Initial Decision

[Shad Plante]

When I was deciding, it still looked like the Nook had some life. The factor that made my decision between a Nook and a Kindle was not having to attach the Kindle to a computer and use Adobe Digital Editions to get a library book onto since my library used Overdrive. I almost went the other way since the State Library of Kansas uses Cloud Library. From what I've read since then, I am very glad to not have to deal with ADE.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shad Plante

When I was deciding, it still looked like the Nook had some life. The factor that made my decision between a Nook and a Kindle was not having to attach the Kindle to a computer and use Adobe Digital Editions to get a library book onto since my library used Overdrive. I almost went the other way since the State Library of Kansas uses Cloud Library. From what I've read since then, I am very glad to not have to deal with ADE.

Do bear in mind that owning a Kindle (as I do myself) doesn't prevent you from buying books from ePub bookstores that use ADE, and converting them to Kindle format with Calibre. ADE really isn't difficult to use, and you often pick up good deals from other bookstores.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Shad Plante

When I was deciding, it still looked like the Nook had some life. The factor that made my decision between a Nook and a Kindle was not having to attach the Kindle to a computer and use Adobe Digital Editions to get a library book onto since my library used Overdrive. I almost went the other way since the State Library of Kansas uses Cloud Library. From what I've read since then, I am very glad to not have to deal with ADE.

This is my favourite thing about Kindle. I hardly ever plug it into my computer now. I just buy books from the Kindle store on the device itself and they immediately pop up on my device, and any books I want off my device I just delete to the cloud and even all my highlights and notes stay intact. So, so, so much easier for me all round!

[shalym]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

This is my favourite thing about Kindle. I hardly ever plug it into my computer now. I just buy books from the Kindle store on the device itself and they immediately pop up on my device, and any books I want off my device I just delete to the cloud and even all my highlights and notes stay intact. So, so, so much easier for me all round!

Exactly. The best thing about my Kindle is not having to connect it to my computer to put books onto it. Any books not purchased from Amazon get sent to my Kindle Cloud, and I can read them on any of my devices (except for my Kobo) without having to connect to my computer.

I'm also another one that doesn't like ADE--I used it once or twice many years ago, and decided that it's just not worth it. If I buy a DRM'd book, it's either from Amazon or Kobo, because I don't have to mess with Adobe. I used to buy from Barnes and Noble, but stopped when they made it harder to remove DRM.

Shari

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by shalym

Exactly. The best thing about my Kindle is not having to connect it to my computer to put books onto it. Any books not purchased from Amazon get sent to my Kindle Cloud, and I can read them on any of my devices (except for my Kobo) without having to connect to my computer.

I'm also another one that doesn't like ADE--I used it once or twice many years ago, and decided that it's just not worth it. If I buy a DRM'd book, it's either from Amazon or Kobo, because I don't have to mess with Adobe. I used to buy from Barnes and Noble, but stopped when they made it harder to remove DRM.

Shari

It's perhaps worth pointing out, in the interests of fairness, that it's just as easy to buy a Kobo book on the device itself as it is to buy a Kindle book. You don't have to go via a PC or have any direct involvement with ADE.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's perhaps worth pointing out, in the interests of fairness, that it's just as easy to buy a Kobo book on the device itself as it is to buy a Kindle book. You don't have to go via a PC or have any direct involvement with ADE.

Oh, this is absolutely true--I just wish I could put my non-Kobo books onto my Kobo as easily as I can put my non-Amazon books onto my Kindle.

Shari

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by shalym

I used to buy from Barnes and Noble, but stopped when they made it harder to remove DRM.

Barnes and Noble is still pretty easy to remove the DRM from. Using the Nook app from the Windows store and the plug-in, I had no issues. I still buy my books from Amazon, but would be more likely to fall back on B&N than Kobo.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

From memory, it started as an easier way to get books onto his Sony using Linux.

Here's the Wikipedia entry.

I think Calibre is responsible for whatever success Kobo currently has in the US.

The README in the first commit on 2006-10-31 begins:

"Library implementing a reverse engineered protocol to communicate with the Sony Reader PRS-500."

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I'm curious. Some people here have Kindles and Kobos and others I've never heard of. They want to jailbreak their devices and play with the gizmos. The ereaders as devices seem to fascinate them.

When I was first stepping into the world of ereaders I wasn't particularly interested in the specific device. I had waited for a common format and decided it wasn't coming so I was looking for a "system" that would give me the most books I wanted to read economically.

I didn't understand about the archaic and customer unfriendly laws at the time and live in one country and want to buy books in another. I selected the Kindle system as giving me the most of what I wanted. I bought my first Kindle without ever having seen a Kindle device. I've been happy with my choice for seven years.

When I first looked at ereaders, in 2009, the basic devices were very similar.

So, I'm curious. Was your choice driven by the device or by the availability of books you wanted to read?

My initial choice was driven primarily by library access, since all my life, most of my reading has been through the library. In summer of 2011, that meant Kindle was NOT an option. So my first ereader was a Nook, thanks in part to the fact they'd just released Nook Wifi at $150.

