Thanking Kobo for their support for Calibre

[timlegge]

Hi

As some of you noted from the new Kobo user guide, they seem to like Calibre.

Yesterday I received a new WIFI version from Kobo to help in my Calibre Kobo driver development. As I noted in another thread, the new database schema is different and should allow new features to be added to Calibre.

One of the notable things in the database is that an empty table was left in place. I don't know if that was by design but it helped ensure that the calibre driver continued to work without any changes.

This is the second time that Kobo has donated a Kobo to me to help ensure that the Calibre driver worked well with the device. Kobo's support for the community is great and I wanted to thank them.

Regards

Tim

[taming]

Kobo seems to have a business ethic that is more open and user friendly than many of their competitors. The fact that they openly promote and support the use of Calibre is a good fit for them. I'm betting that there are some Kobo folks that are thanking their lucky stars that Calibre is out there. You have done amazing work Tim--work that benefits us all.

JCKobo has also done good work for the MR community as he clarifies and explains the features of the new reader and the challenges that they are facing as they update the older one.

People here might be interested in reading The eReaders Bill of Rights (the Kobo perspective) on the Kobo blog:

...We have always believed that your books are your books, and you should be able to take them where you want. You shouldn’t be shackled to a platform or tied to a device. If another service or device or reading experience comes along, you should be able to bring your books with you. We think it’s your right as a reader. That got us thinking about what people reading digitally should generally be able to expect — an eReader’s Bill of Rights:...

Kobo is a business venture, and profits are the organizing force for all business, but how kewl is it that they are using a model like this?

[sabredog]

They came through for me, no questions about it.

[J. Strnad]

I very much appreciate the Kobo/Calibre relationship! Thanks to all who make it possible!

[daffy4u]

This speaks very well of the company. WTG Kobo!

[dmacmart]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I very much appreciate the Kobo/Calibre relationship! Thanks to all who make it possible!

Yes that's a big plus in Kobo's favour. And thanks to Tim for his efforts!

[SameerH]

Shipping a device is easy... building the driver is hard. Big thanks to Tim for taking the time to help the community out.

[JCKobo]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I very much appreciate the Kobo/Calibre relationship! Thanks to all who make it possible!

A big thanks to Tim and all his time here - he makes the real magic happen!

[ModReader]

+1 Thanks Tim for taking the time to help out, and to Kobo for making things easier for Calibre Development.

[digital_steve]

Well done both of you!

[moffattm]

Good on you Kobo!

[SensualPoet]

Kudos to both Tim and Kobo. Kobo's vision to be a cross-platform ereader has been backed up by real action -- at the executive level and in the trenches. One can sense true passion for the venture, not simply viewing it as a bottom line accounting exercise.

And something else has happened. Though the first device is not yet six months old in Canada and much less than that on the "international stage", upstart Kobo has grabbed mind-share and a genuine place at the table that formerly sat three players: Amazon's Kindle, Sony's eReaders and B&N's Nook. That's a remarkable accomplishment and Kobo seems on track to make further inroads.

It's not hard to imagine in 18 months we'll be talking about Kindles and Kobos as the major players in the game. Kobo is the only player challenging Amazon on building a true fully-rounded global ecosystem to support its ereader. Bravo!

[dos]

Naturally they have to since Calibre is necessary to get the ePub versions sold on the Kobo store to look correct on the Kobo device...

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by dos

Naturally they have to since Calibre is necessary to get the ePub versions sold on the Kobo store to look correct on the Kobo device...

You find that with any ereader. I had to reformat several purchased ePUB's because the text only occupied the middle third of the screen on my Sony PRS-300.

Kobo is no orphan in this regard, not by a long shot.

[dos]

Originally Posted by sabredog

You find that with any ereader. I had to reformat several purchased ePUB's because the text only occupied the middle third of the screen on my Sony PRS-300.

Kobo is no orphan in this regard, not by a long shot.

Very true. I wouldn't expect ePubs purchased/otherwise obtained from sources that aren't official Kobo (Borders, the Kobo store etc) to look good right off the bat.

It would be nice if there was some QC on Kobo's part to make sure things from their own stores looked good on their own device though, especially since they are DRMed and you have to (maybe, ianal) break the law in order to reformat them.

Not to mention the average user would have absolutely no idea how to find the tools necessary to break DRM and probably doesn't even know that the appearance of the books can be changed. Those folks are just going to say "welp, this thing sucks, look at how bad the books look" and return it for a Kindle or whatever, this is bad for Kobo and bad for us, fans of the Kobo who want to see it succeed and become popular so we can have more nice things from them, and they can have more money to spend on development.