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How do you feel about eBooks and eBook readers?
eBooks and eBook readers feel a little stagnant at the moment. No significant increases in tech, the storefronts are stagnant and locked down with DRM, and it just isn't really an exciting field.
That said, I love my Kindle Paperwhite because it lets me get English books for cheaper (I live in Japan) and it lets me carry them around.
Do you use an eBook reader? Do you read eBooks on a standard tablet or phone? Or are you married to paper?
Does it need to be exciting? If the technology just works, that should be enough. Why does it need to be changing all the time?
This is it. I absolutely love my Kindle Paperwhite, and I usually read a book a week-or-so on it.
Kindles got me back into reading heavily because it fits in my jacket pocket and I can pull it out any time I’m waiting for the kids to finish school or read late into the night without a lamp keeping me awake.
As far as I’m concerned ebook readers are “solved” and could stay like this forever and I’d be completely happy.
Only thing I’d like to see now is the price gouging sorted. An ebook shouldn’t cost as much as a full physical copy. Movies and music have all sorted that but they still want full price for a digital COPY of a book.
Agreed. e-books are overpriced.
If they're going to charge that much, they could at least use the money to get better proofreaders when they obviously scan old print pages and convert them to digital files. The number of errors I've seen which are clearly just a "mis-read" (e.g. "tiles" instead of "files") is ridiculous.
In case you all were not aware of this website, there is a website called ereaderiq dot com, where you can create a list of books you want and when they go on sale, the website will notify you. This only works for Kindle and books from amazon but it's great.
I currently have a list of about 600 books and I set up my rules to notify me for two reasons: 1) whenever a book on that list goes on sale, or 2) when the sale price reaches $4.
Virtually every week one or two books go on sale to under $4. I haven't paid more than $4 for an ebook since 2017 when I discovered this website.
When you buy a book you're not paying for the paper. You're paying for the author, the editor, the marketing, the rest of the publishing infrastructure.
The paper doesn't cost so much - if the paper was valuable unsold books wouldn't be burned.
I think physical books should come with a code, or some other way to download an eBook version. I'd even pay slightly more for this. I'm pretty tired of buying books twice.
I tend to buy physical books as I quite like the feeling of reading an actual book. But then if I need to travel or need something small, as I've already purchased the book I don't feel too bad acquiring the ebook through other means so I can read it on my Kindle. If I could pay a small amount (like up to 10-25% or so) to get the ebook I would, but paying double, no thanks. Happy to support authors, I just don't like double dipping.
Margins for authors on physical books are low. It's not just the paper and the ink that you pay for - books are heavy and take up space. The value of the book has to compensate the cost of logistics, storage and transportation (road vehicle energy, maintenance and manpower; sometimes shipping and import). They require bookstore shelf space and staffing. So the bookstore/retailer takes a bite, transportation takes a bite, the publisher takes a bite not just to pay for marketing and editing but for their various staff. All of these entities also want to have a profit margin. Depending on the deal the author has with the publisher, the author may have to pay some editing or art expenses out of their share too.
If I remember correctly, the reason ebooks are so expensive is mainly because if ebooks undercut traditional publishing too much the whole thing comes crashing down. Traditional publishing is useful for people who like or require physical books, as well as for additional exposure. Also, they pay an advance to authors, which allows them to not have such a precarious lifestyle as they would otherwise.
I was going to say the same thing before I saw your comment!
On the other hand there is a pretty solid argument that the "rest of the publishing infrastructure" stuff in addition to the printing/materials costs and potentially lower retailer markup should be removed from the cost of the ebook. If the book is priced the same regardless of if it's physical or digital, all of the money the publisher saves on the digital version is pure profit.
Another option if you don't mind waiting is signing up for your local library. If they use overdrive, you can send the book right to your kindle if its available. Example, I'm near Los Angeles, so my library link is this.
This is great especially if you can read a book a week. I try to get all my books through there now, but if I'm really inching to read something and don't want to wait, I'll end up buying it. It does help save a little money here and there though.
Exactly.
In fact, what convinced me to finally switch to reading via e-ink was that the tech was so boring. It's just a book page. It's nothing else. The fanciest thing I do is something hold on a word if I genuinely don't know it, which is a really nice feature. Other than that, it shows book pages to read. That's what I wanted out of it.
The dictionary feature is quite useful!
I write notes in my books. I highlight passages, I circle stuff, I underline bits. Note-taking, indexing of those notes, ability to send all the notes with the paragraph of text to some other device: these would all be great for me.
Maybe these are already possible on modern ereaders. I haven't looked because the drm stuff is a bit frustrating.
I know that Kobo has released a couple of e-readers with the ability to write on screens and take notes. I assume Kindle has similar models.
Yeah I bought a kobo with that function, as much as I love kobo and have been using them for years… the pen is not very accurate and I have used it maybe once.
Kindle have just one that allow free form writing to my knowledge - the Kindle Scribe.
But most if not all support highlighting and commenting with text.
Yeah as far as I understand it's possible on something like the Kindle Scribe. Or you could get a BOOX tablet which is a whole e-ink Android tablet.
The only big jump forward in technology I'd want to see would be color e-ink, it would be awesome to have the ability to read comics/manga on the same device as my books
Otherwise though I definitely enjoy how simple e-readers are compared to other devices coming out right now, no extra bloat to get in the way of just opening a book and reading it
Colour e-ink does exist, for a price, and with limitations (it's more a sort of muted-pastel than fully-saturated hues).
It does seem particularly aimed at comics and manga however.
Article: https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/25/23041407/e-ink-color-gallery-3-announced
Onyx BOOX Nova 3 Color: https://shop.boox.com/products/nova3color
The Pocketbook Viva is something I've had my eye on for a while now. Its release got delayed until June 15, so I've been waiting for reviews on it (but haven't come across anything yet). If it's capable I might pick one up, though I would prefer something with a larger screen for reading comics/graphic novels.
Dang that's pricy! But if the screen does actually look that good then my ideal e-reader is actually a lot closer than I was thinking! My Kindle is still going strong, but when it's time for a replacement I'll definitely be looking into that brand some more, thanks!
That's exactly my thoughts. Over the years functions in higher end models moved over to the cheaper brackets and the top of the line mainly got bigger. Nice to have thing like higher resolution, waterproof, backlight, wifi for ease of transfer (and then turn off). They're great devices for what they are and anything added to it I feel will either eat battery or distract.
I will say that the technology hasn't grown quite as quickly as many thought it would when I bought my first Sony e-reader a decade and a half ago. I would appreciate faster response time, and cheap, consumer-grade color devices would be a perk, but it's definitely gotten to a point where I am more than content with the device I have. Heck, that's probably why the tech has moved slowly — there's just no real consumer demand for bleeding-edge products in this market.
