[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by please55

You didn't even attempt to address anything I said...

The memory in a Kobo Mini for example can't be taken out and it can't be exchanged. Its the very definition of not interoperable. It isn't a future proof medium. I can still listen to cassettes today even though every single tape deck I ever owned is gone. What does that have to do with doing more of the "same"?

Because ebooks are not tied to the storage medium they come on. Not only is that the fundamental structure of an ereader, it is also why an SD card would work.

More memory is just... more memory. Not "better" memory. If the book went in on an SD card, it is still located somewhere else, yes?

Any method you would use to retrieve the data from the SD card could be used to retrieve the data from the internal memory as well.
Until it is too late to do so, of course -- but that applies equally to the SD card.

As for my second point - an expansion slot allows someone to move data with less friction in the event of a critical failure. Yes, it is possible to lose access to a computer and have you e-reader fail but still retain your data because its not tied to the unit.

Lots of things are possible.

It is possible to have the ereader and the SD card fail, and still have your computer work.

Your argument essentially boils down to: SD cards are good because they can serve as part of a multiply-redundant backup regime.

I don't buy that -- a multiply-redundant backup regime should not depend on your ereader having an SD card slot. A multiply-redundant backup regime should not depend on having multiple copies of data in use. A multiply-redundant backup regime should set out to be a multiply-redundant backup regime involving a RAID configuration, backup HDDs in the fireproof safe containing rotating data snapshots, located in at least one offsite AND one offline location, and backed up to secured cloud storage as well for good measure.

And because if all your books are located on the SD card instead of the internal memory, then only the SD card need fail, not the reader, and you are still down to one point of failure on the ereader.

Anyone relying on the SD card to stave off critical data failure is going to get fried more easily than virtually any other way. Granted, some people don't rely on anything whatsoever and may not have heard of "data" -- you are better of than them, at least. But I have to question why you are ignoring First Principles in the science of data retention -- no single point of failure.

I think you are trying to argue for the sake of arguing. I don't think sd cards are needed because we don't have enough space or I have to have entire collections with me. I think they are a good idea because they free up data in my eyes. If I haven't clarified the concept well enough that I'm communicating the same meaning to you, I apologize for my writing.

I think the problem is that your arguments are insufficient to describe why separate internal and external ereader storage solves the problem.