5 ms·

Having used an early kindle and a recent kindle, they are incredibly similar. One of the main innovations of the new models appears to be adverts you have to pa

by onidj 4mo ago

Having used an early kindle and a recent kindle, they are incredibly similar. One of the main innovations of the new models appears to be adverts you have to pay to get rid of.

madarco 4mo ago
Actually, the old Kindle had physical buttons, which I find more ergonomic when reading in bed
- gruturo 4mo ago
  That's what your nose is for. (I'm quite skilled at advancing or going back by gently tapping the kindle against my face. It helps that I'm very nearsighted so it's kind of already there)
  - cbdevidal 4mo ago
    Same here. I read your comment from two inches away lol
- literalAardvark 4mo ago
  Really wish my 1st gen Paperweight had split forward and back buttons on the right side. But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie.
  - phil21 4mo ago
    > But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie. You can... turn them upside down to become a left-handed device. That way you can be weak-handed with either hand!
    - literalAardvark 4mo ago
      Only way to get buttons that are comfy on both sides would be to flip it screen out. That doesn't seem like a very useful position to hold a reader in though. If you turn it upside down the left hand buttons will be way too high on the reader
      - phil21 4mo ago
        The Oasis solves this - buttons are in the middle. Since you tend to not use the back page button much, it works pretty well. I was skeptical of the "lopsided" design at first but it grew on me and is what I'd prefer in future devices from here on out.
        NetMageSCW 4mo ago
        The original Kindle keyboard had perfect page turn buttons and it’s been downhill ever since, though the Oasis is livable.
- ZeWaka 4mo ago
  There are newer ones with physical buttons.
  - stevewodil 4mo ago
    There are but it's discontinued. There is no current generation model with page turn buttons.
    - ZeWaka 4mo ago
      damn - didn't realize they discontinued the Oasis, rip
kuboble 4mo ago
My kindle from 2012 used to have ads you needed to pay for to get rid of. It was sold as separate product with or without ads at a time. I had one with ads. I keep it offline in airplane mode permanently from 2016 and haven't seen a single ad in a long long time.
- IshKebab 4mo ago
  I have a similar one and I never bothered to pay to get rid of the ads or keep it in aeroplane mode. The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable. If they were in the actual UI and for stuff like cars and perfume I might mind, but they aren't so I never cared.
  - avazhi 4mo ago
    > The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable Speak for yourself. Aside from the principle, some of us don’t want to be advertised to in the comfort of our own home/bed/while we’re camping or whatever. Ads don’t have to be actively flashing, spaz-inducing insanity to be objectionable. Not to mention that by definition an ad like this WILL be seen and attended to, even if only momentarily. That in itself is also objectionable.
    - turtlebits 4mo ago
      Customers have proven they'd rather pay less for the option to see ads. As long as you can pay for an ad-less experience, I see no problem with it.
      - dnlzro 4mo ago
        Considering how difficult it is now to buy a TV without ad-infested “smart” software, I think we should all be grateful for the opportunity to pay to remove ads. But what a sad world we live in…
    - 4mo ago
fodkodrasz 4mo ago
Also gradually phasing out support of formats like mobi, in such subtle ways that if you open a mobi file you cannot go back to the library, but have to cold-reboot your device... My current kindle is my third one, and is the last. I will never ever pay for a kindle to Amazon, due to its user hostility. Oh, and also you cannot move ebooks between accounts, even not with a lot of friction, eg. support tickets, which would be a fair way to game piracy and unwanted lending, which was some inconvinience for me in a situation. Not a huge monetary loss for me, rather a reminder that when you pay to Amazon (or Valve, or any other contemporary DRM-burdened vendor) you are only leasing...
- neves 4mo ago
  It's what I hate the most: I can't lend a book to my wife to talk about it. Just US and UK have family accounts.
- dghlsakjg 4mo ago
  Minor nit: Steam doesn’t require DRM. That is left up to the game publisher.
gibber878 4mo ago
[flagged]
daemonologist 4mo ago
The "library" UI has also gotten radically worse over time (in my family there is a 3G, an early Paperwhite, and a relatively recent base model, and each has a worse and sparser UI than the last). The pages turn faster though, due to improved display/display driver tech.
- mrec 4mo ago
  And meanwhile the webapp's library UI doesn't even let you filter by read status.
happyopossum 4mo ago
> adverts you have to pay to get rid of Those have been around since day 1 afaik - my second gen kindle had them over ~12 years ago

by onidj 4mo ago

Having used an early kindle and a recent kindle, they are incredibly similar. One of the main innovations of the new models appears to be adverts you have to pay to get rid of.