I mean... yeah. Colour e-ink would be nice... but it's absolutely not necessary for most people who would buy an e-reader. Most of us are looking to replace/supplement our good old-fashioned print books, which are mostly printed in black ink on white paper.
I know there's some demand for colour e-readers out there, mostly from people who read comic books and graphic novels, but that's definitely not the majority of the market for these devices.
I found this video very interesting on why e-ink innovation is so slow to advance.
I had one of those Sony E-readers, too! Have you found a way to get the Sony books transferred to a current device? I remember trying to do it a while ago and having little success because of the weird file type.
Sorry, random tangent.
I bought an e-reader last year which has changed the way I read - and that surprised me.
I previously had a Kobo Touch for over a decade, since I received it as a gift in 2011. It mostly worked well.
However, there were a couple of significant drawbacks. One thing I disliked was how small the Touch was. I always felt awkward while holding it in my hands. Also, at the speed I read, I felt like I was continually paging forward because of the small amount of text the screen could display. I never really enjoyed the act of reading on this e-reader. It had some positives, but not enough for it to become my main reading platform, and to let me dispose of much of my print library (which I had imagined doing).
About a year ago, I started thinking it was time to upgrade. I did some research among current Kobo models but, for one reason or another, I realised the current range of Kobos weren't for me, so I started investigating discontinued models.
The model I kept coming back to was the Aura One. It has a nice big screen. It's slimline. It has no paging buttons. It has a big 8GB storage (4 times as many books as my Touch!). And, by the way, it's waterproof. For my preferences, it seemed to be peak Kobo - all the good stuff, none of the bad stuff.
So, I looked around. I found one, and only one, Aura One for sale in Australia - a listing on eBay. It was an auction! I haven't participated in an auction on eBay for ages. But I placed my bid. Long story short, I won the auction. I really wanted this device, so I was willing to pay more than it was probably worth as a secondhand device.
Here's a coincidence: the day after I received the package, I noticed the sender's name on the news website I subscribe to, as the tech writer for that organisation. I suspect I've acquired an ex-review model; despite being a 6-year-old secondhand device, it is immaculate.
And I've fallen in love with it. The size is right. The design is elegant. The screen is a great size for me. I even like the side-light feature (which I didn't expect to want or need). And, as a bonus, I can use this e-reader in the bath (as I do sometimes) without worrying.
Since then, this e-reader has become an integral part of my life.
The reading experience is so much better than on that old small e-reader. The screen is big enough to hold a decent amount of text, so I don't feel like I'm turning pages every 30 seconds. The device sits better in my hands; I don't feel like I'm trying to read on a credit card. The Aura One is just right. Big screen. Proper-sized device. It's a joy to read on it.
I only expected the e-reader to supplement my reading of print books. I've loved print books since before I can remember. I've been reading print books for about four decades. I have shelves and shelves of print books that I've collected over the years, which I love having. However, I've tried picking up print books to read them, and I find myself disliking the experience, so I end up buying those books as e-books to read on my Kobo. My e-reader seems to have superseded those print books entirely - which I absolutely did not expect.
I'm a little bit sad about not reading print books any more, but...
I love my Kobo Aura One!
I have a Kobo Libra 2 and I love it. Maybe I just appreciate having an e-reader rather than anything about this specific one, though I do enjoy not using Amazon.
I resisted for so many years and just read ebooks on my phone, but the texture, lighting, and size are so much better. Plus there’s something about picking up a device that’s only for reading that flips a switch in my brain to “reading mode” that was harder to get with my phone. No temptation to swipe up and switch to something else for a quick dopamine hit.
I’ve been devouring book after book for the last year because of it. I love it.
It's worth noting that there are larger devices avaialble now. The Aura One looks to be a 6" display. 8" and 10" are popular, and there are devices as large as 13" (I own one).
My sense is that for most prose, 8" is probably a sweet spot (that's roughly the size of most trade paperback books). 10" and 13" are better choices for technical media, scientific / academic articles, or scans based on books or (especially) magazines.
This depends in part on the document format(s) you tend to read. ePub is a fluid format and will reflow to fit your device's display. PDF and DJVU are fixed-layout, and though long derided by many (myself included) are now my preference for reading either on my e-book reader or on a large desktop display, full-screen 2-up mode.
Laptops and smaller desktop displays turn out to be the principle problem with PDFs, not the document format itself.
As the owner of an Aura One... it has an 8" display.
And, yes, that is a great size for an e-reader.
Ah, thanks, and yes, it should be.
Anything in particular about print books that you have come to dislike? Or is it just the feeling of them?
They're just more inconvenient. Bulkier. Harder to hold. More difficult to manage, especially for reading in bed. Heavier, especially for larger books.
Sometimes my digital brain doesn't like the font the book is printed in. I've gotten so used to reading on my Boox Leaf2 (my replacement for my aging Aura One, OP!) that if I pick up a print book and don't like the font; I'd prefer to read it on my ereader where I can use my preferred font.
My one frustration with ebooks is they're so siloed into different proprietary apps they'd like you to use. Amazon expects you to use the Amazon app, Book Walker expects you to use their app, Google expects you to use theirs. I wish it had gone the way of music downloads back when it was starting out and sold epub downloads. Some of these services it's easy enough to crack DRM and load it into your preferred reader, but others not so much.
Kobo very deliberately allows multiple file formats to be read on their e-readers (except for Kindle's proprietary format, of course, because Amazon won't let those files out of their ecosystem). But, any general .epub or .pub or .mobi file (plus others) is readable on any Kobo.
Does the Kobo store sell DRM free or DRM removable though? Kindle and Bookwalker also allow me to read my own epubs - the issue is getting these epubs legally.
That seems to be not the seller's decision. I've seen some e-books on the Kobo store sold with a note that "the publisher has chosen to sell this book without DRM".
So, in answer to your question... yes, Kobo sells DRM-free e-books, but they can't control that.
I mean, that's an improvement over applying it by default, but it still doesn't resolve the frustration that most ebooks come with DRM, unlike most music downloads. Whether it's the store or the publisher choosing to apply it is irrelevant to that problem.
It might not be irrelevant to the problem of whether DRM exists on a particular e-book, but it does remove the problem about where to buy that e-book. If a publisher sells a book with DRM, then it's going to have DRM on every e-book store. So, you can choose any e-book seller you prefer, because DRM isn't being applied by the various sellers (expect indirectly by Amazon, which uses a proprietary file format on top of whatever DRM is applied by the publishers).
I'm not interested in going further levels deep, but you seem to be arguing against a different problem than the one I have. When I can buy book X that is exclusive to store Y and use it on any device or app I own, the problem will be solved. Anything other than that is not a resolution.
And Adobe Digital Editions, what a blight that is on what could be a beautiful landscape. Even libraries have no choice but to succumb to publisher demands and using an a proprietary app (Libby/Overdrive) or Adobe Digital Editions is necessary to get a book. No matter which ecosystem I'm in, there is no escape from DRM.
