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Ebook Readers: A community dedicated to different ebook reading devices (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by to c/communitypromo@lemmy.ca
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!ebookreaders@lemmy.zip

I have an unhealthy obsession with ebook readers. At last count, I owned 45 dedicated devices, including the PalmPilot PDA I bought in 1997. I read The Hobbit on that tiny screen. During staff meetings at work! No one had any clue! lol

The idea that I could carry several books in my pocket completely fascinated me, and before long I was collecting every reader I could get my hands on. My budget is tighter now, so I don’t buy anymore unless I see a super cheap deal on ebay that I can rehab or something.

I still read fiction every single day on a dedicated ebook reader, and I still follow news about the newest models. So I figured I might as well start a community, just in case there’s at least one other nerd out there who loves this stuff as much as I do.

And if not, I’m perfectly happy with an audience of one. :)

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[–] [S] -4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 child)

Kindle is only locked if ya buy ebooks from Amazon. No Kindle has ever been locked for me, because I've sideloade all my DRM-free ebooks, for the last 20 years that I have been using ereaders, including Kindles.

The key here, and this is for any ereader, is never buy an ebook using anyone's specific DRM. Ever.

I think some people are misunderstanding the "locked" Kindle part. Those of us who are inclined to sideload and hack anyway, don't care. And the normies never ever transferred anything via USB anyway.

You can buy a brand new Kindle today, and still load your own books on it. That hasn't changed at all.

I don't support Amazon's take on this, but Grandma Jones likes reading the latest cozie mysteries on her Kindle, and she buys them from her Kindle directly anyway. She doesn't even have a USB. So it's hasn't changed for her at all either.

TL;DR: Nothing has changed for me. DRM is the real evil, and lots of places besides Amazon try that shit.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    The key here, and this is for any ereader, is never buy an ebook using anyone's specific DRM. Ever.

    A shame that it means a sizable amount of books are therefore legally unavailable to you. I understand your ethical motivation to do so though, as I also dodge DRM like the plague. It's the reason why I have barely watched any movies in the last ten years.

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  • [–] [S] -4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

    True, but I do stick to a huge amount of DRM-Free books that are offered legally, like Baen books, gutenberg, manybooks. For modern mainstream ones, I do buy the paperback version for my shelf, then do what I have to do to get the DRM-free version if you catch my drift. I want the author to be compensated. But when I buy something I want to own it for real, not license it.

    But people the biggest consumers of ebooks are women and the genres are romance, light mystery, etc. That consumer target, buys via kindle, reads, deletes and on the the next one. I don't agree with Amazon donig what they are doing at all. But the vast majority of consumers just don't care. Which is how a lot of these sorts of things work. Frustrating for those of us who do care though!

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