How important to you is having WiFi in an E-reader device?

[Yapyap]

I can personally live without wifi for a dedicated e-reader (i.e. one where I’m NOT borrowing from a library or using a subscription-based app on - I occasionally load books via wifi but I prefer just connecting a cable and sending through Calibre or drag-and-dropping), but obviously for many people it’s a necessity, especially as there’s an increasing number of people who don’t have a computer at all but use their phone for everything.

That said … on a semi-regular basis, the “I want/need an e-reader without any wifi/internet ability at all” topic comes up on the e-reader subreddit - whether from people who work in sensitive jobs where they’re not allowed to have an electronic device with a radio chip of any kind at all, or increasingly by parents or students in (mostly US, it seems) schools where kids/teens would like to use an e-reader but their school or district is taking a hard line and banning anything with wifi, even with a very rudimentary browser or none at all.

So I do think there may be a market for specifically wifi-free but otherwise “modern” e-reader (meaning a decent screen and reasonably fast operation), as long as it’s made VERY clear in marketing that it doesn’t have wifi ability at all and any books need to be sideloaded (with it clearly indicated how the sideloading is done - i.e. via USB from a computer or SD card or if it can connect to a phone or USB-C memory stick etc).

[mrmikey]

Never use it, I use Calibre for everything.

[DrNefario]

Depends.

My epub readers are never connected to wifi and are synced via USB from a PC. My Kindle is always connected to wifi and never connected to a PC.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by librico

May I know why is it important to you? What is your use case? So I can annotate it into my requirements.

I use Readwise to manage my highlights, and I sometimes read the same book on multiple devices. Sideloading is useless for my use case.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

...and I sometimes read the same book on multiple devices. Sideloading is useless for my use case.

I regularly read the same book on both my Kobos. I find my place manually, as I nearly always remember where I left off. But I gather that this isn't something many people want to do. For me it's not that much slower than syncing would be, and often even faster.

[Quoth]

Sync usually involves a 3rd party resulting in loss of privacy and needing internet twice!
Remembering a few words and search is faster on a Kobo.
Also Sync is usually limited to one brand and often only the titles in an account on that brand's server (so called cloud libraries).
I know at least 14 people IRL (no forum connections) that read on dedicated ereaders and none use sync, though only maybe 2 read on more than one device (ereader + phone).

The majority of people read on phone or tablet and over 90% of English Language ebook sales are Kindle.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by librico

About syncing the library books and dictionaries over WiFi, do you use the solutions the e-reader makers offers (kindle, kobo platforms) or are they third party / self hosted solutions?

I use the Kobo platform solutions except for custom dictionaries since Kobo's dictionaries do not support unsupported languages (a bit of an oxymoron there).[/QUOTE]

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by librico

How important to you is having WiFi in an E-reader device?

If it is linux based, being able to connect to it with ssh would be nice, but having WiFi would not be a requirement for me if USB networking is present or could be easily installed.

Originally Posted by DNSB

I use the Kobo platform solutions except for custom dictionaries since Kobo's dictionaries do not support unsupported languages (a bit of an oxymoron there).

It took multiple readings for that sentence to make sense to me. If the word tautology had been used, the meaning would have been instantly clear.

[magicmeth]

I don't need it, but I do use it. Most of my stuff on my Pocketbook is sideloaded through Calibre, but I occasionally update KOReader and sync to Hardcover through wifi.

[Frenzie]

I copy files over SSH (whether with rsync or manually) but I could live without it. Besides that I keep wifi disabled. But I think that somewhat implies SD card support and/or a quite large built-in storage.

[Deskisamess]

I wouldn't buy a dedicated e-reader without WiFi. My use of Calibre and side-loading has dropped off drastically. The bulk of my reading lately are library loans and KU.

[Quoth]

KU and possibly library won't work on a 3rd party ereader.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by librico

I'll try to reply to some comments here, I hope it works because this system is a little bit old-fashion.

Oh some people here hate it when people say the forums are outdated. I totally agree with you though. 🤣

Originally Posted by librico

About syncing the library books and dictionaries over WiFi, do you use the solutions the e-reader makers offers (kindle, kobo platforms) or are they third party / self hosted solutions?

I have a Kindle. I don’t buy books from Amazon, but I do borrow library books and I have a KU subscription. The books I do buy I purchase from other stores and sideload them via USB as I stated previously. WiFi isn’t required to use the dictionary. I don’t even use the dictionaries Amazon provides because I don’t like them. I’ve add a 3rd party dictionary.

Originally Posted by librico

I agree USB can get loose or straight up broken over time. I made some design choices to avoid the books being inaccessible / inconvenient to modify in the device.
About Bluetooth, if it's easier to use along the WiFi, then it can be added, but WiFi is the priority here.

I’m not the target audience for your ereader since I’m primarily a library reader. With that said though I’d never buy an indie ereader that doesn’t have Bluetooth so I can use a Bluetooth page turner.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JBaby

Oh some people here hate it when people say the forums are outdated. I totally agree with you though. ��

We don't really hate it. We just can't do squat about it. So saying it is pointless (and tiresome). We'd all love to see an updated forum. I'd go as far as to say it's the default opinion.

[Sirtel]

Personally I like the old-fashioned MR. I detest modern social media and never use it if I can help it (which is most of the time). I don't even use Reddit. MR is the only social site I regularly visit.

I do know my preferences are a bit weird