Does it make sense to even look at Kobo

[rpmazur]

I'm wondering if it makes sense to even look at the Kobo line with the demise of Borders. I have a substantial free library that I have for the Kobo, but I'm sure with Calibre, I could easily convert.

What is the thought from everyone else??

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rpmazur

I'm wondering if it makes sense to even look at the Kobo line with the demise of Borders. I have a substantial free library that I have for the Kobo, but I'm sure with Calibre, I could easily convert.

What is the thought from everyone else??

If you don't actually need the Kobo now, wait and see what Kobo does with the firmware and what Sony does with the new Readers.

[ArmorDog]

There is a common misconception that Borders "owns" or "created" Kobo.
Kobo is an independent company that has/had a relationship with several affiliated booksellers (Borders, Chapters, etc).

Kobo runs/ran these booksellers' ebook stores. So, even after Borders is long gone, you'll still be able to buy readers and ebooks from Kobo.

[fbrII]

I have owned a few e-readers (Kindle & Sony) over the past several years and currently own a Kobo. I use cablibre to manage my books and have rarely purchased ebooks from Borders in the past, so I don't see Borders as much of an issue.

As ArmorDog pointed out Kobo is an independent company. It's a good reader and I would not be concerned about Borders if you are interested in a Kobo.

[remcdonald]

Indeed that does seem to be a common misconception. Borders did not own or have anything to do with Kobo other than selling them and using them for their ebook website. Kobo is mainly owned by Chapters Indigo and unlike Borders they are in no danger of closing and even if they did Kobo is an independent company with a strong balance sheet and so is unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon. As for sony I've met a lot of people converting off sonys you could wait but I suspect you will find them releasing once again a product that is out of the competitive price range and is more for people who are really and truly bought into that company already rather than those who might be getting their first ereader.

[robko]

Originally Posted by remcdonald

Borders did not own or have anything to do with Kobo other than selling them and using them for their ebook website.

Borders was/is a MINORITY shareholder in Kobo. However as others have said the demise of Borders is highly unlikely to affect the future of Kobo. I have no idea what the numbers are, but my sense would be that sales outside the U.S. would be a substantial part of their sales and they have other distribution channels in the U.S. anyway (i.e. Best Buy). So assuming you're concerned about the future of Kobo, don't worry about it and consider the Kobo with everything else.

[luqmaninbmore]

Kobo has really good customer service. I've often got coupons (and even a free book) from them over relatively minor issues. Also, I owned their first ereader which had a glitch when upgrading the firmware. SameerH, who is here on mobileread, overnighted an SD card with the corrected firmware, which did the trick. They also support linux with a native app, which I very much approve of. I also make extensive use of the browser to connect with my dropbox account so that I can download my own books and newspapers wirelessly. It also works well with Feedbooks, Manybooks, and Fictionwise. In addition to the usual ebook formats (ePub, PDF, mobipocket) it also supports CBR and CBZ (comic book formats) natively, which is a nice touch. Finally, their social media integration is quite good, providing awards, reading stats, and the ability to share quotes with your Facebook friends. While annotation is not as robust as the Sony line, the Kobo gives you much more control over the appearance of your books, similar to the Bookeen Cybook and Pocketbook Reader (or the recent nook simple touch), while being less expensive (~$97 at Borders).

Luqman