kepub: why does it exist?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

I'm a cool 58 years old.

Sometimes, there's no need to debate with people who will never change their minds, me included.

If you buy a Kobo, you must patch it to hell and beyond so the ebooks can look a bit OK. Oh dear... What's to argue? Buy another ereader for God sake!

I've never patched my Kobos. I've had or used or have various Kindles, total of all those is about 8 different models, maybe more.

I find/found the original Aura H2O, Libra, Libra2 and Sage all better than the PW3 or Oasis 2. The Kobo Touch C had a poor screen but otherwise better than a Kindle DXG, K3 or older Basic.

I tested Whispernet, sync and Send to Kindle and have no use for them. One PW3 has nearly the last Kindle version and I find that worst so far.

I tried kepub also on Kobo and prefer the epub. It's not much different to azw3 on a PW3 or Oasis 2, or epub on Sony PRS350 or Nook Simple Touch or Binatone. I prefer epub2 to KFX or azw3.

With 1000s of ebooks, and annotating the proof reading of new books I find the Kobo Sage (and previously Libra and Aura H20) far superior to the Paperwhite. Annotation export is far better.

I can ignore kepub and if I buy from Amazon or Kobo I download to PC (Linux).

Kepub is less annoying than KFX.

With 1000s of ebooks having Calibre managed Title, author, blurb/comment, published date, series, subtitle, collection and even reading status & position far beats Amazon Kindle only having title and author. Collection only work of JB or a really old Kindle and any turning on with sync of Kindle Wifi can mess covers and collections, or even delete ebooks (bugs).

I considered Scribe but it seems the worst concept of Amazon managed instead of local.

I can't see me buying another Kindle ever.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Jane Eyre

Ok. So, let's imagine you or me or anyone else having stored in their kobo, hundreds of kepub files (the 16 gb of storage may easily convince users to do so), and for each of them one sets fonts, margins, etc in differents ways. So the device should memorize huge different configuration data...I think this type of situation would slow the device down a lot..

Actually, no. The information on the configuration set for an ebook is stored in the database entry for the ebook and takes very little space. When a change is made, the default for the next book is set to match.

Edit: if you are interested, you can find this information stored in the content_settings table in the KoboReader.sqlite database.

As for setting fonts, margins, etc. in different ways, I know of no one who sets those separately for every ebook. Most people tend to set those once and stick with those settings for 90+ percent of their ebooks. My preference is to set the margins, line spacing, font size, etc. in the CSS so no changes are necessary.

BTW, my Clara HD has 128GB of storage and at the moment over 14,000 ebooks stored on it. So far the only issue I see is that search is slower than when I have only 100 books on it but I am talking about 3 seconds for the search results to start popping up compared to less than 1 second. Most of this is due to the database being bigger than available RAM so a search needs to start swapping.

I'm not sure why you specified kepub files. As far as I am aware, the difference in space use between epub and kepub are pretty negligible.

[Jane Eyre]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Perhaps you could clarify what you mean by your "own device can be bugged"?

That maybe I bought a faulty or damaged product.
I don't know.

Sorry. I'm not sure to understand every single word of yours

I'm not so expert on mark up language, but... basically, this is my base scheme:

<h1>Chatpers</h1>

<p> </p>

<span> </span>

for Italic portion of text inside paraghraphs

<div class> </div>

for block elements, such as images.

Styles in stylesheets, of course.
Nothing more.

Times New Roman on a screen?? Oh god..nooooooo

My favourite fonts in Einks are: Bitter HT, Amazon Bookerly, and Caecilia.
That's all.

[Sirtel]

I also prefer to clean up the css in the book before loading it on my Kobos and remove any redundant stuff, like nonstandard body font size, margins and line height for body text and so on. So I very seldom access the reading settings on the device itself. Currently I have over 2000 books on both my Kobos and I haven't noticed any slowing down.

I do remember my Libra 2 freezing several times when I experimented with different fonts after buying it. But once I selected my favorite settings and no longer constantly messed with fonts and margins, I have experienced very few freezes, perhaps a handful in 2,5 years.

[Aleron Ives]

Yes, Kobos do freeze now and then. My understanding is that Kindles are generally more stable, but then you lose all the customisation options that Kobo brings to the table. I'll gladly accept some instability in exchange for having an open platform, but not everybody is willing to do that.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Jane Eyre

That maybe I bought a faulty or damaged product.
I don't know.

Sorry. I'm not sure to understand every single word of yours

I suspect that your English proficiency is far better than my Italian proficiency.

It's possible that your device is faulty but I would tend to check the loaded ebooks with epubcheck and eyeballing such items as using a single XHTML/HTML file for all text before coming to that conclusion.

