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scubbo 27 minutes ago [-]
Kinda baffled by people preferring buttons on their devices. When trying to de-Amazon I bought two Kobos - a Clara BW (without buttons) and a Libra Colour (with). I _much_ prefer the Clara because I can slip it in a pocket, whereas the extra bevel required for the buttons means the Libra must be in a bag (though I still end up using it despite this inconvenience because it can load books wirelessly, unlike the Clara).
Totally agree that a manufacturer should provide both options - I'm just surprised to have non-standard preferences.
A_D_E_P_T 20 hours ago [-]
Amazon's attitude towards its Kindle device customers is one of lofty disregard.
Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc.
But they appear to exult in dashing the hopes of their customers, or at the very least they don't care about them at all. They've doubled down on no-key devices with stupid pens, pointless and poorly-implemented color, and tiny or excessively large form factors with little in between. It's kind of crazy just how much they don't seem to care.
The subtext of the article indicates that the problem isn't discontinuing support alone, but discontinuing support without offering those customers a reasonable replacement for their old devices that had keys and buttons. (Even if it's just a couple of buttons.)
Aloha 6 hours ago [-]
14 years of support for a device is pretty incredible.
al_borland 5 hours ago [-]
It seems they’ve gone out of their want to make them useless. They could have ended official support, while still allowing users to download ebooks from the store and side loading them through a computer. However, before killing support, they eliminated the ability to download ebooks to the computer.
e28eta 6 hours ago [-]
I don’t know how I feel about it. I’ve been on one side, looking at usage numbers of older iOS versions, and arguing that low single digit percentages were fine to stop supporting with the new version.
On the other hand, I view my kindle as an appliance, and I don’t need it to have updated functionality. I think this is true of many electronics: digital cameras, printers, misc USB peripherals, etc. I believe Amazon could easily support the APIs it uses, and keep delivering me books that I’ve paid for or borrowed.
Financially, I suspect the kindle devices have a much longer lifetime than iPhones do, and Amazon is still making $$ off of old kindles.
If there were TLS concerns, a partial disablement (ex: can’t buy books from the device) would be way more acceptable than a complete cutoff. I’ve seen suggestions that it’s a DRM issue, and if that’s the primary motivation, it’s pretty disappointing.
Aloha 5 hours ago [-]
I'm supporting a 30 year old product, the oldest one in the field are 20+ years old, we still support them.
I'm just in the process of developing a lifecycle policy, being able to cut off support for a 12 year systems would make my life much more full of joy.
_doctor_love 3 hours ago [-]
(This may be a very ungenerous reading of your comment, so my apologies if this is not what you mean.)
The phrase that jumps out at me is:
> being able to cut off support for a 12 year systems would make my life much more full of joy
I think this is a nearly-poetical capturing of the core problem.
The focus is on the joy and well-being of the maintainer, not the impact to all the people who will be impacted by this change. Possibly some people rely on these devices and it adversely impact their joy and livelihood when support is ended.
This happens over and over again in tech.
andrekandre 2 hours ago [-]
> Possibly some people rely on these devices and it adversely impact their joy and livelihood when support is ended.
This happens over and over again in tech.
its true and i agree with you as a user
on the other hand, some software gets harder and costlier to support the longer its out there (think spec changes, security issues, updates in law etc), and even paying a normal subscription for it can cause roi to go negative, especially when factoring in opportunity cost for a business (help the old users or spend that time/money making a new feature for the majority)
my thought on it is if its a subscription, maybe for some software, the longer someone uses the old version the subscription cost could go up slowly, or if its a one-time purchase, after x years they could just buy a support ticket or something...? for ad-supported software i have no ideas...
happyopossum 4 hours ago [-]
Presumably that “support” you officer is tied to a nice fat multi-year support contract, no?
You can’t equate that to providing ongoing updates and support for a $100 hardware device indefinitely.
zeafoamrun 55 minutes ago [-]
If only you knew the lengths amazon went to to keep supporting these devices. Stopping support is emblematic of the Jassy era, of amazon becoming just like any other bigco. This would've been unthinkable under Bezos.
oceanplexian 18 minutes ago [-]
14 years is impressive? Wait until you find out how long a real book can last.
solenoid0937 5 hours ago [-]
Yeah, I do not really see the problem here. These devices are ancient and the panic is unwarranted. The older Kindles can be jailbroken if anyone cares that much.