A second consideration was the fact that Nook had a touchscreen. An old repetitive stress injury means that pushing buttons over and over gets painful. So, again, Kindle simply wasn't an option at that time as they only had models with buttons.

I didn't care for the Nook practice of having my purchased content separate from my sideloaded content, and moved to a Sony 950 a year later. From there to Kobo, as Kobo had the 6.8" screen option, front light and touchscreen.

In fact, it's only just this fall that Kindle has had a possibly viable option in the KOA2. (I say possibly, since some have found it difficult to hold.) I do own a Kindle Voyage, but use it primarily for proofreading. Now that there are more font size choices with the latest firmware update, I could use it for pleasure reading, but probably won't do so very often since I love the 7.8" screen on my Kobo Aura ONE. That device is just the perfect size. And has library access built in, so to speak.

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by shalym

Exactly. The best thing about my Kindle is not having to connect it to my computer to put books onto it. Any books not purchased from Amazon get sent to my Kindle Cloud, and I can read them on any of my devices (except for my Kobo) without having to connect to my computer.

I'm also another one that doesn't like ADE--I used it once or twice many years ago, and decided that it's just not worth it. If I buy a DRM'd book, it's either from Amazon or Kobo, because I don't have to mess with Adobe. I used to buy from Barnes and Noble, but stopped when they made it harder to remove DRM.

Shari

Personally, I've never seen the problem with connecting a reader to a computer. Plug cable into reader, plug other end in to computer, copy/paste ebooks over, eject and unplug. Boom, done!

Or, emailing to Kindle ... Open browser, go to webmail, log in, hit compose, hit attach, browse computer for the file, wait for file to upload, when ready, attach, click send, log out of webmail, close browser. THEN, wait, you aren't done yet, because you still have to connect Kindle to WiFi and sync and disconnect. Only to get a book that doesn't have the cover show up because it's considered a personal document as opposed to a book....

The connect to computer is simpler and faster for me, especially if I want to transfer a large number of books at once. More so if books are large files.

The advantage of the Kindle cloud is the fact that you can sync notes and highlights. And that *is* the reason I keep a Kindle around for proofreading and put up with the whole emailing to Kindle bit. I like backup when I've made a zillion notes/corrections!

But for pleasure reading, I never make notes and highlights, so it's just so much easier to plug in, dump however many books on my Kobo, then get to reading.





Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

[shalym]

Originally Posted by graycyn

Personally, I've never seen the problem with connecting a reader to a computer. Plug cable into reader, plug other end in to computer, copy/paste ebooks over, eject and unplug. Boom, done!

Or, emailing to Kindle ... Open browser, go to webmail, log in, hit compose, hit attach, browse computer for the file, wait for file to upload, when ready, attach, click send, log out of webmail, close browser. THEN, wait, you aren't done yet, because you still have to connect Kindle to WiFi and sync and disconnect. Only to get a book that doesn't have the cover show up because it's considered a personal document as opposed to a book....

The connect to computer is simpler and faster for me, especially if I want to transfer a large number of books at once. More so if books are large files.

The advantage of the Kindle cloud is the fact that you can sync notes and highlights. And that *is* the reason I keep a Kindle around for proofreading and put up with the whole emailing to Kindle bit. I like backup when I've made a zillion notes/corrections!

But for pleasure reading, I never make notes and highlights, so it's just so much easier to plug in, dump however many books on my Kobo, then get to reading.

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

For me, I like being able to have all of my books available in the cloud because if I go somewhere without my reader, I can download the book to my phone and just pick up where I left off. I like to switch back and forth between devices--having all of my books in my Kindle cloud, I can do that with no problem. Send the book one time, and I can have it on any device. I also don't care about covers on my devices--I only use list view.

Also, when sending to the Kindle cloud, I don't go through any of the steps you mention in your post. I import into Calibre, then use Calibre to send them to the cloud. My readers are also always connected to the internet anyway, because I need the location sync to work.

Shari

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by graycyn

Or, emailing to Kindle ... Open browser, go to webmail, log in, hit compose, hit attach, browse computer for the file, wait for file to upload, when ready, attach, click send, log out of webmail, close browser.

I've never e-mailed anything to any of my kindles, but what is so hard about, for example,

mutt -a foo.azw -- bar@kindle.com < /dev/null

Sent from my workstation using my fingers

[Deskisamess]

I find micro usb plugs and ports to be difficult to see and use, especially if it’s dark in the room. Avoiding that is one reason I like the ability to email books to my Kindle. The lack of that option was the one thing I didn’t like about my Kobo. The port always seemed a little hinky and I worried I was going to break it.

It would be great if all devices had ports that were like the iOS devices with the lightening connectors. Not having to worry about the plug being the wrong way is a great feature.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

It would be great if all devices had ports that were like the iOS devices with the lightening connectors. Not having to worry about the plug being the wrong way is a great feature.

That will be USB C. Of course, who knows when that will become standard on e-readers.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

That will be USB C. Of course, who knows when that will become standard on e-readers.

I wasn’t sure since I don’t have anything using it.