Yeah, I'm running into this right now. My local library uses CloudLibrary, so my old Kindle is out. I have thought about getting a Kobo, but that still requires me to hook it up to my computer to move the book over the old-school way.
I was looking to see if I could find an e-ink screen Android tablet to see if I could just run the CloudLibrary app directly on the tablet, but most of them don't have the Play Store, and the ones that do are really expensive to avoid reading on my phone.
Oh well. Phone reading it shall be for now. At least the phone is waterproof and already in my possession.
I like the new Kindle Paperwhite I got last year, the warm screen light is a really nice QOL improvement.
I do nearly all my reading on it, it is by far the best for my eye comfort.
I have a Kindle Voyage and the only thing missing from it is a warm screen. I feel like it would be easier to fall asleep with it if it did. I primarily read to fall asleep these days and I feel like the blue light keeps me up.
I don't think they have actual blue light like a phone or a tablet though.
Some e-readers come with in-built lights to illuminate the screen (like a built-in booklight).
On the basic versions, that's a set of white LEDs. White light includes the blue wavelengths that are known to stimulate the brain's sleep centre to wakefulness.
That's why some more advanced e-readers have the ability to change the colour of those LEDs to a more orange range, without the blue wavelengths.
I assume @xscottx's e-reader has the basic white LEDs, and not the LEDs that change to an orange ("warm") colour.
You are correct. They have the white LEDs that emit quite a blue hue and can keep me up. I love the Kindle Voyage, but it’s a major flaw when reading at night.
No e-reader at the release of it had warm LEDs and I feel like it’s kind of a no brainer now. I’m tempted to pick up an Oasis but I hate the lack of repairability. I’ve already replaced the battery once in my Votage.
My wife asked me to either sell some books or get a reader; we simply have no more room for books. So I got myself a Kindle Paperwhite and I must say... I love it. Books are cheaper and I can read while my daughter is sleeping, because I don't need another source of light. I do miss just taking books I discover in bookstores with me, though.
I still buy physical books when it’s something that I know I’ll love and or an author that I like. I save the digital for one and done type of books. It has definitely helped me clear up space and just makes more sense.
I've used an Onyx BOOX Max Lumi (13.3" greyscale e-ink) for going on three years.
Pros:
Cons:
Recommended Software:
Other alternatives considered
I'd previously used an emissive Android tablet. Reading was less viable on that, due to display, battery, and distraction issues. Those apply generally to most mainstream Android and iOS devices, though yes, they can be used for reading.
I excluded Amazon's Kindle on the basis of not wanting to be locked into that ecosystem, or exclusively to the Amazon Kindle book format.
The Nook and Kobo Reader are potential alternatives, and I might consider these for future purchases. Both have solid reputations and are Linux-friendly to boot so far as I'm aware.
The Remarkable Tablet tempted me for a while with its own Linux-based design, but the ridiculously miserly on-board storage (16 GB) was a turn-off. The company has since pivoted to a subscription & cloud-based model. Bullet dodged. The Remarkable's other main selling point, handwritten note-taking, seems fully matched by the Onyx BOOX.
I use a Kobo Clara, which does not have restrictions about how I can read, I can just plug it in as an USB device, and copy my ePubs, PDFs, and CBRs over it. (It also have its own store)
The only downside is the storage, because it's around 8gbs. For books that's more than enough, but not for mangas with is the main reason I use it for.
For the record: for books I still prefer having them on physical form, but sometimes I download the digital version of books I already own so I can read them in the dark.
The Kobo Clara is actually one of the few that uses an internal SD card! You can fairly easily swap it out for a bigger one if you need more or faster storage (it helps a ton IMO).
It can be a little involved but it’s definitely something to consider!
https://duckrowing.com/2022/02/11/expanding-kobo-clara-hd-storage/
Thanks! I wasn't aware of that, I'll upgrade mine
I have a Kobo Aura One which I bought for similar reasons — loading stuff onto it involves plugging it into a computer where it shows up as USB Mass Storage, where you can just copy stuff over. No special software, no convertors, just dump your files and go, even with its stock firmware.
It doesn't get nearly as much use as I'd like it to though. Reading is a habit and, unfortunately not one that I've maintained particularly well.
Whats your opinion on the Clara for manga specifically? I've been looking for a dedicated e-ink manga reader for years now without much luck.
My ideal would be a screen that is capable of displaying two pages at full size side by side, which would make the reader quite a bit larger than what is currently on the market.
Often manga will span a single image across multiple pages which always looks bad when reading just one page at a time.
I would say the screen is too small for two pages display, is around the size of a regular manga and is slow to scroll across pages when zoomed
I've got a Kobo Libra H2O w/ KOReader and its great and, like Algernon_Asimov said, just works.
I'd love to have a 10"+ ereader, however. Magazines work well on this one, but its a tad small.
E-readers are awesome, while not quite as good as paper as far as the pure reading experience goes, their other features make up this minor deficiency.
Technology wise they only need to do 1 job well; read books. Most of the other "features" like on device store, wifi, bluetooth, are usually a second rate experience. Useful in a pinch but 99% of the time i manage my books with my computer. So i turn off all of that stuff to save battery life so i can turn more pages. If the e-reader has a Good screen, good storage and a easy interface i'm happy.
At this point i think e-readers are on the incremental development train. they slowly get a little nicer every year.
I've been using e-readers for over 10 years now my first e-reader lasted about 6 years until i completely wore out the page turning button. Currently using a Kobo h2o which is touch screen so i can't wear out a button this time i plan on using it until it breaks or the battery life gets to a point where i can't get through a novel. It does the job i see no reason to replace it
I often read big books and this is were ebook readers shine. Holding a large book in bed is not the most pleasant experience, but with an ebook reader it's quite good.
So while physical is nicer in a way i don't find myself going back to physical books much.
One other thing that it helps is avoid clutter and keeping the bookshelf from breaking ;)
I exclusively use my e-reader in airplane mode, and exclusively get my books online and load them into my device with Calibre. I have every and any public domain book I could read, and tons upon tons of other books. The biggest reason for me to go outside of my ereaders storefront is that they don't have a great selection of foreign books, even English language ones.
I only upgraded to a new reader after having a gen 1 nook for years and years so I could finally have one that supports a backlight when I'm traveling.
What more would you like? Sometimes a good product is one that does what it is supposed to and then gets out of your way and doesn't bother you. If my device can load books in the latest formats without having to jump through a bunch of hoops that is all I want. If I buy a book from HumbleBundle or if I find it as a PDF from a site offering it for free I want to easily put it on my device. If I can do that the rest is just reading. I don't need my device to offer a ton of bells and whistles. I don't need reading achievement, fancy reading modes, sounds that happen when I turn a page. None of that. Just put my content in front of my eyes without a bunch of extra effort and then keep it that way. That is all I want.