I think there is a smaller argument that the newer Kindles don't feel as nice. The Oasis was the pinnacle of e-reader hardware design, and it'll be sad when they stop supporting it, but it certainly won't be worthy of a news article or this kind of reaction.
phil21 2 hours ago [-]
> The Oasis was the pinnacle of e-reader hardware design, and it'll be sad when they stop supporting it, but it certainly won't be worthy of a news article or this kind of reaction.
To me it would. If they don't have a similar device released by that time.
It would get me motivated enough to finally de-DRM all the books on my device (or pirate copies I can't otherwise decrypt) and copy them to a third party something like a Kobo Reader or whatnot.
I am firmly in the Kindle ecosystem sort of by accident and inertia, but if they were to end support of the only device that meets my needs (page turn buttons and waterproof - which for the latter to be useful you need the former) it'd be the end of Kindles for me forever, and I'd certainly bitch a lot about it on-line!
If they end support for it 12 year after release but offer a reasonable upgrade path? I'd grin and bear it. 12 years is a decent amount of time for a $200 device.
tapland 3 hours ago [-]
Sigh. The unnoteworthy useless ancient device Noone should talk about that has the features everyone wishes the newer versions had.
Yeah, it's the smells wherever you go problem.
paulcole 7 hours ago [-]
> Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc.
WWII fighter plane with red spots on it dot gif.
The vast majority of people who buy Kindles simply read books on them and don’t repeatedly cry online about features that are never coming back.
I’ve bought about 10 of the things dating back to 2012 either because I wanted to have the latest model or because I wanted to give one as a gift. They are all amazing devices.
I’ve never thought, “boy I better go online and complain about this one.” I’ve just been too busy buying and reading books on them!
kuschku 3 hours ago [-]
The reason people complain is because the old kindles used to have buttons, and honestly the touch screen is really fucking janky if you're used to the page turning buttons of the kindle 4, or the onscreen keyboard is janky if you're used to the kindle 3g.
And the sad part is that there's no best of both. You can't get a kindle paperwhite with buttons.
paulcole 3 hours ago [-]
Kindle 4 came out in 2011. I think 15 years is enough time to get ready for a buttonless kindle world.
phil21 2 hours ago [-]
No amount of "getting used to buttonless" can keep a touchscreen from registering water droplets as touch.
So until they can figure out how to make touch screen work in those conditions, any device released without page turn buttons is useless to me.
It's not a preference thing for me. It's simply a physical requirement for my environment.
Yes, I do understand I'm a rather niche use-case and don't really expect them to pander to me. But I will be vocal about it just so they know I exist! There are at least dozens of us!
The fact I can continue to buy refurbished Oasis units whenever I leave one in airplane seatback pocket is the only reason I'm still on the Kindle ecosystem. The second I cannot make that work it's off to third party for me and they will lose an infinitesimal portion of their captured audience for future book purchases.
zeafoamrun 1 hours ago [-]
There being capacitive touch panels that are designed not to register water as a touch has been a thing for 15+ years.
kuschku 2 hours ago [-]
Why 15 years? Why should I ever have to accept things getting worse? Isn't the point of progress that things get better?
There's multiple touch zones (which aren't visible or marked), there's multiple gestures you can interact with, and it's so slow and janky enough that you never know what will happen when you touch it.
Will it go forwards? Or backwards? By one page? Or a dozen? Will it open the settings? Or change the brightness? Or just close the book? You never know.
I want to lose myself in the book, I want to forget the device even exists, not fight the device for half a minute whenever it decides to go forward by 11 pages, open the settings, change the font and brightness just because I wanted to go one page back
umbra07 1 hours ago [-]
I've never had this issue. And I use Koreader - which has much larger touch zones than the normal Kindle software.
Are you normally reading in a moving vehicle or something?
Insanity 7 hours ago [-]
+1. It seems like there is just a vocal minority who complain about the missing HW buttons etc.
I’m sure Amazon has enough actual customer data to make their product decisions based on what moves the most volume.
ryandrake 7 hours ago [-]
Just like the 3.5mm headphone jack, which a very vocal bunch of people are still complaining about, 10 years after iPhone got rid of it.
anonymars 1 hours ago [-]
I traded occasionally making my life more difficult, and in return I got what? My old phone was equally waterproof
onetokeoverthe 4 hours ago [-]
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trueno 5 hours ago [-]
if they want buttons just look at the various e-readers online there's like such a breadth of these things now its insane. i personally was fetched an xteink reader cause theyre tiny (literally magsafes to the back of my phone wtf) and i love that (they have buttons) and chucked this dudes custom firmware on it to make formatting and usability a lil bit better https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader
is it kindle, no but can i read a book on it yeah. easily.
