Thread: I have been seduced by the Dark Side
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Old 05-28-2013, 06:38 PM   #18
Katsunami
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jgray View Post
I have all along resisted joining the Kindle ecosystem, preferring to stay with epub. I have taken advantage of the Kindle freebies, however. I have both Aldiko and Kindle apps on my phone and tablet.
By virtue of Calibre and Apprentice Alf's blog, there is no need to be locked into any ecosystem. I've been reading on a Kindle since the KTouch was released, but I've never bought a single book at Amazon. (Except for a $0 free book, to test de-DRM'ing.)

Quote:
Even with all of my reservations about ebook formats, I will say that the Paperwhite is the best eInk reader I've ever seen. With the front light adjusted to suit the ambient conditions, I find the Paperwhite very readable, and the matt screen isn't as reflective as my phone or tablet.
True, but Amazon could take a page from Kobo's e-reader (if that's possible with an e-reader), and add some more customization options, beginning with fonts. Come on. 6 fonts? Just have a "serif" and a "sans serif" dropdown list each holding 10-12 fonts or so. This is 2013 for frack's sake.

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I still prefer epub and will purchase that format when I need to buy. I have found that dropping an epub onto the command-line tool kindlegen produces a Kindle ebook that is essentially the same format as the original epub. It is an extra step to convert, but is not too big a nuisance.
Do you not use Calibre? It converts books into AZW3 automatically when you send them to your Kindle.

Quote:
So, although I really like the Paperwhite, I will still resist going completely over to the Dark Side by not purchasing Kindle books. And I have recently learned that the latest Kindle book format is just a binary conversion of an epub. So, even though Amazon is embracing epub as a better format, they continue to make it proprietary.
I've been saying that for over three years; that epub + conversion is the way to go if you want a Kindle, because you have more stores available, so more choices, more sales, and so on. And more readers without conversion, if you ever wanted to switch.
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