It is the Worst of Times for Reading EBooks

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Indeed, why not allow the user to configure custom screen zones, again, just like many major ereader apps?

I've wondered this myself. That's one tablet feature that could easily be copied on an eInk device.

To achieve truly ambidextrous controls on a kindle or kobo, one must pay $300+. WTF For buttons. They used to be standard, now they're premium only. But the same effect can achieved easily on Alreader which was written by one man.

Nook Glowlight 3 - $119
Nook Glowlight Plus - $199

[leebase]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I've wondered this myself. That's one tablet feature that could easily be copied on an eInk device.

I like FB Reader's 6 zone (3 left, 3 right). I have all but the bottom left set to next page. The few times I go back, I can get there with a tap.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by leebase

I like FB Reader's 6 zone (3 left, 3 right). I have all but the bottom left set to next page. The few times I go back, I can get there with a tap.

I like Perfect Viewer and CDisplayEX's 9 panel grid. But 9 panes might be overkill on a 6" screen

[leebase]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I like Perfect Viewer and CDisplayEX's 9 panel grid. But 9 panes might be overkill on a 6" screen

Yep. 9 total zones. 3 columns. For page turning, I only use the left most and right most columns

[teija]

DRM, eBook pricing and all of those similar issues aside, if we are talking about hardware cost, this is quite possibly the BEST time for eReaders. Mainly because if you shop around you can pick up a gently used reader for $40 or less - I have even seen them in the $20 range! Gone are the days of $200+ (unless you WANT to spend that and get a deluxe sparkly new one of course). It has made eReaders accessible to even those on a low budget.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by latepaul

Only in the world of tech do people expect products should get better *and* cheaper over time. It's always been an anomaly and there's no law of nature that says it should continue.

And it's fine to want an ereader (or any product) at an arbitrarily low price, but someone has to figure out how to make it and sell it at that price and stay in business.

Usually when things go down past a certain point in price it means that something else new will be coming along. Tube TV's dropped way down but then the flat screens were coming in. VHS players dropped but here come the DVD players which also dropped as Blue Ray players came in. I still remember my first e-reader. An ebookman device. It took batteries and the power lasted for 3-4 hrs at most. It also had a dox matrix type of font as well. My first kindle (a Keyboard model) was far superior to it. There are some problems sure. I agree that ebooks sometimes cost more than paper which doesn't make sense to me and I don't like that I license my copy rather than owning it outright but I can buy and download a book to read in mere moments. Ebook publishing is a new wrinkle in a business that's several centuries old. Naturally there will be some wrong turns as the media develops.

[leebase]

Perhaps I can make an analogy. 10 years ago this forum hopping. Lots of excitement and new ereaders seemingly every week to talk about. Similar to the smartphone explosion back when there was Nokia, Blackberry, Palm, Microsoft, Sony Erricson and Apple.

There was a shaking out and we are left with 2 platforms. A very expensive, premium, "walled garden" iPhone, or a "mine your personal and location data to sell to whoever" Android platform.

That's it. No other options. Now, you can spend a little or a lot on an Android phone. They come in all shapes and sizes. But there is no Palm, no Blackberry, no Nokia (Foxconn rents the brand name) etc.

If you like keyboard phones....you are out of luck, nobody makes them any more.

The best iPhones and Androids a FAR better than any iPhone or Android phone has ever been....with higher prices as well.

I am not so happy with the current state of the eInk "post shake out". What we have are devices tied to specific stores. You can go out of your way to sideload books....but that's a hassle.

And the prices never got to "cheap", IMHO. That's why I still haven't bought one. Tablet prices dropped faster than eInk devices such that I have to justify to myself spending a good deal more for a single function device. And I just don't read outside enough to justify the purchase.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by leebase

You can go out of your way to sideload books....but that's a hassle.

Maybe for you. However, for me, sideloading to Kobo and/or Android devices from my central repository in calibre allows me all the flexibility I want and need. I have zero interest in allowing any 3rd-party to control access to my library.

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by leebase

...But there is no Palm, no Blackberry, no Nokia (Foxconn rents the brand name) etc...

HMD Global holds the Nokia brand and intellectual property rights licenses for the whole world (until 2026, as far as I am aware), not Foxconn.

FIH Mobile (a subsidiary of Foxconn) has certain rights with respect to Nokia feature phones only, not smartphones, through acquisition from Microsoft in 2016, but HMD Global has control of the branding, marketing, sales and distribution of all Nokia mobile phones including those feature phones.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by leebase

I am not so happy with the current state of the eInk "post shake out". What we have are devices tied to specific stores.

But eInk readers have been tied to a store since their rise in popularity with the Sony eReaders. Sony didn't let you buy books from Amazon, did they?

You can go out of your way to sideload books....but that's a hassle.

If you bought an eInk device that wasn't tied to a particular store, how would you get the books on your device? Would the readers come with apps to multiple stores? If so, that would still tie you to those stores. EInk browsers aren't going to work. So you'd still be sideloading.

And the prices never got to "cheap", IMHO. That's why I still haven't bought one. Tablet prices dropped faster than eInk devices such that I have to justify to myself spending a good deal more for a single function device. And I just don't read outside enough to justify the purchase.

$120 seems like a reasonable price to me. You can buy a basic Kindle for $80 or less.

A Harley motorcycle costs as much as a car. Both do the same thing and the car can do a lot more besides. But I doubt many would say that they bought their car because the motorcycle was too expensive.

[leebase]

Like Hamilton...I’ll never be satisfied ��

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I've wondered this myself. That's one tablet feature that could easily be copied on an eInk device.

Either $$$ or dumbness. I'm guessing #1. If they implemented custom tap zones, they why would we need buttons...

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Nook Glowlight 3 - $119
Nook Glowlight Plus - $199

I know, but the new Nook is new(ish). I doubt it will rock the Kobo/Kindle button cash-boat. It has too many other failings. Shame. I think B&N got bought, right? I wonder if they'll dump the Nook.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I've wondered this myself. That's one tablet feature that could easily be copied on an eInk device.

A very similar effect can be achieved on Koreader. I'm still playing around with it. It's a bit fiddly. ot user-friendly at all, but doable with some very minor head-scratching. Koreader makes a Kindle sooooooo much nicer. The Kindle hardware is very nice. The software is (yet again, and definitely deliberately) sooooo restrictive.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

EDIT: I mean, you can sort of reach out with your thumb and swipe toward your hand

I don't want to have to reach out etc. I want to touch with no effort or reaching. If I could, I would turn pages with the power of my mind alone. The next best thing to this is an android remote page-turner, which I'll probably get at some point to use with an Onyx Poke. Then I wont even have to move my hand. I will lay there on my back with my ereader propped on my belly and not even have to move my hand. Bit unnecessary, but ahh, why not?

[pdurrant]

The Best of Times thread has 11 posts. This one has 90.

I think this shows that either this is the worst of times, or people like complaining more than they like celebrating.