Can it be a year already? Last April 15th I read a post on Mobileread for a revolutionary new eReader with a large, trade paperback sized, high definition screen called Kobo Aura HD.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=210810
That got my attention and I hopped over here to the Kobo forum to find out what was going on:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=210800
Interesting. I read the posts and followed the links, spent a few days thinking about the innovations described and the price, the unknown seller—it turned out to be Shortcovers, I’d missed the name change. I puzzled over a cryptic statement that the Aura HD would be a “limited edition” which, happily, has not meant it was to be orphaned after a single production run.
On this anniversary of sorts I decided to look up those old threads. I'm glad I did, they capture a little of last year’s excitement.
I ordered an Aura HD and remember sitting on pins and needles waiting to see what I had. It exceeded my hopes. Since then I’ve added a Kobo Mini and a Kobo Aura, each fills a different need and since they all sync my reading position I can take which ever is appropriate to the coming day.
Over the past year I’ve seen some minor problems but remembering the adage that “the perfect is the enemy of the good,” I am content there is nothing wrong that seems important. I especially like Kobo’s approach to reading—the way it empowers me to read my books the way best for me. I have trouble seeing the “edges” of fonts and find that most common fonts tire my eyes. My Kobos let me install my own typeface and the firmware’s native, traditional page design and its ability to let me add white space in continuous line and margin widths allows me to mimic the relaxed book designs I prefer. Just these two things allow me to read faster and enjoy reading more.
The open nature of Kobo’s approach, starts with using the public domain ePub format but lets you chose to buy from Kobo direct or buy both your eReaders and your eBooks through a local, independent brick-and-mortar bookstore. They even support Adobe DRM from other company's bookstores. Since I’ve gotten used to the Kobo system I prefer to get my books from Kobo because I love the ePub3 extensions in kePub books. Now that they have accepted my entire Sony library into my Kobo library, almost all my epub books are available in kePub format, and the whole thing is stored in one convenient place, that syncs my current page number between all three Kobos and my iOS devices.
So then, that was last year and only today I noticed that the planets are aligning. This April 15, 2014, there will be a full moon and a lunar eclipse the same day, followed at the end of the month with a solar eclipse, which, incidentally, is on the same day as the next new moon. Okay, I know it’s really gravity that “guides the planets” and love only rules the stars in poetry. Naturally I don’t expect anyone to be impressed by the alignment of planets but who knows, maybe something interesting will happen again this year. Whether it does or not, those old posts were fun to browse through. I only really meant to invite you to take another peek.