I've been a Kindle user since ~2009. I've gone through several models, but have never lost my love for them. The ability to carry hundreds of books in a backpaxk or even just a cargo pocket with a weeks-month long battery life is invaluable to me. I typically purchase my all-time favorite books in fancy hardback, but by and large I read exclusively on Kindle.
There were some years in there where I read on my phone, but I'm too easily distracted with looking things up related to the plot and the eyestrain became a problem after long sessions.
The newest kindle Paperwhite 16gb is everything I could ask for with the amount of memory, screen size, and warm mode for evenings. There's absolutely a place for paper books but as a fairly voracious reader you can pry my Kindle from my cold, dead hands lol
I’ve been a Kindle Paperwhite user since forever for the same reasons as you (I’m also in Japan!). I also recently realized, when I went to a large bookstore that carries English-language books and flipped through a paperback copy of Stephen King’s Fairytales, the letters are absolutely microscopic and impossible to read without reading glasses. I’d gotten so used to being able to change font sizes that it never occurred to me I might ‘age out’ of reading physical books.
I bought a kindle and I discovered that I actually like reading, and it's always been just convenience issues that kept me from reading. Not lugging around massive books is such a game changer, and now, whenever I have a bit of downtime - on the bus, waiting for someone etc, I just read a chapter of a book instead of scrolling Reddit.
I bought the first kindle when it came out in (Christmas 2007) and have never looked back. I'm a habitual and obsessive reader and have been for more than 30 years. It's actually great to carry my entire library around at all times, and really frees me up from having to carry around the 2-4 books I used to have on my person constantely.
I read on my phone using an app called ReadEra. Obtain book (mobi or epub format), load onto phone, read on my bus or Tube ride.
I feel that the advantage of using this method is that I don't need a separate device like a Kindle or Kobo.
I set the display to be on dark mode so the strain is reduced on my eyes and that I don't flashbang myself if I open the app at night.
Boom, easy!
I came here hoping someone would have already suggested this one, hooray. ReadEra is amazing. I have an Android Tablet, Android Phone, and Fire 8 reader. I put ReadEra on there, do a one-time export of my Calibre library from my computer, and then it syncs that library (along with all notes, highlights, and reading progress) seamlessly across all my devices.
I find that the Fire reader makes for the best of both worlds. I can use the Kindle app for reading all of my Kindle-purchased books, I can use my public library app for checked-out reads, I can use Libby and Hoopla for comics and such, and I can use ReadEra for everything else. It's revolutionized the way I read.
I am personally married to paper (at least for now while I have the space...). I am also in love with e-ink/e-paper technology. My phone uses an e-ink screen and it tremendously helps with blue light exposure.
That being said, the technology being used that way demonstrates exactly why it is so limited. Limited refresh rates, and the few devices that support higher refresh rates significantly sacrifice image quality when used. They only recently started coming out with decent color e-ink tablets.
Once e-readers went from a cool new technology to a niche, there just wasn't the investment anymore from companies.
I love Ebooks. I dont use my Paperwhite because I prefer my 10-inch tablet, but it's nice to have books without having that lump of paper to carry around. I can also buy a book once and the spine won't wear out causing the book to self-destruct like my Wheel of Time paperbacks did in high school.
I have been using my Kindle for over a decade. Upgraded to the Oasis a few years ago and honestly don't see the need for constant further improvements. It works to read books. I hope they can keep it simple and just improve things like battery life. I mostly read things once and have less interest in physical books now, with a few exceptions. I sometimes also read on my Kindle app on my phone and the ease of sync between devices just makes things easier. I subscribe to a lot of science fiction magazines in ebook format which I couldn't live without. Getting physical copies would be way more expensive and less reliable.
I agree! I love my oasis because of the physical page turn buttons and the warm light. The only way I could see myself upgrading is for a type c charger. I think my oasis is the only device I need a separate charger for. When I got an e-reader and started using libby I went from reading maybe a book a month to a book a week! Easily one of my best purchases.
Love them. I have a Kindle Paperwhite and a Kobo Nia. I love that I can borrow library books with Kobo. I love that I can carry hundreds of books around. As I get older (just got prescribed my first pair of progressive lenses) an e-ink screen is easier on the eyes than my phone screen.
The only time I prefer physical texts is when I'm teaching from them. The ability to dog ear and flip back and forth is invaluable.
I do think manufacturers are trying to gild the lily when they come up with stuff like ReMarkable (having said that my handwriting is awful so I'm probably not the target user).
You can borrow library books with Kindle too, through Libby. They make it seemless.
Unfortunately in my country Libby supports Kobo but not Kindle.
I have a paperwhite. It feels like a physical book that's not exhausting to hold and can be read easily in suboptimal lighting conditions. At this point I tend to buy physical books mostly for decoration. The only thing I dislike is just generally being in the Amazon ecosystem, but while I could try to de-DRM all my books and start buying only DRM-free stuff that's a lot of effort for not much actual gain (if I ever lose access to a book it'll probably be easy to find online anyway, and I happen to live in a country where this wouldn't even be illegal).
I find e-readers a bit cumbersome since I will often flip back to reread something, and that isn't particularly intuitive or quick on one. Last I checked in with them (which is a few years ago now admittedly), the UI also tends to be a smidge too unresponsive for my tastes. I assume that's just inherent to e-ink. I do like the idea of having one to read in the dark without bothering my SO with lamplight. Probably wouldn't be too good for my eyes though.
I love them. I'm actually on my 4th ereader, and first kindle (kids version of paperwhite, because it was slightly cheaper in the sale and came with a case unlike the adult version. It's exactly the same otherwise, I never activated the kid's profile). I had 2 Kobo's before that and a Sony one earlier which I must have bought around 15 years ago.
I have problems with my hands which makes reading real books difficult (I can't grip things for very long, seconds pain free with my right, a few minutes with my left. This makes it hard to hold a book open, I have to lay it on a table and use weights to hold the pages open but it's a massive faff and not enjoyable to read like that), but I've been an avid reader since I was a little girl.
I resisted kindle for a long time because I dislike the DRM and lack of support for epubs, I occasionally bought books there if they weren't available elsewhere and stripped the DRM but it's a faff. I will admit the kindle is a better experience in many ways to my older kobo (except the lack of left handed mode). I'm also using kindle unlimited atm and I love it - if a book is on kindle unlimited I'll happily give it a go without worrying over whether I'd like it. If I don't enjoy it I can easily just move onto the next one rather than feeling obliged to read it anyway because I spent money on it. I appreciate this is basically a library experience, but I've never lived somewhere where the library supported ebooks on whatever device I had at the time so libraries have been inaccessible to me since I started having problems with my hands.
Does it need to be an exciting field? I don't see any need, or much room, for major advancements. Reading a book isn't highly technical, and I explicitly don't want an ereader that does anything else.
