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Old 03-27-2015, 06:14 PM   #1
MariusMasalar
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Post Kindle vs. Kobo: a Long-Term, In-Depth Comparative Review

Hi folks,

Long time lurker here—wanted to make a meaningful contribution with my first post!

I'm a tech journalist, and for the past few months I've been researching for a thorough article examining these two e-reading options. It revolves around a comparison between the Aura H2O and the Kindle Paperwhite 2 (I'm in Canada, so they couldn't send a Voyage), but it encompasses a lot more than the hardware.

My goal was to try and help people decide which of the ecosystems is a better fit for their needs. I tried to discuss details that other reviews I found didn't address, and to keep the tone helpful and fair.

It's a long read, but I hope it's of interest: Kindle vs. Kobo: The Future of Reading



Mods, I wasn't sure if this was a better fit here or in "Which One Should I Buy?" so please move it if I picked incorrectly!
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Old 03-28-2015, 01:15 AM   #2
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Thanks for posting that; it was an interesting read and just cofirmed my impressions of the two devices. I think that I would probably prefer the Kobo because I hate the Amazon font choices and limited sizing options and prefer a 7" reader, but I went with the PW2 because of the ease (and lower prices) of ebook purchases and the Wiki integration, and the book syncing capability across devices.

But given the fact that I am an ereader junkie, I'm sure there'll be a Kobo in my future at some point in time.
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Old 03-28-2015, 09:26 AM   #3
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As much as I hate to admit it (as someone who is enthusiastic about type), the reality is that all of that kind of disappears when I'm reading a good book, and "good enough" really is good enough.

It's other things, like the stupid highlighting restrictions on the Kobo, that actively bother me.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:08 AM   #4
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As much as I hate to admit it (as someone who is enthusiastic about type), the reality is that all of that kind of disappears when I'm reading a good book, and "good enough" really is good enough.
...whereas I am so bothered by the line spacing on your article that I'm finding it difficult to read!
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:12 AM   #5
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Uh-oh, what's bothering you about it? I'm always making adjustments to improve readability, so by all means let me know what you'd prefer!

I have it set a bit looser than what's typical for print, but I find it more accessible for longer articles on the web this way. Maybe that's just me though.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:18 AM   #6
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I read fast, so I was basically constantly scrolling. Very little text on a screen compared to what most web articles manage. Each to their own, I'm sure others like it.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:26 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MariusMasalar View Post
Uh-oh, what's bothering you about it? I'm always making adjustments to improve readability, so by all means let me know what you'd prefer!

I have it set a bit looser than what's typical for print, but I find it more accessible for longer articles on the web this way. Maybe that's just me though.
It looks to me as if you've fallen into a common web design trap these days...your entire blog is formatted in a way that looks wonderful on tablets or phones, but looks utterly horrible on a large widescreen monitor attached to a laptop or desktop computer. Generally, if I find a site formatted in that way, it goes onto my do not visit list.

Shari
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:27 AM   #8
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Shari - spot on, the whole thing looks like a blown-up mobile theme. Doesn't work in Pocket, either.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:33 AM   #9
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It's funny because a large monitor is exactly what I designed it to look best on—I myself am always looking at it on a pair of 24" monitors.

Could you be more specific about what's off-putting about the layout on large screens? My goals were to have it be uncluttered, focused, and quick. No ads, no distracting widgets. Just content.

As for Pocket, that's bizarre...all the other articles on the site work just fine so I have to check in with the Pocket folks to see why this one doesn't!
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:50 AM   #10
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It's funny because a large monitor is exactly what I designed it to look best on—I myself am always looking at it on a pair of 24" monitors.

Could you be more specific about what's off-putting about the layout on large screens? My goals were to have it be uncluttered, focused, and quick. No ads, no distracting widgets. Just content.

As for Pocket, that's bizarre...all the other articles on the site work just fine so I have to check in with the Pocket folks to see why this one doesn't!
I can't explain it, but when I go to sites like that on my desktop, it makes my eyes hurt. I've attached 2 screenshots. One is your site, and one is a site with what I consider to be good formatting. Notice that your site shows MUCH less text in the screenshot, because of a larger font size and more space between lines. Your site almost feels like a paper written by a student who is trying to fill in a required number of pages, rather than someone who is writing to inform or entertain.