PunchyHamster 5 hours ago [-]
Different way to think about it: Whatever failings device might have, people still buy it for Amazon service integration.
Also "but people buy it anyway" is terrible way to disregard legitimate criticizm without thinking
paulcole 4 hours ago [-]
“But people cry about it” doesnt mean the criticisms are legitimate.
To be fair, I don’t think the criticisms are illegitimate by your definition, I just think they’re pointless and from vocal crybabies.
lynndotpy 3 hours ago [-]
You are only making complaints about criticisms (which you acknowledge as legitimate). If complaints from consumers about consumer devices are pointless and the consumers are "vocal crybabies", then how would you categorize yourself and your complaints about their complaints?
paulcole 3 hours ago [-]
I’m no better than anyone. I was using the other persons definition where it seems there is no illegitimate criticism. I honestly think anybody crying that there aren’t buttons on a kindle needs to come to terms with reality and move on with their life.
lynndotpy 2 hours ago [-]
"Crying" is needlessly dismissive and it doesn't strengthen your position.
I'm happy there is a mass of popular sentiment that consumer devices are better with buttons. I think they're to whom we can credit the return (or addition of new) buttons to cars, to phones, and to all manner of appliances (induction stoves, thermostats, ACs.)
In either case, it looks like the last Kindle with buttons disappeared only late 2024, a year and a half ago. This was a recent enough phenomena that these complaints make sense. Amazon still has a chance to get with the times and release an eReader with buttons.
__rito__ 10 hours ago [-]
I will just stick with Kindles. Indian heat and humidity make a Kindle unusable in 7-8 years, unless you have a 100% AC life.
Kindles last a month on a charge or two. It's very light. It's affordable.
It doesn’t show colors, but I have an android tab to read papers and technical content, anyway.
I tried looking at alternatives, but low price + extreme power efficiency + being able to sideload books is just great.
jay_kyburz 9 hours ago [-]
Kobo is all that but without Amazon.
stock_toaster 5 hours ago [-]
Unfortunately a lot of fiction (sci-fi/fantasy) ebooks are effectively kindle exclusive these days (amazon publisher deals exclusivity), due to the near monopoly amazon has… and since they have locked things down even harder lately, it is much more difficult to export purchases to other readers.
ornornor 39 minutes ago [-]
Switched to kobo years ago, will never buy a kindle again.
Also, koreader!
kstrauser 5 hours ago [-]
Seconded. I bought a Libra 2 a few years ago and loved it so much that I’ve gifted a couple more. There’s nothing about it I’d want to change.
Lanrei 4 hours ago [-]
I'd change mine so that the portrait and landscape button layout were separately configurable.
kstrauser 3 hours ago [-]
Huh. OK, fair point. I have my portrait buttons swapped because my thumb naturally rests next to the top button. I don't use in landscape enough to be an issue.
BTW, slapping a pop socket on the back so I can comfortably read with one hand was a game changer.
mrec 9 hours ago [-]
I was about to complain that my Paperwhite only lasts a couple of days between charges (it shuts down when battery drops to ~50%) but then realized that I've had it 7-8 years. No Indian heat here though, I'm in the UK.
strooper 6 hours ago [-]
I replaced the battery after using the kindle Paperwhite for 7+ years. And now its battery life is as good as the new one's.
mrec 2 hours ago [-]
Ooh, I honestly hadn't considered that; thanks for the tip. The waterproof seal around the screen has degraded too, but I very rarely read in the rain these days.
brycethornton 7 hours ago [-]
Try keeping it on airplane mode if you don't already. It definitely improves the length of a charge.
mrec 6 hours ago [-]
Already do. I hate to think what it would be like now otherwise.
Insanity 7 hours ago [-]
There is a Kindle Color<something>. Haven’t used that yet either.
liveoneggs 4 hours ago [-]
I just replaced my old kindle with a colorsoft. It was annoyingly white until I figured out how to get that old school kindle yellow/newspaper/paperback look going again.