I love it. I have both a Kindle paper-white and Kobo. The Kindle was a gift. I use kobo for library books I borrow off Libby.
While I'm still nostalgic for paper, I'm too used to the convenience of immediately getting the book I want when lying in bed.
The most amazed I was at this was when I was reading a series by Asimov and finished the first book at 2am. I immediately wanted the next book and borrowed it off Libby with no issue. I was grateful I didn't have to go to the library physically and wait for it to open. I thought, "Wow. I live in the future" and continued reading this retro sci fi book.
It's a lot more convenient to carry around too.
I recently bought an Onyx BOOX Note Air 2 Plus (name's a mouthful I know) to read magazines and newspapers on.
It has an eink display, but it is a full Android tablet. I absolutely love it and ended up using it for books as well and giving my Kindle Oasis to my wife.
I can still read my Kindle books with the Kindle app, but it also has the Libby app so I can browse and check out books/magazines without another device. I use Firefox with uBlock Origin to read the NYT and Boston Globe without any ads. I'm really impressed with how well it all works.
Regarding DRM, I've been moving away from Kindle for this reason. Ebooks.com and Tor.com both have decent selections of Drm-free books. If the publisher insists on DRM, I wait for it to be available on Libby or acquire it through other means. I have calibre on my laptop so it all syncs well with the BOOX.
This is the big reason why I myself am using a Kindle- also in japan, and having moved several times, it's much more convenient to have tons of books on a single device compared to trying to move a library. Granted, I still prefer physical... but a Kindle is convenient.
That said, my Kindle is also close to 10 years old at this point, so I probably should get a new one... I just don' know if by buying a Kindle over here in the department stores will also force me to use my Japanese account with it as well.
I really like my Kindle Paperwhite. I use it in two ways:
When I travel or am not home in general - easier than taking a paper book that may be too wide or heavy.
To "try" books before purchasing. Let me know if this is against the rules, but I download all my ebooks from Soulseek and keep my Kindle in Airplane mode permanently. Depending on how much I like the book, I might get a paper copy at some point or just keep the book digital. You could also use the library this way.
Unfortunately I can't let physical books go. I enjoy buying them and having them on display. I know it's a waste because I'll reread them at most once, but still. I try to buy secondhand.
I'm looking at getting myself a decent tablet that can handle graphic novels/comics and book formats lately. I want it for other uses, so it won't just be a standalone e-reader.
Any recommendations on top software for this?
For android, Moon+ is really good, and the free version is pretty full featured. I think the only thing the paid version gets you is a few more themes that aren't anything you can't make yourself with the built in theme editor. It's more of a way to thank the devs than an actual unlock.
Whatever you do, if you can afford it, spend the extra money to get a tablet with an OLED screen. I don't know about other e-reader apps, but Moon+ at least lets you take the brightness down below what the OS shows as 0% in the usual menus. With an LCD screen, you can only take it down so far before the backlight leakage ends up overpowering the text. Like a full black screen with the backlight way down actually ends up looking bright once your eyes have adjusted. With an OLED, a black pixel is actually off and not emitting light, so you can set a black background and a reasonable text color (I like amber for this) and take it so far down that you can't even see what's on the screen if you open it up with the backlight still down in the morning, while still being able to comfortably read in the dark. Anyone who says e-ink e-readers are better about not disrupting your sleep has never read on a good e-reader app on an OLED screen.
This might be better off as its own topic in ~tech, rather than buried as a comment under someone else's post about something else.
Ah. My apologies man.
Also, the book of your username would be harrowingly amazing.
Speaking hardware, BOOX Max Lumi2 is not exactly cheap, but for black'n white comics, it is pretty much perfect.
How does that compare to the Note air 2 plus I just snagged used? I do very much love it in particular for comic reading.
I saw it on reddit hws for a nice price used before I permanently logged out, curiosity piqued + kindle paperwhite gen 2 pretty much dead had me buying it in short order.
I was definitely not considering another Kindle product owing to how locked down they are.
Never tried that one, but it look pretty good, even if the screen is slightly smaller. Yeah, Kindle comes with a hefty price, never cared much for them.
Just before I bailed on reddit I picked up a gently used & very nicely priced Boox Note Air2 plus specifically for dual duty as a book reader and graphic novel/comic viewer. It excels at both. For my aging eyes the extra square mm/inches and can be quite comfortably read from a distance longer than my max arm extension.
I think we are in a transition period. I feel the readers will become open source as the existing readers (apple, amazon, etc) are tied to publisher rules which don't take into account the quick evolution of:
Shortly you will have the ability to annotate or download a community annotations with enough marketup to turn your ebook into another form. It may even create derivative fan fiction of an author like Terry Pratchett who left us too soon.
The industry wants to charge you each time the material is transformed. Large print for those with reading glasses, abridged, or editorialized were oldschool. Cease and desist is newer. The internet wants to tinker and see what can be made. And within many of our lifetimes you will be able to say/type: "Make chapter 2 into an manga styled after berserk."
Currently I use: epub format on an ipad.
I don't think there is much to change or add technology-wise. I've bee using Google's Play Books on various tablets for years (currently a Galaxy Tab A6) for both ebooks purchased within the app and ebooks downloaded elsewhere.
I guess I'm the only one who reads books on my phone? I want to carry around as little as possible. ReadEra app is nice.
Good old paper from the library is still in play, of course.
I started out this way ages ago. It convinced me in the value of digital reading and then i bought my first ebook reader.
Today I'm glad to use the ebook reader because i can read something distraction free. Don't know if i could on a smartphone
Good point, but it's almost like a point of pride that I can maintain focus DESPITE all the possible distractions. Like I'm disciplining my attention or something.
Not to say that I always manage, but it's a fun challenge.
Phone screens are so small. Too small to read on properly. They're barely okay for reading web articles. I would hate to read an 80,000-word novel on one of those tiny screens.
You can always pump up the text size? I dunno, I've read probably 100 books on a pixel 6 with no trouble. Seems I'm in the minority on this one.
Yes, but not the screen size.
I actually prefer smaller text, because it means I get more words on the screen. At the speed I read, more words per screen is the way to go.
I had a small e-reader before the one I have now. It was only a 6" screen, which meant I was continually having to "turn" the page more often than I wanted. A small screen only fits a small amount of text, which means you get through it quickly and have to either tap to the next page, or, in the case of a phone, keep scrolling. Also, small screens don't fit many words per line, which makes for a cramped reading experience.
Now, I have an e-reader with an 8" screen and it's luxury. So spacious. So relaxed. Lovely.
No, you are not the only one who prefers to read on a phone.
I'm an OG e-book adopter - 1st e-reading device was a Palm II, back around 1996, and I still have files in .pdb and .mobi format.
