How Come Amazon Is More Popular Than Kobo?

[SteveEisenberg]

Normally, I don't like going with the high market share vendor -- never bought a GM car -- but this is an exception.

Not having an email address to send documents to the device -- big disadvantage.

No PC browser button -- another big disadvantage.

Then there's newspapers and magazines. This isn't as big an advantage for Kindle as it was until earlier this year, when US residents could purchase the heart of the New York Times for $1.99 a month. That killer app is now gone. But buying the eInk Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer for 49 cents is still a tremendous deal for me. Plus, I'm grandfathered into a good Washington Post deal on the Fire.

Kobo seems to be just for books. That's fine if you only read books.

I realize that one can side-load non-book content onto a Kobo. I've never had a Kobo, so apologize if I'm missing something.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by davidfor

But, I do agree that Kobo should have a better dictionary available.

On the plus side, the Kobo dictionary format is well-documented. So for those who don't mind a bit of tinkering there's always the option to take their Kindle_for_PC MOBI-format dictionary, remove the DRM, extract the HTML and wrestle it into Kobo dictionary format. The Oxford English dictionary converted pretty well. I don't have any Kindle_for_PC translation dictionaries so I couldn't test those.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by Shad Plante

If you send a "dual" or "new" format mobi to Kindle, the file that downloads to AZW capable readers is basically an AZW. I've done it with files and can adjust the boldness and use custom fonts that you cannot do with an "old" format mobi.

not for me it doesnt.. maybe depends on the file, and the device....
and maybe amazon have tweaked things again, but in my testing, for my daughter's kindle in another city, the only books that arrived were those converted to "old" mobi" as per calibre's defnitions of "new" and |"old". ANYTHING CONVERTED TO " NEW" MOBI" never arrived at her kindle. That's an oldish kindle, if that's a factor

basically "send to kindle" is a mess - it's send & hope & you got all the permutations right.

not begin able to send anything that calibre file as AZW is ridiculous.
so, starting with epub, I need to convert to AZW to sideload and read on my own paperwhite, then convert again to old mobi to send to my daughter

[Lady Stardust]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

On the plus side, the Kobo dictionary format is well-documented. So for those who don't mind a bit of tinkering there's always the option to take their Kindle_for_PC MOBI-format dictionary, remove the DRM, extract the HTML and wrestle it into Kobo dictionary format. The Oxford English dictionary converted pretty well. I don't have any Kindle_for_PC translation dictionaries so I couldn't test those.

Could you point me to a link with more details about this process? I have Mac though, not the PC.

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Personally, I think you put far to much emphasis on this. For the people I know who are using ereaders, none of them are reading on multiple devices. And, I have had to demonstrate the annotations function as they didn't know about it. There reactions tended to be somewhere between "cute" and "why?".

Again, I think a lot more emphasis is put on this here than really exists. Again, I've had to teach people about the dictionary in their ereaders. And most thought "handy" but didn't expect to use it. And I have reminded some of these people about it at other times.

I am pretty sure your people and I are not the same types of readers. If all I did was breeze through popular fiction for entertainment, I‘d probably be totally fine with Kobo. Since I read a lot of of scholarly literature for information and literature in languages not my own, my preferences are somewhat different.
Hence my choice of platform. The fact that many types of readers can be ok with the Kobo offerings does not mean that I cannot point out the flaws of the Kobo system in regard to mine and similar readers’ profiles.
So while it may true that other readers’ emphasis may be somewhat different, I am pretty confident that I put just the right amount of emphasis on these features in regard to a certain group of readers.
Moreover, reverse ‘whataboutism’ does not do it for me. If Amazon can offer these features, why can‘t Kobo? Cost-saving measures? Kobos are generally (if only slightly) more expensive that Kindles already.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by johnnyb

I am pretty sure your people and I are not the same types of readers. If all I did was breeze through popular fiction for entertainment, I‘d probably be totally fine with Kobo. Since I read a lot of of scholarly literature for information and literature in languages not my own, my preferences are somewhat different.
Hence my choice of platform. The fact that many types of readers can be ok with the Kobo offerings does not mean that I cannot point out the flaws of the Kobo system in regard to mine and similar readers’ profiles.
So while it may true that other readers’ emphasis may be somewhat different, I am pretty confident that I put just the right amount of emphasis on these features in regard to a certain group of readers.

