Of all the people I know who bought into e-readers, they all just went back to books. Kindle is the only one that seems to still pop up, but people hate amazon so much they’d far father buy from mom and pop shops.
Whatever happened to cheap eReaders?
Submitted 2 days ago by realcaseyrollins@narwhal.city to technology@lemmy.zip
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/05/whatever-happened-to-cheap-ereaders/
Comments
rumba@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
I’m going to be honest, I read on my Kobo way more than I read physical books, and I own a floor to ceiling bookshelf in desperate need of weeding. Public library integration through Libby can’t be beat, I love that it has a backlight, and it’s more comfortable to read long novels especially- and no danger of ruining. Don’t get me wrong- I love the tactile feel of paper and the smell of old books, but there’s a lot to be said for convenience. Also- library ebooks don’t accrue late fees, which have been a major source of guilt for me my entire life.
AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today 2 days ago
I jailbroke my Kindle and use KOReader on it which made my Kindle 10x better. But you’re right in that I’d support mom & pop before Amazon.
eRac@lemmings.world 2 days ago
I tossed KOReader on my Kobo Libra 2 recently after a year of thinking it didn’t add anything useful. Oh boy, was I wrong.
It’s so much faster, I can dial in the formatting exactly how I want it, and I can customize the inputs to my liking. Page turn only on buttons, tap a corner to toggle dark mode, etc.
realcaseyrollins@narwhal.city 2 days ago
I may look into getting an e-reader later on in the year. The Colorsoft seems intriguing.
eRac@lemmings.world 2 days ago
If your primary usecase is text, don’t get a color e-reader. There are significant downsides to the display quality for very little benefit.
If you are wanting to read comics, manga, or illustrated guides, then you will want the color.
I’m a big fan of the Kobo Libra design. It’s friendly to software mods and has a rail for holding it with a nice big button that sits under the thumb for page turning.
I find that the Kindle-style thin bezel gives no comfortable way to hold an e-reader since the only good place to put your thumb is on the screen, the primary input method. It leads to a bad experience and turns people off from e-readers.
Wahots@pawb.social 1 day ago
I use my job with library books fairly often, though the waiting list is sometimes 6-8 weeks for popular titles.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 2 days ago
E-ink is a slow deve
hera@feddit.uk 2 days ago
I have an old kindle and I love it. Does everything I need it to. Read books with a backlight, that’s it.