I've been blessed (?) with really, really good near vision, well past the age when most people start suffering from loss of visual accommodation (that's reading glasses-time, for the younger folks). Unfortunately, I've got some uncorrectable vision problems at greater distances that make extended reading at lap or desktop distances uncomfortable.
When reading, I normally hold my phone about 6" from my face. That's a substantial relative text size and amount of screen real estate with an OLED screen. Dark Mode everything, with near white text on a thoroughly black background, makes for my peak reading experience. Kindle's Android app is good enough for casual reading purposes. Moon+ Reader has so many options, including highlighting and text saves, that I have no compelling need for anything else.
I still find the contrast ratio and screen refresh times for e-paper to be unacceptable. E-paper devices might have improved in the year or so since I last tried, but they're still not good enough to justify a separate intermediate device between a phone and a computer screen for me. I do have a 9" Huawei Android tablet, but again, OLED screen and I rarely use it anywhere but long plane flights.
The only justification for an e-paper tablet, given my use cases, is for full-format magazines (not good enough for photorealistic images), graphic novels, and textbooks. Given the pricing at that screen size for something that doesn't even provide granular access to operating systems and other apps, it better let me take notes and save them in a non-proprietary format (ReMarkable is not the device I'm looking for).
Spouse swears by reading on an iPad Mini.
I also read on my phone. I tend to do most or almost all my reading in bed, and the thing I don't like about paper books in bed is laying on my back with the light on the ceiling on and trying to block it with the book but needing the room to be lit enough, etc... it's just become something super impractical compared to using my phone, with the lights already off in the dark, 'white' text on black with oled screen, but i also drop the brightness and use night mode so it's more orangey text on black, and I find it doesn't bother my eyes or anything that way.
I upload my own externally sourced epubs to the google play books app and read via that.
I have a Kindle Paperwhite and love it. It's gotten me to read way more.
I prefer an ereader and ebook for several reasons:
I still have my 1st-gen Nook Color, and that thing is a rock. Its bastardized version of Android is hopelessly behind, the B&N store itself is getting deeply glitchy, but this thing is a rock. All-day battery life, even 10 years later; the screen is still as responsive and vibrant as it ever was; and sideloading is still a viable option.
I prefer the feel and the experience of print, but for travel or "throwaway" reads that I don't feel the need to invest in (mostly in light of dwindling shelf space), I hope it never dies.
Glad I'm not the only Nook owner left lol. Their store is bad, but the devices themselves are so so so good.
Never gone for the color screens though, always just eink for that even extra added battery life.
I love the idea, but hate the reality. All of these devices or apps track what you read and when you turn a page. It feels such an invasion of privacy especially for something as important as books.
I use a third party ebook reader app but struggle to get DRM free books legally. It’s a pain and has driven me back to paper which I enjoy more anyway.
Huh, good timing! I've been working on something in this space for a little while now and it's starting to (almost) feel like a real thing.
I've always been really excited by Amazon's "WhisperSync", because it lets you swap back and forth between audio and text formats relatively seamlessly. This matches how I like to read so well, but I also really don't like Amazon, and I really don't like DRM on my books! So I haven't used it in a long time, but I've always missed it.
Recently, I started playing around with OpenAI's Whisper and I was pretty astonished with how good its auto-transcription is. So I decided to try to build my own, self-hostable "WhisperSync" system. It's called Storyteller and the code (still super early stages) is on my gitlab.
This has been a super fun journey, and I'm pretty pleased with where the synchronization system is right now. The next step is to build a little admin UI (right now there's just a dead-simple upload form) for managing books, and then potentially a whole e-book reader app.
I honestly don't have a lot of desire to build the app, but the system relies on EPUB 3's spec for "Media Overlays", which is a mechanism for encoding audio synchronization into an ebook, and very few ebook readers have support for it! And the ones that do are often pretty limited. I've been using BookFusion for testing, which does have limited support for Media Overlays, but the audio features are basically just a play/pause button. I think it would be awesome to be able to switch back and forth between audio and text "modes".
I've been using libro.fm for a while now for purchasing DRM-free audiobooks, and I absolutely love it. For testing, I've been purchasing ebooks from Kobo's online store and then using Calibre to strip the DRM. Obviously this is not the smoothest process, but as others have said, actually purchasing DRM-free ebooks is basically not an option. Using Calibre to strip DRM from an ebook for personal use isn't illegal in the US, though (there have been a few court cases about it)!
I like physical books, but at the same time I'm turning into an old fogie and want something more convenient, so I read ebooks more commonly. I really like the Apple Books app because it stores my stuff in the cloud and I can switch devices and continue reading from the same point no matter where I go, and it's all so seamless. But the biggest problem with it is that there is zero e-ink readers that it works with.
My biggest gripe with E-readers is that there is still no perfect one. I also like to read graphic novels and comics, so the vast majority of models on the market fail because they are too small and in some cases they can't even do a good job on the greyscale conversion and so you won't be able to see anything. The ideal ebook reader is relatively large, has a color e-ink screen, is responsive (no waiting more than a second for a page to load), and has good software - ideally one that syncs with the cloud so you can get in some reading when you don't have it and supports many filetypes. To reiterate, there is no such device.
There are two devices that are close. I believe there is a brand called Boox that has a large color e-ink display, but I am told that it is not only prohibitively expensive but the software is very bad and has responsiveness issues because it's basically just running Android. The second one is the ReMarkable 2 tablet - which I actually own as the only thing I have ever won in a contest, ever. It's pretty close since it has the large e-ink display and it's usually pretty snappy - though it often fails to recognize the gesture you use to turn the page, which is infuriating. The display is greyscale but the color conversion is actually pretty good. They are a failure, though, because they want you to pay them a subscription to use cloud services (they technically have a free version but it's so limited that it's essentially only there to annoy you into paying for it). I do like the pen stuff, but it's absolutely unnecessary for reading and the pen is actually sold seperately anyways - it might be worth the buy if you are using it as a study tool.
Not sure why we need e-Readers when we have tablets. I read books, scientific papers, web pages and stuff in PDF all the time on an iPad, before that it was an Amazon Fire tablet, before that it was a Google Nexus 7. Maybe an e-Reader has better battery life and is easier on the eyes but I can play Sorcery on the iPad and also use Remote Desktop Protocol to log into my home computer with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard, so it even replaces the desktop replacement laptop I used to lug around.
Many e-book readers are in fact effectively tablets with an e-ink display.
That said:
It comes down to how much text you read, I guess. my ereader weighs less at its screen size than any full-feature tablet, renders fonts cleanly at a lower price than any LCD option, has a battery that I'll often forget to charge between 15-5% and have never run it dead, and discourages me from being distracted by other activities. I pick it up to read long-form text, that's it.