The newer battery is nice and usb-c is a big upgrade instead of finding my last mini usb (or whatever it was). I think I'm down to just one last thing on that stupid cable (a camping lantern).
j45 8 hours ago [-]
There are other similarly priced and equally capable e-readers.
gibber878 7 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
onidj 21 hours ago [-]
Having used an early kindle and a recent kindle, they are incredibly similar. One of the main innovations of the new models appears to be adverts you have to pay to get rid of.
fodkodrasz 21 hours ago [-]
Also gradually phasing out support of formats like mobi, in such subtle ways that if you open a mobi file you cannot go back to the library, but have to cold-reboot your device...
My current kindle is my third one, and is the last. I will never ever pay for a kindle to Amazon, due to its user hostility.
Oh, and also you cannot move ebooks between accounts, even not with a lot of friction, eg. support tickets, which would be a fair way to game piracy and unwanted lending, which was some inconvinience for me in a situation. Not a huge monetary loss for me, rather a reminder that when you pay to Amazon (or Valve, or any other contemporary DRM-burdened vendor) you are only leasing...
neves 7 hours ago [-]
It's what I hate the most: I can't lend a book to my wife to talk about it.
Just US and UK have family accounts.
daemonologist 6 hours ago [-]
The "library" UI has also gotten radically worse over time (in my family there is a 3G, an early Paperwhite, and a relatively recent base model, and each has a worse and sparser UI than the last). The pages turn faster though, due to improved display/display driver tech.
mrec 23 minutes ago [-]
And meanwhile the webapp's library UI doesn't even let you filter by read status.
kuboble 21 hours ago [-]
My kindle from 2012 used to have ads you needed to pay for to get rid of. It was sold as separate product with or without ads at a time. I had one with ads.
I keep it offline in airplane mode permanently from 2016 and haven't seen a single ad in a long long time.
ZeWaka 10 hours ago [-]
You'll get a new ad if you take it online again, but they only persist for about a month or so before falling back to the generic 'read books' amazon ad.
I have my 2016 one setup without a password so when I open my cover the device unlocks, so I never really even see the ad unless I try.
totetsu 7 hours ago [-]
There are cracks for older firmware and others for newer. You can have it online and adfree with a little forum reading.
IshKebab 21 hours ago [-]
I have a similar one and I never bothered to pay to get rid of the ads or keep it in aeroplane mode.
The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable.
If they were in the actual UI and for stuff like cars and perfume I might mind, but they aren't so I never cared.
avazhi 10 hours ago [-]
> The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable
Speak for yourself. Aside from the principle, some of us don’t want to be advertised to in the comfort of our own home/bed/while we’re camping or whatever. Ads don’t have to be actively flashing, spaz-inducing insanity to be objectionable.
Not to mention that by definition an ad like this WILL be seen and attended to, even if only momentarily. That in itself is also objectionable.
turtlebits 9 hours ago [-]
Customers have proven they'd rather pay less for the option to see ads. As long as you can pay for an ad-less experience, I see no problem with it.
dnlzro 3 hours ago [-]
Considering how difficult it is now to buy a TV without ad-infested “smart” software, I think we should all be grateful for the opportunity to pay to remove ads.
But what a sad world we live in…
madarco 21 hours ago [-]
Actually, the old Kindle had physical buttons, which I find more ergonomic when reading in bed
gruturo 21 hours ago [-]
That's what your nose is for. (I'm quite skilled at advancing or going back by gently tapping the kindle against my face. It helps that I'm very nearsighted so it's kind of already there)
cbdevidal 20 hours ago [-]
Same here. I read your comment from two inches away lol
literalAardvark 20 hours ago [-]
Really wish my 1st gen Paperweight had split forward and back buttons on the right side.
But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie.
phil21 1 hours ago [-]
> But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie.
You can... turn them upside down to become a left-handed device. That way you can be weak-handed with either hand!
ZeWaka 10 hours ago [-]
There are newer ones with physical buttons.
stevewodil 8 hours ago [-]
There are but it's discontinued. There is no current generation model with page turn buttons.
happyopossum 4 hours ago [-]
> adverts you have to pay to get rid of
Those have been around since day 1 afaik - my second gen kindle had them over ~12 years ago
gibber878 7 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
PeterStuer 10 hours ago [-]
So their inhouse AI which they are forcing all their devs on is not capable of figuring out how to render what is basically the equivalent of an .md onto the older Kindles?
butvacuum 9 hours ago [-]
they're updating the DRM.
WithinReason 21 hours ago [-]
Just got an xteink x4 and flashed crosspoint on it, I've been tuning fonts by modifying the font generator and now it renders great.
Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't see the appeal of reading on an eink device that's smaller than my phone, which I'm always carrying. Maybe if I'm reading outside in sunlight rather than in bed? Or if I'm worried about getting distracted by a FB/X notification?
kstrauser 5 hours ago [-]
Different person, but I bought a set for me and my wife on a whim because they’re so cheap, and found I adore the little thing. I have a public transit commute to and from work. Since getting it, I’ve spent my commutes reading books I’ve meant to get around to.
I have a Kobo I keep at home. I love it, but don’t want to risk breaking it while carrying it around in my backpack, and it’s too big to comfortably hold on a crowded BART (let alone to dig around in my bag to get it out and put it away). The X4 is always in my pants pocket during the commute and small enough to break out wherever I am. Also, it’s small enough to not feel fragile, and cheap enough that it wouldn’t be devastating if I broke it anyway.
bwilliams 10 hours ago [-]
Same. It’s the best ebook experience I’ve had so far despite its size and I’ve tried a myriad of ereaders.
The only missing feature is a backlight for reading at night.
neves 7 hours ago [-]
Back light is a necessity for couples or places with bad light. It is one the greatest Kindle features of all time.
dabeeeenster 20 hours ago [-]
Love my x4! I saw 1.3 allows you to bring in your own fonts - any suggestions?
crtasm 16 hours ago [-]
It also added a list of fonts that can be directly downloaded, not had chance to try them out yet
neves 7 hours ago [-]
Does anyone has experience with Android e-ink ebook readers? Are they worth it?
An Android e-ink reader would be perfect for it. And I'd use kindle app to read my kindle ebooks. But I don't really see people using them.
oddeyed 7 hours ago [-]
I bought a second hand Meebook M6 on ebay. At least, it was listed as second hand but seemed to be fresh out of the box when it arrived. I completely love it.
For actually reading ebooks, I'm using Koreader instead of the built-in reader because I find the UI a bit easier to get my head around. I mostly use it for PDFs related to classroom learning, but have the odd epub knocking around from project gutenburg etc.
It has Google Play support, so I can use the Libby app to access my local library's ebook collection (including offline access to travel guides - so useful). I also use the Sefaria app to read Hebrew scripture (also supports offline). These apps tend to use the battery faster than Koreader and having scrolling controls instead of page-turning controls is a bit of a pain, but quite manageable.
I haven't tried the Kindle app, but I'm sure it would work fine.
dotancohen 52 minutes ago [-]
I use a Boox Note Air Plus 2. Love the thing.
It's 10 inches, which I find to be a bit too large for an E-Reader. But for surfing the web and note taking this is a terrific device. Boox has smaller Android devices.
propter_hoc 4 hours ago [-]
I just bought a boox go color 2. Kindle form factor, color e-ink screen, runs android, supports stylus.
I don't know if I love it yet but I read seven ebooks in a month on it, so I guess it's been a good purchase. The android kindle app has a neat smooth scrolling feature that works really well.
I really don’t understand the hype of that product.
It’s like an entrepreneur with social media marketing skills came across a container full of really cheap small eink displays, then designed a product and marketing around it.
tren 6 hours ago [-]
I use a Boox and really like it, but it's definitely not the same price point as a kindle. It has a stylus but I basically use it exclusively for reading.
decafninja 2 hours ago [-]
I got a third (I think?) generation Paperwhite brand new when it was released.
From day 1 it was super laggy. Once I opened a book to read it was fine, but everything up to getting to that point was lag upon lag.
This was a new device of a new generation.
I find the Kindle UX better on my iPhone or iPad.
kyranjamie 21 hours ago [-]
My 14 year old Kindle functions so perfectly I've no desire to upgrade. This is exactly why KOReader and all the jailbreaks exist.
rando1234 10 hours ago [-]
So it will be possible to jailbreak it and upload my own files still?
They aren’t bricking the devices, they are making them not work with the Amazon store and library features anymore. My Kindle Keyboard (3rd generation device) still works perfectly well with sideloaded books. It’s jailbroken and runs KOReader, which lets you read ePub directly.
It’s easier to read things on my Kindle Keyboard than on my original iPad.
loloquwowndueo 8 hours ago [-]
Yes, I did it for my Kindle 2 and it works well.
CGamesPlay 20 hours ago [-]
14 years support window is so insanely good. But as it goes...
You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.
Dylan16807 1 hours ago [-]
Most things keep working when support runs out.