Yes, a "certain group of readers" have the same requirements as you. But, it is probably a minute group compared to the number of people reading ebooks by one method or another. Based on what I see, here on MR, in the real world and in comments elsewhere on-line, most people reading ebooks, buy them from the a shop ,download them to the device/app they use and read the book there. The people here, on MR, are unusual in this respect and know more about what they can do with ebook, but in no way are we typical users.

Moreover, reverse ‘whataboutism’ does not do it for me. If Amazon can offer these features, why can‘t Kobo? Cost-saving measures? Kobos are generally (if only slightly) more expensive that Kindles already.

Of course Kobo could offer these functions. They have made the decision not to. Why, I have no idea. Anything I say is just a guess. Maybe they talked to their typical customers and found that none of them wanted the function. Maybe they decided that Amazon had done it so well that they couldn't compete. Maybe it will be in version 5 of the firmware. But, the most likely reason is that they simply don't think it will sell more devices or books.

Just to be clear, I am in no way trying to say that syncing books and reading status between devices isn't useful. Or that annotations aren't. Just that I think you are putting far to much emphasis on this as a reason that people would choose an ereader. I think that very few people use this as part of their decision making.

Also, I have no idea what "reverse ‘whataboutism’" is. I had to look up "whataboutism". It seems to be disproving an argument by accusing the arguer of hypocrisy. So is "reverse ‘whataboutism’" proving the argument by accusing them of hypocrisy? Or disproving it by not accusing them of hypocrisy? I suppose it must be the latter as I can't think of any attempt to accuse you of hypocrisy. Or is it what you are demonstrating above?

[shalym]

Originally Posted by stumped

not for me it doesnt.. maybe depends on the file, and the device....
and maybe amazon have tweaked things again, but in my testing, for my daughter's kindle in another city, the only books that arrived were those converted to "old" mobi" as per calibre's defnitions of "new" and |"old". ANYTHING CONVERTED TO " NEW" MOBI" never arrived at her kindle. That's an oldish kindle, if that's a factor

basically "send to kindle" is a mess - it's send & hope & you got all the permutations right.

not begin able to send anything that calibre file as AZW is ridiculous.
so, starting with epub, I need to convert to AZW to sideload and read on my own paperwhite, then convert again to old mobi to send to my daughter

I'm sorry that it doesn't work for you...I'm not sure why. Maybe bring it up to Kovid and see if he can figure it out? Have you tried sending him any log files from the conversions you are doing? It certainly does work for me, and everyone else that I've discussed it with. I've never had a problem using "send to Kindle"-whether it's sending via email straight from my email client, or using calibre's send via email function, or using the send to Kindle app on my computer.

It's my favorite thing about my Kindles. The only time I ever plug any of my Kindles into my computer is if there's a new firmware update that I don't want to wait for.

Shari

[Shad Plante]

Originally Posted by stumped

not for me it doesnt.. maybe depends on the file, and the device....
and maybe amazon have tweaked things again, but in my testing, for my daughter's kindle in another city, the only books that arrived were those converted to "old" mobi" as per calibre's defnitions of "new" and |"old". ANYTHING CONVERTED TO " NEW" MOBI" never arrived at her kindle. That's an oldish kindle, if that's a factor

basically "send to kindle" is a mess - it's send & hope & you got all the permutations right.

not begin able to send anything that calibre file as AZW is ridiculous.
so, starting with epub, I need to convert to AZW to sideload and read on my own paperwhite, then convert again to old mobi to send to my daughter

If it is an older Kindle, that would be the reason. I believe the older Kindles cannot handle AZW files so a file that is a "new" mobi would not be able to download to it.