On the other hand, I don't read many comics or textbooks, already have a 3DS and switch for games, and don't often need remote access to a computer. Even if I did, though, I'd probably still use an ereader for novels for the sake of eye strain. If that doesn't bother you, then great, save the money, but a tablet that would render text as well would need frequent charging, cost upwards of US$500, and probably lead to more instances of ending up scrolling wikipedia instead of reading the book I intended to focus on.
I've never used an ebook reader, but I love ebooks. I love being able to read as many books as I want anywhere I want without having to lug said books around, especially to places where having a physical book might be awkward or bad for the book. That's not to say I dislike physical books, because I adore them, but if I'm out and about and I get bored, all I have to do is open an app on my phone, and I have any book I could possibly want, literally right at my fingertips.
I've always found the Kindle outstanding for fiction, or anything linear (where you simply read cover-to-cover). I bought one as soon as they were made available in Australia, and it lasted for years. Now I'm using an older Paperwhite (second gen, I think).
For reference material like books about programming, there's no substitute for a physical copy. It's very easy to flip between arbitrary pages in a physical book, but very difficult in an ebook.
I used to have both an extensive paper book collection as well as an e-reader for many years. There is plenty to enjoy about the tactility of the physical book reading experience, but there are noticeable inconveniences too, most notably the bulk. I don't like owning too many things in general, so being able to pack more books than I can read in a lifetime into a single slim device is appreciated. I've donated most of my collection to the local library a couple years ago and plan to hand over the leftovers sometime soon.
Another thing I like about eink is that it allows me to read books outside of the local language with the same ease and comfort as paper... with some caveats. I bought a new PocketBook reader a few months ago, but it's been promptly relegated to collecting dust in the drawer — I pivoted to reading native Japanese literature recently and read on my phone now because I rely on quick dictionary lookups (with the combo of KiwiBrowser + Yomichan + Ttsu reader) which the reader's Linux-based OS doesn't offer. I'm contemplating grabbing an Android-based reader to replace it, but not sure how the performance would be — does anyone happen to have experience here?
I have a paperwhite from 2016 that still works, and I don't particularly pay for any of the books I read.
I think the only things they could reasonably improve on have been more or less perfected, and they have slapped on all bells and whistles they could think of (stylus, waterproof chassis, night light, etc.). Unless they somehow discover an e-ink screen tech that allows for a higher refresh rate or something more groundbreaking like that, I doubt there would be much development in the field of e-readers.
I'm mostly an evening reader as find it difficult to during the day. This means taking the book to bed and reading until my eyes can't stay open. I love my eReader (currently Kindle Paperwhite). The back lighting is great on it and the page changing speed has gotten really good since the early days. I was an early adopter with gen1 with the keyboard and much smaller screen. I have to say I find the new reader almost perfect. I do miss the 'squeeze' to change the page though from slightly older eReaders.
I don't think I would read half as much as I do if I didn't have it, and that comes from the ease of instantly getting a new book and being able to read it without having to do that one handed claw to hold it. I was even surprised to find a few series of books on kindle unlimited which worked out very well price wise. Having it tied in with service like GoodReads works well for me too to help keep track of what I read and find new stuff. I didn't think to find out about a loan service from local libraries for some reason?! So that sounds like something I will have to find out about.
I think the biggest downside to the whole thing is when you read a book and want to give it to someone when it's done. Especially to people who prefer the real physical book. That sucks as it's really nice to say you enjoyed this book and here you can have it. I'm sure the whole DRM Amazon + Kindle will bite me even more than it currently does but for right now the convenience is king.
I miss the satisfaction of looking at the thickness of a particularly large book or a series that you finished all piled up, which always amazed me as slower reader.
I just use Apple books, it's more important to me that I can pick up a book across all of my devices rather than the app having many bells and whistles. I like that I can upload my own to it and sync them so it remembers where I was. That's basically all I need from an e-reader. I've borrowed a friend's paperwhite and think they're great but being locked into the amazon jail is a no-go for me.
I like my Kindle Paperwhite too. It's just that on Amazon books are expensive, on average. The e-reader makes it so convenient for me to keep reading as a habit though. At the moment I am living small and don't have any room for traditional paper books. I don't really have a preference for fiction but for non fiction I like to be able to find a page in a hurry and paper books are better for that.
I really like my Kindle Paperwhite. I upgraded recently from an earlier version because I wanted the warm light setting. I don't really buy many books, but I instead get a bunch from borrowing from my local library online. I may get a Kobo in the future to support someone other than Amazon. Prior to my e-reader, I felt like it was pretty cumbersome to hold the thick fantasy books that I tend to read, so an e-reader was a welcome change.
My favourite feature of E-books that I haven't seen mentioned is the ability to tap on a word and have the definition show up, much easier than pulling out my phone or flipping through a dictionary if there's some word I don't know that pops up. Also I have the kobo aura, and I can read with one hand, thumb taps right side of the screen, and index the left side.
I am so accustomed to this feature that I will sometimes press words on real physical media.
Oops sorry I am still new to tildes, didn't realise I had a reply, YES I do that exact same thing and my wife will goof on me for it.
I have Kindle 4th gen (I believe, the last one before infrared touch), bought it on the end of life basically right from Amazon for 50€ at the time, I believe. Maybe 70. Still CHEAP!
I have a few downloaded books but I have like 90+% bought, either in English from Amazon or in Czech from Czech book e-shops.
I love my Kindle, thanks to it I read many books that I wouldn't read otherwise. I don't like taking books with me and reading through them, actually.
I don't follow tech in e-readers, so I don't know the state it is in. I know Amazon sells Paperwhite and that would be what I would buy today. The worst thing on e-reading is that e-books are not actually cheaper or not by significant amount. But you can get them in sale here and there which doesn't apply to normal books that often.
I have a pocketbook era which is almost perfect. I use it mostly for audio books so the speaker is nice (although it's annoying that when I try to sync bluetooth sometimes it still plays out of the speakers until a full resync, but thus is bluetooth..).
I'm also just done with DRM books. I do whatever I can to make sure that whatever I buy is DRM free, which is a big reason i moved away from the kindle.
I'm fully digital for everything and yet going over to eBooks just hasn't struck me.
While I like the tech and idea of an eReader and a digital collection I just can't shake the love I have for having a bookshelf full of books and seeing their neat covers and everything.
I don't know why that is because I loathe having physical copies of games and music.
Ironically I've been begging my wife to take up digital books because she just has way too many manga series (she only reads once or twice) and there's so many manga subscriptions out there with endless digital libraries to choose from.
I love my kindle and my library app on my phone.
Idk that they need major developmental changes, maybe more customization options for displaying content?
My calculator hasn't really changed much since my first smart phone, I feel like some stuff just needs to work.
I’m a huge fan of e-ink eReaders, but also buy a lot of physical books, especially if I like the series
I have an ancient iPad that I use exclusively as an eReader. Unfortunately, many of the books I've been reading lately are miserable-to-impossible to read as an eBook, if an eBook version even exists. I love e-ink readers, I'm thinking about getting one when I am replacing my current iPad.
