In a recent communication, Amazon has alerted Kindle users about significant changes set to take effect from next month. The notification pertains to the phasing out of support for sending MOBI (.mobi, .azw, .prc) files through the “Send to Kindle” feature, starting November 1, 2023. This change, as News18 pointed out, specifically impacts users attempting to send MOBI files via email and Kindle apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.
Ah they’re closing the walled garden off. More in shitification. You don’t own the hardware, you just rent it from Amazon
as per linked article, they’re phasing out an older, unsupported format. you can still send .epub files.
…but pdf and epub still work. Easily the least objectionable thing Amazon has done all year. But don’t let that get in the way of your mad.
Some people just wish the world was burning
Isn’t it though? …like literally or did those go out?
We didn’t start the fire!
It was always burning
If you want to bastardize my obvious intent, yes, you can legitimately state that the world is on fire. But it always has been, and always will be, by that metric.
There replacing file formats nobody uses with an open format (epub). I remember having to convert epubs before I could load them to my kindle so this is basically the opposite of closing off a walled garden.
But kindle still doesn’t support epub files outright? You can’t just sideload epub files, you have to use the email service.
Yeah you have to send through email. I guess some people might want to do via usb, I find sending to email easier tbh.
That was true if Kindles from the start, to be fair.
It’s unfortunate that there just aren’t a lot of options in the e-reader field.
Kobo devices work out of the box, and they are very hacker friendly, a good middle ground. They run mainline Linux with a custom UI, but you can change that to other systems, e.g. PostmarketOS (an alpine based linux distro) or install more fully featured reader programs like Koreader. With some hacking you can use the devices without a Kobo account. Some devices run from a simple sd card, so you can easily grow storage size, and easily backup the whole system. Most devices have hidden a serial port inside, with some soldering you can connect peripherials!
I have a clara hd, I use it as a tactical glide computer with xcsoar,, with an external serial gps and barometer
I’m not going to lie. A lot of that went right over my head. But I see a fair amount of praise for Kobo. I looked at them in the past but I can’t remember why I didn’t pull the trigger and get one.
Ok, elevator pitch for muggles:
They are good devices, and there is a huge hacker community behind them. Having a hacker community means, that they are not locked down, and when the manufacturer will disappear you can still use them with some tricks. You really own them, you can do whatever you want with them.
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Libra 2 and Clara 2E both have internal micro sd, from the currently available models. You have to remove the back cover of the reader to replace them. Wiki lists all features of all readers, check the “Storage” column: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobo_eReader
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Open book, remarkable, anything calibre supports should be okay
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I’ve just purchased an Onyx Boox device to replace my old original Kindle Paperwhite. Moves like this make me feel good about choosing to go that route since it is essentially an Android tablet that will support any format as long as there is a reader app for it.
That said, to anyone thinking of buying one from the website that this article links to, there are lots of negative reviews for them so it might be best to find a different distributor.
I’m satisfied enough with my Paperwhite but would like to diversify off Amazon hardware to something that I can just run their app and also others for more variety.
What Boox device did you get and how do you find the battery life? I’d like to see how things work with color so the mini-C looks interesting as an e-book replacement, and there apparently an “ultra C” which is more of a tablet device but might be a bit bulky (plus more expensive)
I haven’t even received it yet, so I can’t comment on the actual device. In the end I decided on the Page as I didn’t want something too much bigger than my current Kindle and I wanted the page turn buttons since I always found the touchscreen page turning on my Kindle to be inconsistent.
I turned an old android tablet that was too slow to run anything into an ebook reader. I just installed Moon Reader and it works for me.
Personally I’m trying to find something that isn’t an illuminated screen.
Agreed, the paper-like screen is non-negotiable for me.