If your product doesn't work without support, you have villain aspects from day 1.
azalemeth 20 hours ago [-]
My local library has some dead tree format books with a 500 year support window. Or dead animal or dead reed format books with more like a 2000-year support window.
Planned obsolescence is always bad.
jhbadger 9 hours ago [-]
Unless they are very popular books, they will be weeded (thrown out or or sold) in a matter of a few years though. People imagine that libraries are infinite storehouses of material, but except for places like the Library of Congress they really aren't. There is limited storage space, and in order to get new books they need to discard the old ones that were rarely checked out. Even the example of old books on parchment aren't immune to this trend -- the books we have from Ancient Greece or Rome are just the really popular ones that were copied over and over again, and the vast majority of works from those times are lost.
happyopossum 3 hours ago [-]
> 500 year support window
Err, no. Something “existing” is not the same as something being supported. Is the original printer still providing free translations to modern languages? Fixing typos and other mistakes? Adding chapters on a regular basis?
It’s kinda ludicrous to call the fact that a thing didn’t spontaneously disappear “support”.
CGamesPlay 3 hours ago [-]
And that fact is also true for all of the books on all of the discontinued Kindles.
Given, the kindle won't last 500 years, but the support window is in some senses longer than for those 500-year-old books, which never received a single security update.
Finnucane 7 hours ago [-]
Your local library keeps papyrus scrolls on open stacks? I mean, sure, yes, there are libraries that haves such things (the university I work for does), but generally they will be kept in special boxes and you need to ask nicely to get to see them. And don't get me started about the crapitude of your average new book these days. Personally, I prefer print books too, but lasting forever is not really why.
mlyle 11 hours ago [-]
I think the bigger issue is that there's market segments that old product reached and that newer ones don't... and you are locked into their devices by the content you've "bought."
14 year support window is pretty good. Not being able to get a modern device with buttons, and having no way to read your books with buttons, isn't.
generic92034 20 hours ago [-]
Maybe for ebook readers, but not for books.
ok123456 10 hours ago [-]
A bookshelf can have books that are 100s of years old.
albert_e 19 hours ago [-]
Tip: if you let kids and others in your home use a Kindle and they might unintentionally turn off the airplane mode ...
Go to your router settings and blacklist the Kindle's mac id.
Sleep peacefully that your kindle will never be bricked or wiped by a software update.
Yeah mines been on airplane mode for probably a decade now, really not seeing a reason to ever connect it to the internet
comboy 21 hours ago [-]
I was looking for a good rationalization to leave the ecosystem, one-click e-books is great and having old device that I can take anywhere not caring about it getting beaten up even more was another major advantage.
Removing some old book I had was the first major red flag.
cryptoz 21 hours ago [-]
Some wild irony is they once forcefully removed purchased copies of 1984 from Kindles while people were reading it.
_Microft 20 hours ago [-]
“The books will stop working”, discussed 7 years ago:
I guess I've never been strongly compelled to ditch mine. It sits there next to my bed. I pick it up and read it every night. Every few weeks I remember that you have to actually charge it. My last Kindle started malfunctioning after about 8 years of constant use. I opened a chat with Amazon support and they gave me a 50% coupon off the current version. That was two years ago and I'm still using it.
I do get the argument about lockdown. And there's some mediums I feel more strongly in that area. I suppose Amazon just has me exactly where they want me :)
thih9 20 hours ago [-]
My kindle will not be aware of it. It has been in airplane mode ever since I bought it.
Its clock no longer tells correct time; but it’s fine, a book doesn’t have to do that - and I have a watch.
arikrahman 21 hours ago [-]
Glad I went the Kobo route. Koreader beats Kindle any day of the week.
Bud 33 minutes ago [-]
[dead]
prvc 22 hours ago [-]
>Amazon said it had supported the devices for 14 years or more and could not keep doing so indefinitely. "Technology has come a long way in that time," said a spokesperson.
Wasn't the original concept of the Kindle that it shouldn't need to be replaced by newer models?
alok-g 6 hours ago [-]
> Amazon said it had supported the devices for 14 years or more and could not keep doing so indefinitely.
Why -- Aren't they also claiming productivity enhancements with AI? ;-)
And did they calculate how much environmental damage may result the decision?
kuboble 21 hours ago [-]
I can and will still use mine to read files.
What is discontinued is integration with Amazon account. Which seems fair to me to be fair.
wrxd 21 hours ago [-]
Less fair when they sold an integrated device and store
literalAardvark 20 hours ago [-]
It'd be fair if they unlocked them.
devilbunny 7 hours ago [-]
The device isn’t locked, and you can continue to read anything on it. You just can’t put new things on it directly from Amazon via its built-in interface.