I love my Kindle Oasis. Being able to connect to Libby from my kindle is amazing and I have consistently used it for the 2.5 years I've had it.
I love my Kindle Oasis. Being able to connect to Libby from my kindle is amazing and I have consistently used it for the 2.5 years I've had it. I also like the kindle has only one use. It's too easy to get distracted by my phone trying to use the kindle app, while an e-reader isn't actively demanding my attention. I like that it isn't busy.
I spend so much time in front of a computer screen, that I simply can't bring myself to use yet another screen and spend yet more of my time in front of an Ebook reader. So I stick to paper.
You might be surprised by the screen!
E-ink screens actually look virtually identical to paper! You really have to experience it to believe it. E-ink screens are great to read on and it doesn't feel like you're looking at a screen at all.
For me, ebooks make reading a lot easier. I typically use Libby with my library card for books, but when I do buy them I get them for the Kindle app. When I travel work, I used to pack my Kindle to read on the plane and evenings in the hotel. I've recently switched to a Samsung tablet and read with the Kindle app. I love the ability to highlight in color and make notes as I'm reading.
I absolutely love the feel and the smell and the experience of reading a physical book but these days I mainly read ebooks because it's just so much more convenient. I still buy the odd physical book but I'd say 90% of my reading is done on my Kobo
They're fine; I've had a Kindle Keyboard for years. I like it sometimes, but I vastly prefer actual physical books. It's just a better user experience for me... not having to charge them when I pick them up after a few months of inactivity is nice.
I always wanted a Pixel Qi really bad. Everyone was so excited about it, just the talk of the town, so to speak, and then it all just went poof, like the concept had never existed.
I've been exclusively e-reader (and text to speech) for over a decade now, and I'm probably never going back. I started out using really bad text to speech programs that sounded worse than steven hawking (literally, because I started with the generation of voices that came before his) to listen to mp3 files of books that I'd make the day before. it was a big deal for me when I was finally able to use google's TTS, and switch from carrying less than a dozen books with me to hundreds. being able to sit down anywhere and read or listen to anything from among every book I've ever owned is irreplaceable.
I love my e-reader. I started out with a Sony PRS-600 in 2009, and have had a few different devices since then, and am now using a Kindle Oasis from like 2020.
Definitely the tech has stagnated, but that’s mostly ok. All I could ask for is (even) better battery life and color e-ink. I run my kindle with Wi-Fi turned on so that it keeps my progress synced with the cloud, that way if I’m stuck in line some place and need to kill time I can pull out my phone and pick up exactly where I left off. This does hit the battery life significantly, meaning I have to charge the Kindle about once per week rather than maybe once per month.
I do take advantage of ebook loans from my local library via overdrive/Libby, which is really nice.
One of the number one features for me, though, is the dim lighting the Kindle provides. This lets me read late into the night in bed without bothering my wife by having a bedside lamp turned on.
A major reason I bought an e-ink reader is so it wouldn’t be exciting or distracting. I do think the annotation features could be better (especially for getting the annotations out of the device), but that’s a minor complaint. And the built-in light on my particular model is too white/blue for my taste. But I don’t want or need to spend money on a new one since it is fully functional.
Nearly every book I have read since getting the reader has been digital. I use Calibre to store my collection now and don’t keep much of a physical library anymore.
About the only thing I miss about physical books is that they make it easy to sense my place in the book, both as I progress through it and if I want to find a particular section again (particularly in reference works).
I went back to physical books for a while and while it has its positives it got to a point where i just had too much space taken up by books and carrying them in my luggage was a pain. I bought a Kobo Clara 2E and love the little thing. Its really made me read a lot more over the few months i've had it.
I do all my reading on my iPad and iPhone, 90% of my books are in Apple Books, but I have a few on the Kindle app and others.
A tip that helped me read longer with less eye strain is to turn on a grey scale color filter and reduce the white point under accessibility options. You can set up accessibility shortcuts tied to triple pressing the side/to button in accessibility under settings. I find this setup exceeds e-ink for eye comfort for me.
To replicate my setup:
First, set up color filters and the reduce white point settings under Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size -> Color Filters or Reduce White Point. For color filters, you can do a greyscale or filter other colors similar to the night shift adjustment to reduce the blue. Under reduce white point, you can adjust the slider to your likings.
Now set up the accessibility shortcut. Under Settings -> Accessibility -> Accessibly Shortcut, select both color filters and reduce white point.
When you want to read, triple-press the side/top button, and a list menu will open, and you can enable them one at a time.
Took me a long time to cave but when I finally did... I could never go back to only carrying one book in my pocket at a time, or not having three copies of the book available in case I forget one (tablet, Kindle, phone). I could never go back to having to go outside of the book to define a word, or to not being able to remember where I left off, or to forgetting to return those physical library books again...
My wish, as with others, would be color e-ink, but also I'd really like more competition.
I was never an avid reader but I got an e-reader on a whim and it instantly made me read more books than ever before. I just love how easy they are to use. They are lightweight, small and you can read with just one hand. I love laying in bed fully under the covers with just one arm sticking out holding my e-reader, that's just not possible with a large book. I also like that an e-reader takes up virtually no space and it's incredibly easy to get new books instantly.
Before using an e-reader I tried reading books on my tablet but the screen just hurts my eyes after a while, an e-ink screen is an absolute must have in my opinion.
I went from reading 0-1 book a year to reading about 30 a year, which is a lot for me.
I mostly read ebooks because A) I get them all for free from vk.com and B) it's easier to hold a phone and read while laying down than to deal with a physical book with the pages constantly bending so they're hard to read or my fan blowing the page or whatever.
I do really enjoy the idea of a physical book, but I have like 100 at this point so getting more that are just gonna sit in a box under my bed, likely to never be touched again just doesn't interest me anymore. I just keep the ones I do have in case of... Idk some disaster where I have to entertain myself without electricity. But reading from my phone is just more convenient. I also like if I have a question about the book or a word or whatever I can easily go Google it without loosing the flow.
My Kindle has changed my life. I actually mean that. I read every single day now, when previously, I was hard-pressed to pick up a book. Instead of reaching for my phone, I pull out my kindle. Waiting in the grocery line or the take-out line at a restaurant? Reading a book. Commuting on the train? Book. An ad comes on while streaming Hulu? I can knock out a few pages. A rainy day and I can't take the dog out for a walk? He's perfectly happy with me throwing a ball for him in the basement, while I lean against the wall and read a book.
Plus, I have literally hundreds of unique books installed on it. I can read fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, scienc-y books, biographies, histories...it is, almost, endless. I have consumed more books in the last 6 months alone than I did in the last 3 years combined. It's just bonkers to think about how much my life has improved since getting this handy little device.