US Kobo Sales double?

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by mrmikey

they tried to prevent people from downloading books they paid for

I read this from time to time and after doing some research the only time where that happened was when someone who doesn't have the license to actually sell the book sold it on Kindle, effectively uploading a pirated version. Then Amazon reimbursed everyone and removed the book from all devices.

And I wonder, wouldn't the same have happened on Kobo? Like, if they revoked the license then they could have removed the book the same way they remove books when your Kobo Plus subscription ends.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

I read this from time to time and after doing some research the only time where that happened was when someone who doesn't have the license to actually sell the book sold it on Kindle, effectively uploading a pirated version. Then Amazon reimbursed everyone and removed the book from all devices.

And I wonder, wouldn't the same have happened on Kobo? Like, if they revoked the license then they could have removed the book the same way they remove books when your Kobo Plus subscription ends.

I think mrmikey meant that Amazon stopped offering Download & Transfer and it's no longer possible to download Kindle books to your computer without jumping through some hoops. It's still possible to download your Kobo purchases.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

A lot of it seems to be the ~aesthetic~ generation who spend a lot of time decorating their devices with stickers and making them pretty (clear cases are a must) and are happy to see the tiny cover thumbnails in colour - and aren’t bothered by the need to have the frontlight up quite high as it’s what they’re already used to with their digital devices.
...

Definitely.

Vs the BW golden eyes purists who don't care about seeing color content in color.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by John F

Definitely.

Vs the BW golden eyes purists who don't care about seeing color content in color.

Well, some of us don't. What's so strange about it? For me, the main attraction of books is the text, not the images.

[JSWolf]

And for me, it's also about not needing to up the light as much or at all.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by John F

Definitely.

Vs the BW golden eyes purists who don't care about seeing color content in color.

If the color overlay didn't cause lower fidelity in the display of the text itself, I would be all for it. I would quite like having my covers display in color. But I'm not gonna degrade 99% of my reading experience for 1% of it to be in color.

[Pajamaman]

Maybe it's people buying the shiny new color display thinking they're gonna start reading. Good for hardware sales, but I guess Kobo's sales strategy requires book sales too.

edit: If I could be arsed, I'd make an epub with multi-colored text, just for badness.

[mrmikey]

I think mrmikey meant that Amazon stopped offering Download & Transfer and it's no longer possible to download Kindle books to your computer without jumping through some hoops. It's still possible to download your Kobo purchases.

Yup, that's exactly what I meant.

If the color overlay didn't cause lower fidelity in the display of the text itself, I would be all for it. I would quite like having my covers display in color. But I'm not gonna degrade 99% of my reading experience for 1% of it to be in color.

My thoughts exactly. I was actually considering a new reader for just the reason you state but then I thought....why for less that perfec reading.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The more Readers Kobo sells, the less eBooks Amazon sells.

Going by the posts on MobileRead, that may not be correct. Many people seem to be interested in removing DRM from Amazon ebooks so they can read them on different devices. When it comes to the ebook market, we tend to be outliers.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Going by the posts on MobileRead, that may not be correct. Many people seem to be interested in removing DRM from Amazon ebooks so they can read them on different devices. When it comes to the ebook market, we tend to be outliers.

But not everyone removes DRM.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

If the color overlay didn’t cause lower fidelity in the display of the text itself, I would be all for it. I would quite like having my covers display in color. But I’m not gonna degrade 99% of my reading experience for 1% of it to be in color.

Yes, same. And I say this having tried a colour device (for a year, and not getting along with it at all).

For me it’s really not even about any graininess, I’m fine with the texture and even the washed-out colours, but the darkness bothers me a lot - I need all the contrast I can get, and colour e-ink means I need the frontlight halfway up on my Boox Go 7 Colour Gen II, which is well above comfort level for me. I’ve tried with less light but it’s just really uncomfortable / a struggle. (I read indoors and without needing to use the built-in light with BW readers.)

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

the darkness bothers me a lot - I need all the contrast I can get, and colour e-ink means I need the frontlight halfway up on my Boox Go 7 Colour Gen II,

I basically only use my Libra Colour when I need a reader that fits in more pockets, and when I used it a few days ago in the car I was stunned and how dull and dark it was compared to my Sage - with the frontlight at 100%. So I'm another proud Luddite here, to paraphrase Paul Simon, don't take my monochrome away

[DrNefario]

I also prefer not to use a light, which puts me off the colour eInk readers.

At the moment I don't think I'm likely to buy another kobo reader unless they improve the b&w offerings, but then I'm still happily using my ancient Kobo Touch as my main epub reader. It seems to need charging more than it used to, but it does the job, and most of my reading is still on the Kindle Paperwhite anyway. If I need colour I use my ipad.

Edit: And of course, I'm not in the US, so wouldn't count towards these figures anyway. (And spell "colour" with an extra letter.)

[Pajamaman]

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[Pajamaman]

In all fairness, eyes are different, and some people are more able to tolerate the lower contrast and darker background of a current color screen. I personally am not one of them.

I do also suspect that _some_ people are attached to their purchase and will defend / ignore / deny its weaknesses. It's natural. Buyers don't want to accept that they've made a booboo, or that there are better products.