Have you tried using "both" when converting to Mobi? The files are a little larger because it contains both an older style mobi and a newer AZW style file. When you upload one of those, Amazon sends the appropriate format to each device.

Amazon also has a command line converter called KindleGen you can download that creates "dual" format Mobis that would do the same thing. It works pretty well.

[stumped]

It is an older Kindle I think. Different city so unsure. It has been ages since we used that mechanism. I am not that fussed about debugging it. I think my comment about cannot send azw is still valid though ?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Lady Stardust

Could you point me to a link with more details about this process? I have Mac though, not the PC.

There isn't a single link with all the relevant info. I had to piece together a process from several sources.

I think there's probably too much detail involved to post all the info in this general thread without derailing it so I'll PM you some stuff.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Personally, I think you put far to much emphasis on this. For the people I know who are using ereaders, none of them are reading on multiple devices. And, I have had to demonstrate the annotations function as they didn't know about it. There reactions tended to be somewhere between "cute" and "why?".

Again, I think a lot more emphasis is put on this here than really exists. Again, I've had to teach people about the dictionary in their ereaders. And most thought "handy" but didn't expect to use it. And I have reminded some of these people about it at other times.

I'm like the people you know. I never use notes/annotations. Nor do I read across multiple devices and I rarely use the dictionary.

But I also know that my personal experience does not apply to every reader.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'm like the people you know. I never use notes/annotations. Nor do I read across multiple devices and I rarely use the dictionary.

But I also know that my personal experience does not apply to every reader.

i am suprised there is not wider usage of reading on 2+ synced devices. There must be a case for having a small, cheap pocket sized device for travel/commuting, and a larger / different de-luxe one at home. I am sure that some posters on this forum say they do exactly that

holding a $300 deluxe e-reader on crowded public transport is maybe not quite in the same "asking for it" category as flashing a $20k rolex, but its still a target for a street thief. And unlike most expensive phones, there is no remote alarm, no trace my phone, no take a selfie of the thief option to deter.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by stumped

i am suprised there is not wider usage of reading on 2+ synced devices. There must be a case for having a small, cheap pocket sized device for travel/commuting, and a larger / different de-luxe one at home. I am sure that some posters on this forum say they do exactly that.

There likely is. I'm just saying *I* don't do it.

holding a $300 deluxe e-reader on crowded public transport is maybe not quite in the same "asking for it" category as flashing a $20k rolex, but its still a target for a street thief. And unlike most expensive phones, there is no remote alarm, no trace my phone, no take a selfie of the thief option to deter.

It would be a glorious place if there was a wide enough market for e-ink readers to be highly desired by a thief. As it is now, if one is snatched, I would bet it was done by mistake and would be dumped when the thief saw what they snatched. "This thing isn't even in color!"

For that matter, what $300 reader? The Oasis 2 and the Forma are two of the highest end readers and both are below $300.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by stumped

i am suprised there is not wider usage of reading on 2+ synced devices. There must be a case for having a small, cheap pocket sized device for travel/commuting, and a larger / different de-luxe one at home.

I read on several different devices; sometimes it's different books and sometimes I just remember what page I was on. Syncing's not important to me. I mostly keep WiFi off anyway.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

For that matter, what $300 reader? The Oasis 2 and the Forma are two of the highest end readers and both are below $300.

you got me - I rounded up - was not sure of USD prices but both are/will be in the high £200s in UKP so I guessed at $300, forgetting that UK prices are always a relative rip-off. The Forma is not available to buy here until later this month.

I stumbled into this long discussion, and the other similar one, just to check what I might be missing out on by not getting either the oasis 2 or the Forma.

my conclusion so far, is not much

PS after posting , i thought again about remote lock .... you can call amazon and get your stolen kindle blacklisted but Kobo don't have that facility