Should I get a Kindle? Which one?
>>7330157
No
The shiny one.
I got a Paperwhite right before last Christmas.
I have always been against e-readers, but I've saved a decent chunk of money by downloading books I'm not sure I want to buy.
It does have its own set of problems.
Like how I read Infinite Jest on it and had no idea how close I was to the end of the book. And then I turned the page and found myself in the Notes and Errata.
You should have seen the look on my face.
>>7330157
If you can get a used kindle touch, its basically the paperwhite without a glow screen. You could probably get it for under 50 used, and i have had mine for years, and treasure it.
I recommend an e-reader with an SD card slot unless you like hooking up your e-reader to a computer often to delete read books.
>>7330266
that is easy, but you are also able to delete books you read from the menu
>>7330280
just use calibre
>>7330157
They removed the text to speech function which existed on earlier models, so it's totally pointless to me now. I'd rather just have the physical book if I can't have it read to me. You can get tablet ebook readers for TTS.
>>7330278
>>7330280
Fair enough but when I bought my e-reader, I just download hundreds of books and threw them all on an SD card. I guess deleting books would make it easier to go through your collection when deciding which new book you want to read but I don't like deleting books for some reason.
If you're a techie, an SD card also lets you take advantage of rooting your device. You can put applications on the card. All in all, it's definitely not necessary, but it kind of makes me feel a little less tethered to computers.
Amazon also has a really shitty track record when it comes to privacy - that's my main complaint about buying one of their products. Since the Nook is absolute garbage now, the only other decent choice is a Kobo, but I'm not sure if they are any better with privacy.
>>7330336
I am not implying anything by asking this question: What do I have to fear by Amazon breaching my privacy on my Kindle? Just genuinely curious what your answer is.
>>7330157
No, books don't need to be charged.
>>7330353
This is a big discussion and probably doesn't belong in a /lit/ thread. It's the same reason why you should be concerned about privacy in general. "I have nothing to hide" is a silly argument. To boil it down very simply, it's about freedom from control. The more someone or something knows about you, the more easily you can be influenced.
If I read questionable books like shit written by murderers with a questionable ideology, I don't want to be on watchlists and potentially get penalized in the future just because I read a book.
>>7330388
Go fuck yourself. A book is a book, text is text. If you cared about literature, then you wouldn't care about the medium in which it came. As long as the original text is preserved, nothing else matters. The only exception is when the author intended for a specific formatting, in which case you are free to read a physical copy. Nothing stops the two from coexisting.
>>7330405
There is literally no reason for a kindle, the book does the same exact thing.
>>7330427
E-reader:
-Download the book you want in seconds and start reading it right away.
-Change the text size to accommodate your preferences.
-Carry hundreds of books in one small device - beats carrying even one book since it's thinner, lighter, and doesn't need to be spread open.
-Built in dictionary so you can look up new words in seconds - you're bullshitting if you say you look up every new word you come across in a dictionary when you read a physical book.
-Battery lasts months. Yeah charging is a drawback, but if you only have to charge a few times a YEAR, it's seriously not an issue unless you live in isolation in fucking Antarctica.
Of course it isn't necessary, but it's still a great option if you have the money. The only major drawback is that it has sprouted elitists like you who get a smug sense of importance by not using one.
>>7330427
Not him, but you're wrong.
An e-reader can hold multiple books, allows books to be bought and stored digitally, read instantly, read in the dark (if it has a backlight), pirated, etc.
Just because you don't see the value in the above doesn't mean others don't.
People who travel, people who don't have space for books, people who don't want to pay to have books shipped, people who want to read in the dark, people who want to pirate books, etc.
>>7330405
I can understand your point. In that case, I'd say it's viable to use both. A Kindle for some books, and physical/non-Kindle copies for others that might raise eyebrows.
I'm not personally worried about getting on a list for the books I read, but that doesn't mean I don't think it's a viable concern for some.
>>7330437
We should start eating with plastic sporks and play video games on portable tvs!
I like e-readers but the main thing I can't get over is that it's not easy to loan a book to a friend. I'm also a huge faggot for bookshelves. Maybe I should just pirate all of my books to read them on kindle and then buy hardcopies if I like them.
>>7330458
>Maybe I should just pirate all of my books to read them on kindle and then buy hardcopies if I like them.
This.
Youse>>7330230
What? It tells you your percentage of the way through doesn't it?
>>7330468
There's a setting for your "location," which is like a page number that changes based on your font size and such.