An original-model Kindle has more of its original functionality than an original-model iPad.
hoppyhoppy2 5 hours ago [-]
The OS is locked, no? That's why people have to jailbreak it to install software like KOreader?
devilbunny 3 hours ago [-]
Yes, the OS is locked. I misunderstood the point of your statement.
But all you are losing is the ability to use the Amazon store and borrowing that requires DRM. It still works fine as an e-Ink reader.
Anecdotally, the OSes on the really old ones are easily jailbroken. They have never updated them to an unbreakable one that I am aware of.
More than I can say for my first-gen iPads, which would still be wonderful devices for reading books today. I have a Kindle because it is, and long has been, the cheapest e-Ink device. It’s my reading-outdoors device; I don’t use it except at the beach/pool.
dev_l1x_be 22 hours ago [-]
Deadwood loyalists raise an eyebrow and keep reading.
burner420042 21 hours ago [-]
There I go
Turn the page
echelon_musk 20 hours ago [-]
On the road again
Procrastes 9 hours ago [-]
I gave up on Kindles long ago. They wake up and drain their batteries, so they're always dead when I pick them up to read something. Not a problem with Kobo. But I really want to pick up one of these little Xteink readers next. They just seem perfect for pulling out of a pocket and reading. Also, I'm a smaller person, and they look like they would fit my hand. Modern phones feel like tablets to me.
html5cat 4 hours ago [-]
Maybe it's ok to upgrade an o($100) device once after, checks notes, 14 years?
Incredible longevity compared to any other device
ipeev 3 hours ago [-]
Each of my kindles so far stopped working in about 2 years. I had 5 or 6.
wedg_ 20 hours ago [-]
I have a Kindle which I think is surviving this purge. But after looking at alternatives like the Kobo, I wondered where people got their books?
Ofc there's the high seas, but I'd quite like to support the authors and I can afford ~£10 for a book now and then. But are there any stores as good/convenient as the Amazon one?
bobmarleybiceps 20 hours ago [-]
is the kobo store not good/convenient compared to kindle? I thought the kobo
store was pretty good, but it is my first and only e-reader.
exmadscientist 5 hours ago [-]
There's nothing wrong with the Kobo store itself, but some titles are only published via Amazon. Especially from self-published authors or participants in Kindle Unlimited. Whereas the major releases from the bigger publishers are usually widely available.
This is somewhat annoying. Please don't offer only one storefront as a place to buy your work.
Crespyl 5 hours ago [-]
Kobo store is convenient but feels pricey sometimes (I don't have experience with the Kindle store). I don't mind paying them though, because it's still easy enough to strip the DRM and make backup copies of my books. If that changes, I'll take my business elsewhere.
I make a lot of use of my local library through the native Overdrive integration.
rag-hav 20 hours ago [-]
I buy the books of my favorite authors on kindle store, while sailing the high seas to read the books on my Kobo. I don't buy all the books I read though.
Den_VR 20 hours ago [-]
Inversely, try to use a kindle as a Korean.
bananaflag 22 hours ago [-]
Joke's on them, I keep the Kindle permanently on airplane mode anyway.
moffkalast 21 hours ago [-]
The first time I got an ad on mine I did that and switched to the Calibre + z-library workflow. It's been most of a decade since.
It's like people have to be taught the same lesson about SAAS over and over and over again. Like what did they expect, to not get rug pulled eventually? Crazy. You own your shit or you don't. Simple as.
iLoveOncall 20 hours ago [-]
You paid for the ads-supported version if you got ads...
nosioptar 18 hours ago [-]
Not always obvious. I've stopped several relatives from making that mistake.
For some reason, they're inclined to trust Amazon.
While Calibre makes it easy, it's even easier to just download a copy someone else has already stripped of DRM.
If publishers/authors want my money, they can release a version without DRM.
steve-atx-7600 2 hours ago [-]
Yep. Go to yandex, search for book, download ebook, done. I’ll order a hardcover of the book if I liked it. I don’t mind reading on an iPhone (iBooks will open it and even sync it across devices). If I did, I’d use Calibre to load books on a kindle. I did this recently as a test and it worked on the second version ever made of the kindle.
lostlogin 11 hours ago [-]
Calibre is a rather painful tool, but seems to remain the best.