Originally Posted by Jane Eyre

My favourite fonts in Einks are: Bitter HT, Amazon Bookerly, and Caecilia.
That's all.

Not the fonts that I would choose but that's the joy of being to use our preferred fonts.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Yes, Kobos do freeze now and then. My understanding is that Kindles are generally more stable, but then you lose all the customisation options that Kobo brings to the table. I'll gladly accept some instability in exchange for having an open platform, but not everybody is willing to do that.

I also have to mention that the more recent models, especially Sage and Libra 2, seem to be more prone to freezing than some older models. I don't remember my Libra 1 ever freezing - it seems to have been one of the most stable Kobo models. Unfortunately the screen was subpar, so I sold it after buying the Libra 2 with its gorgeous screen.

But yes, Kindles are generally more stable. I prefer Kobos for their customizability and Calibre integration, but they're certainly not the most bug-free devices out there.

[Jane Eyre]

No...I'm used to read a few books contemporarily. Loading thousand of files in my device would be no use for me.
About CSS, I disagree. It's quite clear that kepub format give a damn of it. Otherwise, tell me why it's able to justify text even if in the stylesheet is set the left...I have the feeling that kobo desperately tries to emulate kindle (who does the same with its KFX) without having the necessary know how...
Sorry, to me this device is fully disqualified.
Kindle for ever. And ever.. ever.. ever..
Kobo has not a chance in a million to win its competition against kindle.

[Jane Eyre]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I also prefer to clean up the css in the book before loading it on my Kobos and remove any redundant stuff, like nonstandard body font size, margins and line height for body text and so on.

If you create your own books yourself, ok. Of course. I agree with you, but what with purchased ebooks? Even if they weren't locked up with ADE DRM...what you do, you revise xhtml of every single file?

@DNSB
Thank you for your appreciation of my english

[Jane Eyre]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Yes, Kobos do freeze now and then. My understanding is that Kindles are generally more stable, but then you lose all the customisation options that Kobo brings to the table. I'll gladly accept some instability in exchange for having an open platform, but not everybody is willing to do that.

Yes. Honest reasoning of yours!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Jane Eyre

Sorry, to me this device is fully disqualified.
Kindle for ever. And ever.. ever.. ever..
Kobo has not a chance in a million to win its competition against kindle.

To each their own. If you're fully satisfied with the way Kindles do things and want your Kobo to do them in exactly the same way, then of course you'll be disappointed. Kobos are not Kindles, they do things differently, and if their way is not what you prefer, by all means stick to Kindles.

I have a feeling you expected the same experience from your Kobo that you had with Kindles, and that's why you're disappointed. Because the experience was not the same.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Jane Eyre

If you create your own books yourself, ok. Of course. I agree with you, but what with purchased ebooks? Even if they weren't locked up with ADE DRM...what you do, you revise xhtml of every single file?

Yes, that's exactly what I do. I've always done it - even when I still used Kindles. And any DRM gets removed immediately after buying, I won't tolerate it.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I can't see me buying another Kindle ever.

To my understanding, the Paperwhite 5 is a lot better than the PW 3 you are referring.

When I saw that Send to Kindle was accepting ePub and that enhanced typography was a thing after the Scribe received it first, those were the 2 obstacles for me getting a Kindle.

I first started reading ebooks on a Sony device, decades ago. Then on a Kindle. After that, I heard of the Kobo and had many of them over the years. I moved back to Kindle just last October. I'm not trying to convince anyone that it is better like all of you Kobo freaks.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

To my understanding, the Paperwhite 5 is a lot better than the PW 3 you are referring.

When I saw that Send to Kindle was accepting ePub and that enhanced typography was a thing after the Scribe received it first, those were the 2 obstacles for me getting a Kindle.

I first started reading ebooks on a Sony device, decades ago. Then on a Kindle. After that, I heard of the Kobo and had many of them over the years. I moved back to Kindle just last October. I'm not trying to convince anyone that it is better like all of you Kobo freaks.

Whereas I couldn't care less about Send to Kindle (which I almost never used, except for occasional experimenting) or enhanced typography. I ditched Kindles because they're not customizable enough for me and they don't work with Calibre like Kobos do. My last Kindle was the Oasis 3 from 2019. A good device, but the Kindle software did not satisfy me. Kobo software does. For me personally, Kobos ARE better. YMMV.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Whereas I couldn't care less about Send to Kindle (which I almost never used, except for occasional experimenting) or enhanced typography. I ditched Kindles because they're not customizable enough for me and they don't work with Calibre like Kobos do. My last Kindle was the Oasis 3 from 2019. A good device, but the Kindle software did not satisfy me. Kobo software does. For me personally, Kobos ARE better. YMMV.

I'm eager to see what the new Kobos will look like.