8 ms·

An ebook reader is pointless if it doesn't run on eink devices. Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen?

arglebargle123 3y ago
I spent a year reading on my 10.5in amoled tablet, it worked really well for night time reading at low brightness with the night filter on and KOReader in dark mode. In some ways that setup actually worked better for me than KOReader on an eink device because dark mode amoled contrast is much better than the front light on my actual eink reader. That said, I wouldn't want to read anything except PDFs on a laptop and I'd much rather read them on a large high-refresh-rate amoled tablet.
falcor84 3y ago
I have read many dozens of books (mostly pdf based) from my laptop, and am quite happy with the experience.
- deafpolygon 3y ago
  I actually prefer doing this vs. a tablet (similar type screen). Plus, e-ink in color is either very expensive or not done very well.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Qwertious 3y ago
>Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen? You'd think so, but e-readers (hardware) cost more than $0. Plus, phones are more commonly pocket-carried than ereaders (hardware) given that most ereaders (hardware) don't fit in your pocket, and most people don't buy multiple ereaders (hardware).
- input_sh 3y ago
  I have two e-readers somewhere in my drawer (some Kobo and a Paperwhite) and I still read from my phone/laptop. Easier to get my books onto them, easier to look stuff up and write notes, easier to reach my highlights afterwards to do something useful with them.
  - BigJ1211 3y ago
    Same issue for me, I have a 2 paperwhites. But still primarily read from my iPad, as I also like to read online articles. Which doesn't work with the experimental browser.
    - input_sh 3y ago
      The Kobo I have actually comes with an official Pocket integration out of the box! I can save articles to Pocket and read them on my e-reader. And considering that Pocket supports highlighting things in articles, and Kobo supports highlighting things in books, I should be able to highlight articles as well, right? Nope! Love the e-ink screen, hate the software that powers it.
      - globular-toast 3y ago
        Yeah, I resisted getting an ereader for the longest time because of the software and how silly DRM is. But with KOReader on my Kobo I'm pretty happy with it as a way to read paperbacks. In theory reading online articles should be as easy as an automatic converter from a browser "reader mode" to an epub. I don't know if anything exists to do that, though. Unfortunately they're just not mainstream enough to get much attention from programmers, which is a shame.
creshal 3y ago
Leisure reading, sure. But if I'm doing research work referencing books, you bet I'll be having ten ebooks open on my desktop/laptop.
jacquesm 3y ago
I definitely do.
deafpolygon 3y ago
I do so regularly on my desktop PC. There's something about reading on a 27" monitor that a tiny e-ink device can't replicate. Plus it's something I already have. Plus, the ability to reference a book while doing something else is indispensable.
dspillett 3y ago
Technical references, definitely, though they are often available as HTML rather than needing a reader for ebook formats. I have an old Windows tablet that I use for reading occasionally – it is bigger than my phone (lower pixel density considerably, but fine enough), can be carried around more easily than a laptop, and at this point in its life is expendable – that counts as desktop with regard to running apps. Windows 8.1 though so now EOL, I'll have to see how well Linux likes its hardware as I don't fancy Win10+ on that spec! Also: you don't need to be reading entire books for the app to be useful, especially as it runs on other devices, so you have the same reader elsewhere.
- walteweiss 3y ago
  This link may be helpful for you https://openrt.gitbook.io/open-surfacert/ https://openrt.gitbook.io/open-surfacert/
  - dspillett 3y ago
    This tablet is Intel everything, so “true” Windows rather than RT on ARM.
- globular-toast 3y ago
  For technical references it's a very sad day if the only thing I can find is a PDF or ePub. It hasn't happened yet. Technical references aren't read sequentially; random access is essential. By far the best technology available for random access is a book. Web browsers are a close second, but only if the content has been formatted specifically for the web.
- thaumasiotes 3y ago
  > Technical references, definitely, though they are often available as HTML rather than needing a reader for ebook formats. If you can read HTML, you already have an epub reader available. epub is just a package of HTML documents.
pferde 3y ago
> Surely nobody is ... That's your mistake right there. If some workflow or usage pattern is possible, you can bet that somebody, somewhere is doing it, and relying on it. No matter how silly it might look to you.
pmontra 3y ago
> Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen? At least one person is doing any incredible thing that other people can think of. Actually I don't care much about eink devices because I don't have one. I don't read ebooks on a computer screen. I read them on my phone. From my point of view an ebook reader is pointless if it doesn't run on Android. If it syncs the current page to some server that I can self host, great, but that's a combination that I didn't find yet.
- AB1908 3y ago
  What are your favorite ebook readers on Android? I love [Moon+ Reader](https://ab1908.github.io/2022/02/05/moon-reader.html https://ab1908.github.io/2022/02/05/moon-reader.html).
  - pmontra 3y ago
    I use CoolReader. The settings are a little messy but I can customize it into what I like and it has a good night mode for reading in the dark. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.coolreader&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.coolreader... Last time I installed it I lost one quarter of hour to find the way to remove the paper like background, ugh.
Finnucane 3y ago
Not everybody has or wants a dedicated device for ebooks. Mostly I use my iPad, but also my laptop.
Fluorescence 3y ago
Absolutely I do. It's an excellent experience to me. I've never enjoyed e-ink. First up, excellent ergonomics. The screen is on a natural stand. I hate holding up a tablet/e-reader and always trying to rest it on something. I can change page with space-bar/cursors/touch-screen/touchpad which helps avoid my hand cramping unlike a device that supports a single grip with your thumb hovering/doing the same action repeatedly for hours. Split-screen notes and ebook on either side with any OS chrome like top-bars, task-bars on auto-hide is beautifully minimal. With a proper keyboard, it's a wonderfully productive setup for technical reading. Navigating e-books efficiently, copy-paste sections, cross referencing multiple books and related web-searches are all vastly easier on a proper computer. I don't experience any eye-strain with a screen set at minimal brightness with some off white/black e-reader colours.
Shorel 3y ago
Why not? My laptop is convertible to tablet, and it is amazing for comics. Using it for books is also a convenient feature. And I do have an e-book reader.
the_biot 3y ago
You're getting pounded by other comments, but you're absolutely right -- it's the elephant in the room in this discussion. The sibling comments here are pretty much variations on "I don't like/have E-ink devices, so your opinion is irrelevant", ignoring the fact that there's millions out there, and it's genuinely a popular medium. It's pretty obvious why they're not supporting E-ink devices: that would require embedded Linux skills, and pretty low-level knowledge of the display hardware in these things. But the project was written by Typescript programmers.

