Heads Up for Kindle Readers

[RetireJapan]

Started downloading my 1278 Kindle titles... this may take some time

How many did you manage to download?

All of them.

[AreTheyTheLemmings?]

Started downloading my 1278 Kindle titles... this may take some time

How many did you manage to download?

All of them.

That's impressive. Well done!

[david]

If anyone is interested there was a recent jailbreak on most (all?) versions of kindle called "winterbreak" which lets you install Koreader which is an (I think open source) alternative to kindles built in firmware and effectively completely decouples it from amazon and gives you a ton more flexibility.

[mitch]

I hear Cobo is great, but I know nothing about them. Is there anyone around here who'd like to share some experiences?

My experience with Kobo readers has been pleasant. I find Kindle hardware and software to generally be a bit slicker, but I think any recent Kobo model would meet the needs of many people. The hardware is nice, and the current version of the software feels less like it's constantly trying to sell you more content. The Kobo store is decent, but the selection is notably smaller than Amazon's. One of the attractive points in the context of this thread, of course, is that Kobo supports content in many different formats, and if you like, you can use PC software such as Calibre to manage the content on a PC or NAS. If you prefer to stay all-in with Amazon ebooks for life, Kindle is the way to go, but if you'd prefer not to be locked into one vendor and retain a bit more control over your media, Kobo currently seems like a good option.

[William]

My experience with Kobo readers has been pleasant. I find Kindle hardware and software to generally be a bit slicker, but I think any recent Kobo model would meet the needs of many people. The hardware is nice, and the current version of the software feels less like it's constantly trying to sell you more content. The Kobo store is decent, but the selection is notably smaller than Amazon's. One of the attractive points in the context of this thread, of course, is that Kobo supports content in many different formats, and if you like, you can use PC software such as Calibre to manage the content on a PC or NAS. If you prefer to stay all-in with Amazon ebooks for life, Kindle is the way to go, but if you'd prefer not to be locked into one vendor and retain a bit more control over your media, Kobo currently seems like a good option.

Thank you for this. I'm reconsidering a lot of things when it comes to "owning" things, and long story short, I'd like to leave Amazon on the side. I couldn't find a replacement for Audible; it looks like Kobo's offer is more troublesome. That said, for books, maybe Kobo would do.

[adamu]

I couldn't find a replacement for Audible

https://libro.fm is pretty good. They have an app but also allow you to download the raw audio files.

[William]

https://libro.fm is pretty good. They have an app but also allow you to download the raw audio files.

Funny, I saw their name somewhere else, too, yesterday.

I'll need to check—To be a bit picky, I’m hoping for a wide selection of audiobooks in French, as I usually prefer listening to books without needing the extra focus required for a non-native language.