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Originally Posted by JSWolf
Hisense? Why? It's just junk IMHO.
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Why? Also Hisense A5 Pro is not out yet so maybe it will not be junk by your standards even if A5 was?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ps67
However, just to pretend not to go too off topic: paper books don't have privacy problems.  |
Ah, but paper books are very hard to hide from prying eyes. One can glance at you and see what you are reading. Not so much with electronic books. You can also easily 'hide' an electronic book if someone approaches, while paper book might require a backpack/bag to do so.
There are three scenarios (luckily all rare) where that matters:
1. If you live in a country where you wish to read a book that is against the law. Imagine reading some atheist/secular/critical paper book publicly in Saudi Arabia.
2. The book you wish to read is highly controversial and would make people around you suspicious/agressive/judgemental/upset. Imagine reading gay sex fantasy books in a Catholic university.
3. My case. I just feel good by being able to better keep a secret about myself or my activities. Harmless feel good is good, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
The thing is, if you go to the library to get an eBook or you buy an eBook, youve given out your information. So why do you need to have the Reader fake registered? You don't. It's paranoia. Besides, if you have a bank account and/or credit card, you've given more information about yourself then Kobo ever would get.
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I don't plan to either borrow ir buy books and don't own a bank account.
I also don't own a smartphone. And my computer presence is somewhat privacy-friendly, although I admit there are limits and 100% privacy being respected is an illusion. Still, if you can feed one hungry child out of millions, shouldn't you?
I don't think lack of privacy in some areas are enough arguments for lack of privacy in others. I also don't believe privacy is something that needs to be justified. Maybe it's a principle, or a genuine mental issue, or maybe a person just feels cozy when their idea of privacy is met. Or maybe they work for the Mongolian secret service and love to read intelligence reports on epaper without risking a chance of their information leaking to Kobo or Amazon. Okay bad example.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZodWallop
I understand the desire for absolute privacy, but at times it can become a hindrance. If a one-time registration gives you access to a device with overall better features, just make an account with a disposable email address, register and get on with your life.
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I understand. What you write is pragmatic.
But doing so would go a bit against my principles. Consequently it would make me feel bad about it and it would make things happen that I prefer not to happen with purchasd product.
And I tend to think about purchases as a means of supporting something. So if would support companies and products that I think are flawed in aspects important to me - instead of those who don't have those flaws - it would make my principles/beliefs a bit meaningless. It's a bit like some people not buying the fruits of child labour or not shopping at shops that donate to abortion clinics etc. So I guess it's a bit of activism. I understand how debatable this rationale is, but feel free to share your input if you will.
Another reason for avoiding even such "small" hindrances as required registration:
The fact that registration, even if fake, is REQUIRED tells me two things:
1. There may be other things that the manufacturer thinks are REQUIRED which might be repulsive to me.
2. The manufacturer thinks I'm an idiot who needs to be guided away from making a "mistake" or not registering so they don't even provide that option.
In short, this small thing, required registration, shows their product philosophy, their view on manufacturer-client(in this case, serviceprovider-client, because they don't just manufacture it but retain their presence after purchase) relation and how they view their clients in general.
I hope I did not come off as too argumentative.
I really love and respect all your views on this by 100%! I think you are very pragmatic and I am definitely overthinking. I can even fully agree that my 'needs' could be called silly.
By the way I love all the off topic discussion lines in this thread. We are humans after all and alive discussions are great.