arglebargle123 3y ago

I spent a year reading on my 10.5in amoled tablet, it worked really well for night time reading at low brightness with the night filter on and KOReader in dark mode. In some ways that setup actually worked better for me than KOReader on an eink device because dark mode amoled contrast is much better than the front light on my actual eink reader. That said, I wouldn't want to read anything except PDFs on a laptop and I'd much rather read them on a large high-refresh-rate amoled tablet.

falcor84 3y ago

I have read many dozens of books (mostly pdf based) from my laptop, and am quite happy with the experience.

deafpolygon 3y ago
I actually prefer doing this vs. a tablet (similar type screen). Plus, e-ink in color is either very expensive or not done very well.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Qwertious 3y ago

>Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen? You'd think so, but e-readers (hardware) cost more than $0. Plus, phones are more commonly pocket-carried than ereaders (hardware) given that most ereaders (hardware) don't fit in your pocket, and most people don't buy multiple ereaders (hardware).

input_sh 3y ago
I have two e-readers somewhere in my drawer (some Kobo and a Paperwhite) and I still read from my phone/laptop. Easier to get my books onto them, easier to look stuff up and write notes, easier to reach my highlights afterwards to do something useful with them.
- BigJ1211 3y ago
  Same issue for me, I have a 2 paperwhites. But still primarily read from my iPad, as I also like to read online articles. Which doesn't work with the experimental browser.
  - input_sh 3y ago
    The Kobo I have actually comes with an official Pocket integration out of the box! I can save articles to Pocket and read them on my e-reader. And considering that Pocket supports highlighting things in articles, and Kobo supports highlighting things in books, I should be able to highlight articles as well, right? Nope! Love the e-ink screen, hate the software that powers it.
    - globular-toast 3y ago
      Yeah, I resisted getting an ereader for the longest time because of the software and how silly DRM is. But with KOReader on my Kobo I'm pretty happy with it as a way to read paperbacks. In theory reading online articles should be as easy as an automatic converter from a browser "reader mode" to an epub. I don't know if anything exists to do that, though. Unfortunately they're just not mainstream enough to get much attention from programmers, which is a shame.

