[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by latepaul

There are lots of pros and cons to owning Kindles v Kobos (I have both).

Kindles tend IMHO to have a higher physical build quality.

I highly disagree on this one. Kindles are not better then Kobo.

Kindles make small evolutionary changes in firmware updates. Kobo is getting better but they have a habit of making fairly radical changes to the UI. When you can't find the menu item that was "right there" in the previous firmware version that's not a positive.

Kobo is innovative where Amazon is stale. Kobo allows these innovations to also be available on much older devices whereas Amazon says nope, can't have it. Heck, Amazon has end-of-lifed the PW3.

Kobos are far far easier to install other apps on. No need to jailbreak.

I agree.

Kobos have library support through ADE and for some models, direct on the device. Kindles - where I live - don't have either.

But most of these things don't matter that much. I use all my ereaders. They all do the job of putting words on an eInk screen. When one can't do something I know is possible on another it's an irritation but not a big deal.

It seems to be a big deal to some as they try all kinds of things to jailbreak their Kindles to try to get them to do things that Kobo does without jailbreaking or patching. One of the big deals is to have the book's cover on the sleep screen. Also, a real irritation that's being reported on MR is the loss of the cover thumbnails for side loaded books. This are things that are not an issue for Kobo.

I do sort of agree with your underlying premise that it makes more sense to reward a manufacturer that gives you the features you want by buying their device, than by buying a device that doesn't and having to rely on jailbreaks, hacks and patches. However I'm not sure that message gets back to Amazon (or Kobo) clearly. Especially since the proportion of people jailbreaking their Kindle is probably a rounding error to them.

I think there could be a lot more people who want their Kindle to do something it cannot do they have no idea about jailbreaking. I know there are a lot that want smaller margins and a smaller line height but Amazon won't listen.

the other problem is that Amazon tries to keep the Kindle simple, but they keep it too simple. Amazon treats customers like children. Kobo treats customers like adults.

I agree that you should buy a device that does what you want instead of one that doesn't do what you want.

I know Amazon has the email to Kindle feature, but most people will end up with a Mobi format eBook and they could lose formatting/features of the eBook and end up with a worse reading experience. When you live outside of the US, Kindles are poor for library use as you cannot get a compatible eBook.

Another problem is people see very bad reviews of Kobo vs Kindle from GoodEReader on YouTube and don't know that the Kobo is that much better because GoodEReader dumbs down the Kobo for the Kobo to match the Kindle and they don't explain the differences. properly. So to the average person, Kobo seems to be no better then the Kindle.