers, I'd see your point.
- sneak 5y agoA desire for privacy is not paranoia. You don't even need a threat to desire privacy. It's a human right.
- slezyr 5y agoIt sounds like inkjets printers - subsidized cheap device, but full of DRM to lock you in. BUT! They are great if you are an advanced user and willing to buy 3rd party cartridges, mess with firmware, etc. I wonder if all the mentioned issues can be fixed by using koreader. https://github.com/koreader/koreader/releases https://github.com/koreader/koreader/releases
- ndiddy 5y agoI was hoping that Koreader would be a solution but after hacking my Kindle I found that Koreader would keep randomly locking up and require me to hard reboot the Kindle (wasting several minutes, and it would lose my place in the book). I ended up buying a used Nook for around $15, the online service is discontinued but you can still sideload books (including epubs).
- stonecharioteer 5y agoInteresting. I want to try this on my old Kindle Touch.
- vladharbuz 5y agoI would love an alternative. I've tried multiple Kobos, but I've had a variety of issues with them. 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.
- dont__panic 5y agoI've been using a Boox e-reader for months now, migrated from a Kindle. I've really loved it, particularly the stylus for notetaking. And if you want something cheaper, the smaller versions don't have a stylus or a WACOM layer.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y agoWhat app do you use for reading ebooks on that one? 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?
- knaik94 5y agoI have an android ereader without a wacom layer, my favorite app to use is Moon+ Reader. If you have access to an android device, I strongly recommend trying it out. The customizations allowed are staggering and I can't imagine getting a new device that is unable to run it. KoReader is also great and open source. People don't love the way the animations work on an ereader but you could use the Kindle app as well.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y agoHow do you go by syncing your bookmarks with different devices?
- jeffbee 5y agoKindle has an 85% market share so you’ll have to excuse us for not caring about the tiny “rest of the world”.
- hart_russell 5y agoLack of epub support is unacceptable. An e-reader should allow you to read e-books (what a concept!)
- paulcole 5y agoIt's not an e-reader, it's a Kindle.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y agoEven so. 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.
- paulcole 5y agoYou're wishing the Kindle wasn't a Kindle. Amazon clearly has 0 interest in making an open-ish e-reader. Yes, you can dislike the Kindle, but to say it's a bad e-reader is like saying a bicycle is a bad car.
- Abroszka 5y agoGoing with your logic, it's correct to say that it's a bad e-reader, because it's not an e-reader but a Kindle.
- walteweiss 5y agoWhat you all guys mean by Kindle? I have one for like a decade and I don’t get it. It’s not a strong brand of itself like iPhone (which is also smartphone). 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.
- 5y ago
- SavantIdiot 5y agoI agree with all of this. 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.
- noja 5y agoThe Kindle is an Amazon book reader. You hate it because you want it to be a generic ebook reader. It's not that.
- r00fus 5y agoPerhaps the idea is that there are "Amazon books" is what's undesirable. They undercut everyone on pricing and have coercive market power.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y agoIt's challenging to find a decent reading software on android devices nowdays
- vezycash 5y agoThe most annoying software issue that really cripples kindles for me is collections. Creating collections directly on the kindle is a soul breaking experience. And it can't be done from Calibre without a jailbreak.
- rhincodon 5y agoI love my jailbroken Kindle Paperwhite with KOreader on it. Supports epubs without any issues.
- aix1 5y agoI just learned about the existence of KOReader. Have you encountered any downsides compared to stock Amazon firmware?
- Rebelgecko 5y agoThe latest software update is a huge step back in terms of UX. There's way more whitespace, it takes more taps to change commonly changed settings (super annoying given eink latencies), and clearly no one who worked on it was left handed.
- codemac 5y agoYes I was shocked with the changes! 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.
- novok 5y agoThey don't want you to use anything but amazon's book store, not to side load your own epubs. Epub support is relatively trivial for them, they do not support it on purpose. They love people reading, but only books purchased from them!
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y agoIt is by design. Amazon wants you to consume only the ebooks you purchase via them. It's almost useless for anything else.
- yayajacky 5y agoFor ePub file: Rename extension as txt, then use the send to kindle tool. I have used it a couple of times (50MB limit though)
- stonecharioteer 5y ago> Kindle software is software made by people who hate reading. 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.