creshal 3y ago

Leisure reading, sure. But if I'm doing research work referencing books, you bet I'll be having ten ebooks open on my desktop/laptop.

jacquesm 3y ago

I definitely do.

deafpolygon 3y ago

I do so regularly on my desktop PC. There's something about reading on a 27" monitor that a tiny e-ink device can't replicate. Plus it's something I already have. Plus, the ability to reference a book while doing something else is indispensable.

dspillett 3y ago

Technical references, definitely, though they are often available as HTML rather than needing a reader for ebook formats. I have an old Windows tablet that I use for reading occasionally – it is bigger than my phone (lower pixel density considerably, but fine enough), can be carried around more easily than a laptop, and at this point in its life is expendable – that counts as desktop with regard to running apps. Windows 8.1 though so now EOL, I'll have to see how well Linux likes its hardware as I don't fancy Win10+ on that spec! Also: you don't need to be reading entire books for the app to be useful, especially as it runs on other devices, so you have the same reader elsewhere.

walteweiss 3y ago
This link may be helpful for you https://openrt.gitbook.io/open-surfacert/ https://openrt.gitbook.io/open-surfacert/
- dspillett 3y ago
  This tablet is Intel everything, so “true” Windows rather than RT on ARM.
globular-toast 3y ago
For technical references it's a very sad day if the only thing I can find is a PDF or ePub. It hasn't happened yet. Technical references aren't read sequentially; random access is essential. By far the best technology available for random access is a book. Web browsers are a close second, but only if the content has been formatted specifically for the web.
thaumasiotes 3y ago
> Technical references, definitely, though they are often available as HTML rather than needing a reader for ebook formats. If you can read HTML, you already have an epub reader available. epub is just a package of HTML documents.

pferde 3y ago

> Surely nobody is ... That's your mistake right there. If some workflow or usage pattern is possible, you can bet that somebody, somewhere is doing it, and relying on it. No matter how silly it might look to you.

pmontra 3y ago

> Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen? At least one person is doing any incredible thing that other people can think of. Actually I don't care much about eink devices because I don't have one. I don't read ebooks on a computer screen. I read them on my phone. From my point of view an ebook reader is pointless if it doesn't run on Android. If it syncs the current page to some server that I can self host, great, but that's a combination that I didn't find yet.

AB1908 3y ago
What are your favorite ebook readers on Android? I love [Moon+ Reader](https://ab1908.github.io/2022/02/05/moon-reader.html https://ab1908.github.io/2022/02/05/moon-reader.html).
- pmontra 3y ago
  I use CoolReader. The settings are a little messy but I can customize it into what I like and it has a good night mode for reading in the dark. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.coolreader&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.coolreader... Last time I installed it I lost one quarter of hour to find the way to remove the paper like background, ugh.

Finnucane 3y ago

Not everybody has or wants a dedicated device for ebooks. Mostly I use my iPad, but also my laptop.

Fluorescence 3y ago

Absolutely I do. It's an excellent experience to me. I've never enjoyed e-ink. First up, excellent ergonomics. The screen is on a natural stand. I hate holding up a tablet/e-reader and always trying to rest it on something. I can change page with space-bar/cursors/touch-screen/touchpad which helps avoid my hand cramping unlike a device that supports a single grip with your thumb hovering/doing the same action repeatedly for hours. Split-screen notes and ebook on either side with any OS chrome like top-bars, task-bars on auto-hide is beautifully minimal. With a proper keyboard, it's a wonderfully productive setup for technical reading. Navigating e-books efficiently, copy-paste sections, cross referencing multiple books and related web-searches are all vastly easier on a proper computer. I don't experience any eye-strain with a screen set at minimal brightness with some off white/black e-reader colours.

Shorel 3y ago

Why not? My laptop is convertible to tablet, and it is amazing for comics. Using it for books is also a convenient feature. And I do have an e-book reader.

the_biot 3y ago

You're getting pounded by other comments, but you're absolutely right -- it's the elephant in the room in this discussion. The sibling comments here are pretty much variations on "I don't like/have E-ink devices, so your opinion is irrelevant", ignoring the fact that there's millions out there, and it's genuinely a popular medium. It's pretty obvious why they're not supporting E-ink devices: that would require embedded Linux skills, and pretty low-level knowledge of the display hardware in these things. But the project was written by Typescript programmers.