Asimov's Science Fiction from Kobo

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by Quoth

USB is the ONLY method I'm interested in. The ereader/phone/tablet can charge at the same time.

Direct to device locks you into one supplier/seller. Imagine if you could only use one brand of fuel or one specific brand and style of bread? Unless ALL retailers offer direct to Device for ALL devices, It's pointless.

Being able to sideload is important to avoid vendor lock-in, but there are advantages to being able to check out magazines directly from your ecosystem vendor. Such advantages include:

1. Discoverability - I am more likely to check out magazines on my Kobo if I can see them from the Kobo store.
2. Multi-device syncing - I can read the magazine on any Kobo device or device which supports the Kobo app and sync my progress. Color magazines might look better on my Android tablet than on my Sage.
3. Account/Payment consolidation - Not having to store my credit card with every mom-and-pop indie storefront.

They might not be important to you, but I think they're valid considerations.

[Quoth]

I use Android eink for any ebook not bought, like a loan/library.

I've had a magazine sub and also got individual magazines. The 10" Android LCD tablet works far better. Also they are not the reading duration of a novel, so the eink vs LCD isn't really relevant.

Eink is best for PD and bought novels. Not magazines or textbooks.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I've had a magazine sub and also got individual magazines. The 10" Android LCD tablet works far better. Also they are not the reading duration of a novel, so the eink vs LCD isn't really relevant.

It depends on the magazine, I find. Magazines that are heavy on the graphics are going to fare poorly on eInk, but even on my 10" Android tablet, I often find myself using the Article View mode in Libby when trying to read longer pieces. The 10" screen is still not quite big enough to reproduce the magazine page at 1:1 scale, and the font can be quite small in that view. I don't like pinch-zooming and panning around.

Longform articles can be quite pleasant to read on an e-ink screen. Longform.org used to have some digitized versions of printed articles, and I enjoyed saving those to Pocket and reading them on my Kobo. If the magazine is primarily longform content, I don't see why a magazine subscription on an EPUB wouldn't work on e-ink screens. I used to read EPUBs from Linux Journal on my Kobo before it went under, and they usually looked fine. Only the embedded code snippets presented a problem.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

It depends on the magazine, I find.

Yes, some need the Laptop HD screen. A 14″ QHD tablet might be nice?
Some even need my 23.5″ UHD/4K/HDR screen, which is nearly as pleasant to read on as eInk, but certainly not portable, settee, bed, PO /Chipper queue or whatever.

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And that's a problem why?

Not to me but obviously to some it is. I only side-load actually, avoiding connecting to the supplier's site.

[JSWolf]

I just had a look on Amazon and when I went to view the preview, I got a message on how to zoom in and out with a comic. Amazon is treating this like a comic because it's images and not text.

It's thr same in amazon US & UK. BTW, can anyone see how to view a sample from Amazon's site in the UK? I see Amazon have removed this for eBooks. I know you can send a sample to Kindoe for Web, but that puts the sample in your library.

[ballfresno]

It may be worth noting, given the original topic of this thread, that Asimov's and Analog both now offer digital downloads of their magazines. I've been subscribed now to both magazines for 2-3 years. I don't think they have any preview mechanism and you do have to side-load the epubs/mobi/pdf they provide (which is typically not a big deal given calibre etc.).

[RobertJSawyer]

Originally Posted by Desertway

Why, oh why, doesn't the publisher sell (digital) back issues of this magazine!?

Because their contracts with the authors don't allow that. We license to them what's called First Serial (meaning magazine) Rights but retain all the reprint rights, which can be a significant income stream for us. I've had stories that have resold more than a dozen times.

(I'm past president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.)