And there's a setting for your percentage, which is what I was using. However, it was deceptive because the Notes and Errata took up a sizable chunk of the latter percentage. The endnotes started aroubd 85% or so, but I wasn't completely sure.
More importantly, I accidentally turned both settings off sometime during Hal's last chapter and just did not bother turning them back on until it was too late.
>>7330336
Are you just downloading books illegally or buying them?
>>7330353
You give up privacy in exchange for them knowing what you buy from them and what you have finished from those books, which they use to suggest more books to you. Also no sd card and limited file types.
If you are unsure of what to get if any you might want to look up some reviews other than people on /lit/https://www.youtube.com/user/TheeBookReader/videos
>>7330353
If you really want to be creeped out, I have only connected my kindle to update my software. When I went on my amazon account the next time it was giving me book recommendations based off all of the pirated books on my device
A Kindle is fine. Just put it in airplane mode as soon as possible, disable the store and jailbreak it. Probably install KOReader afterwards so you have more flexibility.
>>7330454
That's a poor comparison.
Kindle has terrible firmware, terrible typography, only reads a small amount of file types and is made by a company with questionable ethics.
Just get a Kobo and sync it to Calibre on your PC, no email fuckery and you can even sync it via Wi-Fi if you are tech illiterate enough to think that connecting an USB cable is too hard.
>>7332043
Do you by any chance work for Kobo?
>>7332061
No, I just don't like unethical companies that sell subpar buggy hardware, Amazon is basically the Apple of ebooks.
>>7330230
hahahahahahhaahaha
Getting to the end of IJ should be such a treasured, ceremonial moment, and I can see anon half-heartedly reading it like "and the tide was way out" okay, yada, yada.. The END.
>>7332069
what are you talking about m8? can you please link to a good source on all of these problems?
>>7332166
Every Kindle has shitty typography, it's not a per-case thing, you just didn't notice it.
Recently they "updated" it but you need to download their new proprietary file type so it will still have the shitty typography if you don't buy ebooks from Amazon.
Bugs include bricking, freezes and failure to update library properly if adding from Calibre.
>>7332204
Looking at your picture I have to say "so what", and as far as the bricking, freezes and library updates, I have never experienced them. The worst happened when my touch went over to a new system update, and .mobi started shitting out occasionally, but azw3 works fine.
Im not an Amazon fanboi (i doubt they exist) but as far as technology, my amazon e-readers have been much more reliable than any samsung, apple, microsoft, custom pc, amd, or nvidia product ive bought as far as how hardy and how many years of use I get out them.
For me your post is like people who treat Steam like it is anti-consumer, when for the last decade it has never broken any games or fucked me in anyways except for giving me games on the penny.
>>7330157
Is there an easy way to prevent Amazon from remotely deleting books from the device, as they did with Nineteen Eighty-Four in 2009?
>>7332228
dont connect to the internet, manage your books from calibre
Seriously, Amazon has 0 to do with my kindle unless I let it. If it deleted all my pirated books (all my books that is) I would just re-upload them. If they started blocking all books without an amazon drm check, the flipout online would be top tier.
>>7332142
Yep.
I'd intended to finish it at home . . . not on my lunch break at work.
Though I think the abrupt ending kind of matches my abrupt finish in a funny sort of way.
>>7332043
so kobo is a good deal? which one should i get
>>7332043
I tried to buy a Kobo once, but their site directed me to several brick-and-mortar outlets which did not actually sell Kobos
>>7330454
we actually do that though fucktard
>>7330157
get a Kobo if you're gonna run pirated books through it, they don't have the same DRM bullshit.
>>7330157
No, get an e-reader that's not made by Amazon.
>>7334782
I know it can. I accidentally turned it off when I was near the end and didn't turn it back on.
The hyperlinked footnotes were great, but my Kindle would lock up if I tried to warp back and forth too much. Then I'd have to tap a bunch of times and suddenly get flung ten pages backward. Just a mild inconvenience.
Yes! Definitely.
My kindle voyage is fucking amazing.
Last time I waxed poetic on the joys of a top tier kindle I got banned because they thought I was an advertiser.
My kindle is that good.
>>7334782
What's wrong with a kobo? I have had one for a couple weeks now and it hasn't given me any trouble.
>>7332043
But you can use Calibre with Kindle as well.
>>7332204
I could not handle that at all.
>>7330437
The dictionary and the ability to change the font size on the spot is what made me buy one. No book can do that, and I see no virtue in having to put the book down and take a peek into a physical dictionary/switch on my laptop to look up a word.