madarco 4mo ago

Actually, the old Kindle had physical buttons, which I find more ergonomic when reading in bed

gruturo 4mo ago
That's what your nose is for. (I'm quite skilled at advancing or going back by gently tapping the kindle against my face. It helps that I'm very nearsighted so it's kind of already there)
- cbdevidal 4mo ago
  Same here. I read your comment from two inches away lol
literalAardvark 4mo ago
Really wish my 1st gen Paperweight had split forward and back buttons on the right side. But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie.
- phil21 4mo ago
  > But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie. You can... turn them upside down to become a left-handed device. That way you can be weak-handed with either hand!
  - literalAardvark 4mo ago
    Only way to get buttons that are comfy on both sides would be to flip it screen out. That doesn't seem like a very useful position to hold a reader in though. If you turn it upside down the left hand buttons will be way too high on the reader
    - phil21 4mo ago
      The Oasis solves this - buttons are in the middle. Since you tend to not use the back page button much, it works pretty well. I was skeptical of the "lopsided" design at first but it grew on me and is what I'd prefer in future devices from here on out.
      - NetMageSCW 4mo ago
        The original Kindle keyboard had perfect page turn buttons and it’s been downhill ever since, though the Oasis is livable.
ZeWaka 4mo ago
There are newer ones with physical buttons.
- stevewodil 4mo ago
  There are but it's discontinued. There is no current generation model with page turn buttons.
  - ZeWaka 4mo ago
    damn - didn't realize they discontinued the Oasis, rip

kuboble 4mo ago

My kindle from 2012 used to have ads you needed to pay for to get rid of. It was sold as separate product with or without ads at a time. I had one with ads. I keep it offline in airplane mode permanently from 2016 and haven't seen a single ad in a long long time.

IshKebab 4mo ago
I have a similar one and I never bothered to pay to get rid of the ads or keep it in aeroplane mode. The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable. If they were in the actual UI and for stuff like cars and perfume I might mind, but they aren't so I never cared.
- avazhi 4mo ago
  > The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable Speak for yourself. Aside from the principle, some of us don’t want to be advertised to in the comfort of our own home/bed/while we’re camping or whatever. Ads don’t have to be actively flashing, spaz-inducing insanity to be objectionable. Not to mention that by definition an ad like this WILL be seen and attended to, even if only momentarily. That in itself is also objectionable.
  - turtlebits 4mo ago
    Customers have proven they'd rather pay less for the option to see ads. As long as you can pay for an ad-less experience, I see no problem with it.
    - dnlzro 4mo ago
      Considering how difficult it is now to buy a TV without ad-infested “smart” software, I think we should all be grateful for the opportunity to pay to remove ads. But what a sad world we live in…
  - 4mo ago

fodkodrasz 4mo ago

Also gradually phasing out support of formats like mobi, in such subtle ways that if you open a mobi file you cannot go back to the library, but have to cold-reboot your device... My current kindle is my third one, and is the last. I will never ever pay for a kindle to Amazon, due to its user hostility. Oh, and also you cannot move ebooks between accounts, even not with a lot of friction, eg. support tickets, which would be a fair way to game piracy and unwanted lending, which was some inconvinience for me in a situation. Not a huge monetary loss for me, rather a reminder that when you pay to Amazon (or Valve, or any other contemporary DRM-burdened vendor) you are only leasing...

neves 4mo ago
It's what I hate the most: I can't lend a book to my wife to talk about it. Just US and UK have family accounts.
dghlsakjg 4mo ago
Minor nit: Steam doesn’t require DRM. That is left up to the game publisher.

gibber878 4mo ago

[flagged]

daemonologist 4mo ago

The "library" UI has also gotten radically worse over time (in my family there is a 3G, an early Paperwhite, and a relatively recent base model, and each has a worse and sparser UI than the last). The pages turn faster though, due to improved display/display driver tech.

mrec 4mo ago
And meanwhile the webapp's library UI doesn't even let you filter by read status.

happyopossum 4mo ago

> adverts you have to pay to get rid of Those have been around since day 1 afaik - my second gen kindle had them over ~12 years ago