Shari
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:53 AM   #11
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Double-spaced lines are very hard on the eye.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:57 AM   #12
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When I first hit your article, all I can see is a title with author and date. That pisses me off right there - Why do I have to go below the fold just to access your opening paragraphs? It's virtually a splash screen, and those need to be killed with fire.

I scroll below that, and all I get on a screen (unless I go down to an unreadably small font) is ten lines. I scroll down further, and not only do your design choices mean I get far less text on a screen than is optimal for me, but you've chosen to force a fixed header on me, which I can't get rid of. Your text scrolls up underneath this forced title bar, and it reduced the number of lines per screen even further. Your margins are wide, meaning there's lots of glarey whitespace. This was also distracting - I ended up narrowing my browser window to reduce it. I have no idea what your "X minutes left" appearing-and-disappearing floating window is meant to add to the experience, except to double my annoyance - I can see how far along I am in my scrollbar, I don't need your estimates of time remaining forced on me either, and every time a webpage element appears or disappears it grabs reader focus.

So you've got a mish-mash of 'minimalistic' design, excessive line spacing and other whitespace, combined with pointless widgets that either distract and annoy, appear and disappear, or break conventional expectations of how websites should behave.

And your images are way too large for the text they're embedded in, further emphasising the feeling of seeing a blown-up smartphone screen.

Then your homescreen - only five posts? OK, again, each to their own, but can web readers really not be trusted with 7-10 on your home screen? And why no website title at the top, as any blog reader expects?

Yours is by no means the worst website I've ever encountered, don't get me wrong. But you did ask.

(And this is coming from someone who's rather a fan of relatively minimalistic design!)

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Old 03-28-2015, 11:17 AM   #13
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I have to agree with most of what was already said, especially about the double-spacing and the huge title which takes up the entire screen, instead of being just a header. When you hover over the title, it becomes unlined as if it's a link, yet clicking on it does nothing. I expected it to at least scroll down to where the actual article started.

I actually do like the larger images though which makes them very easy to see the details, great for people really trying to make a decision between choices. Perhaps a better option though would be to size them smaller within the article but being able to click to view full size, that satisfies both camps.

Since you went into detail about the size differences and how much more comfortable the Kindle was because it, you probably should have compared the PW2 to a Kobo 6" reader like the Glo or Aura. I have a PW2 and a Kobo Glo, and there's really no way I'd read on the PW2 over the Glo. Kobo gives you total control over your fonts, spacing, margins, even adding additional fonts. With the PW2, your choices are to live with what you get as default. Even though the PW2 is supposed to have the better screen, the font adjustments on the Glo give me more contrast, making it the better reading experience for me.
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Old 03-28-2015, 12:52 PM   #14
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Thanks very much for the detailed comments and examples, guys—very useful feedback!

A lot of it conflicts with what I've heard from other readers, but a lot of it rings true so I am making a few adjustments to the styling as we speak. I'll probably push them out later today.

Any typesetting job on the web is a dance of compromises, and I erred on the side of accessibility—I'd rather make people scroll than squint. Some of this stuff comes down to preference, too.

In any case, I appreciate the feedback and will implement aspects of it today.
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Old 03-28-2015, 01:11 PM   #15
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Thanks very much for the detailed comments and examples, guys—very useful feedback!

A lot of it conflicts with what I've heard from other readers, but a lot of it rings true so I am making a few adjustments to the styling as we speak. I'll probably push them out later today.

Any typesetting job on the web is a dance of compromises, and I erred on the side of accessibility—I'd rather make people scroll than squint. Some of this stuff comes down to preference, too.

In any case, I appreciate the feedback and will implement aspects of it today.
I think the issue is that you are trying to make something that is readable on a mobile device, and not adjusting it for desktop devices. There are ways to make a site that is readable on both types of screens, but what's you've done is optimize it for mobile. If the readers you are targeting are reading on mobile devices, then don't change anything. If you are targeting desktop/laptop readers, however, or trying to create a design that is viewable on both mobile and desktop, then you have, in my opinion, at least, failed. I look forward to seeing the tweaks you make.

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