Calibre web and calibre web automated downloader remove a fair bit of the clunk.
iLoveOncall 20 hours ago [-]
No, you choose what is downloaded locally. You can also get .mobi files and copy them to the kindle directly.
Ironically, files downloaded from "other" sources have no issue. So they're just making it harder to buy from Amazon legally.
majorbugger 20 hours ago [-]
Two of my paperwhites died so i took the opportunity to switch to kobo and couldn't be happier.
CptKriechstrom 18 hours ago [-]
I was in the market to buy a new E-Reader since my old Kindle started to act funny (Random shutdowns while reading and it won't come back for several minutes).
After the announcement I decided to switch to physical books
ajay-b 15 hours ago [-]
Is it possible that Amazon views the Kindle as less than profitable, and so they’re taking the hard line tactic to try and boost revenue?
dennismd 20 hours ago [-]
I’ve been looking into getting an e-reader, but I’m scared to get one from Amazon due to things like this. Are there any decent hackable and/or trustworthy ones out there?
theiz 20 hours ago [-]
There are Android e-Readers, like Boox, but that does not imply it is easy to do fun stuff. Seems pretty locked down.
I have a PocketBook myself, no complaints there and you can install software (at least I can on the one I have but it is a few years old now) and thus never had the need to hack the thing.
crtasm 16 hours ago [-]
Kobo's devices let you bypass the account signup via a single option in a config file. Whether you do so or not it's easy to install koreader and start writing plugins for it. You can also hack on the linux OS they use
pyreko 10 hours ago [-]
Yep, there's a plethora of tweaks and stuff out there to mess with Kobos to make them your own, and it's not hard to do.
Been super happy with my Kobo Clara.
MegaDeKay 6 hours ago [-]
I have a Kobo Clara HD and one day it wouldn't connect to USB anymore. Changed cables, took it apart to examine the connector (it was fine), tried it on both my Desktop and my laptop, etc. I was about to give up on it when I found out that it just doesn't work with USB 3. Verified that by successfully connecting to an old PC downstairs on USB 2. Turns out I hadn't used the Kobo in a while and I had replaced my Desktop and ancient laptop since. Both those older machines were connecting on USB 2 ports.
Got a USB expander dongle on AliExpress for something like six bucks that breaks out a few USB 2 ports and the Kobo is happy as a clam. So am I now, because the Kobo is great.
lostlogin 11 hours ago [-]
You can also sync to your own library - eg calibreweb.
It’s not too disgusting, and over-the-air is nice to have.
ajdegol 21 hours ago [-]
The price of convenience.
cbdevidal 20 hours ago [-]
Crap like this is why I 1.) export my Kindle books to plain PDF 2.) use a Nook Simple Touch. They work perfectly well 100% offline and are CHEAP now.
Primarily use two of these for a prepper book cache. (Two is one and one is none.) The battery lasts about a month on low cost chargers, and a pair of 32GB SD cards holds my entire collection. (A redundant pair since two is one.) Whole thing sits in an EMP bag in the bugout bag of my car, so I always have my library everywhere I go.
Exporting to PDF used to be pretty straightforward; the newest encryption is a lot harder to bypass but is still possible:
PDF is an atrocious format for this though. Why not export to ePub?
steve-atx-7600 2 hours ago [-]
If you want the exact same typesetting as the physical book, pdf is ideal. On a big enough iPad, this would be readable like a physical book. But, yeah, painful as hell on a smaller screen.
Bud 30 minutes ago [-]
[dead]
cbdevidal 19 hours ago [-]
I do both, actually. But I don’t notice the difference personally.
literalAardvark 17 hours ago [-]
There's not much of one until you need to reflow the book for a different reader
periphery 20 hours ago [-]
Brought a Kobo after Amazon locked my account. There is no going back to a Kindle.
Weryj 21 hours ago [-]
If only there was a way to download e-books and upload them to a Kindle with Calibre.
lagrange77 20 hours ago [-]
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but there is!
I've jailbroken my Kindle Scribe and installed coreader and feed it my Calibre library and its awesome.
Oh and i kept it in airplane mode from the first day, which is important so it doesnt self update and break the jailbreak.
rahimnathwani 7 hours ago [-]
s/coreader/KOReader/g
Voice input or autocorrect?
atoav 20 hours ago [-]
Excuse me, but I am not sure what to make of people who:
- use Chrome, by Google, a company earning money with selling ads and wonder why the adblocker is not working
- use Kindle, by Amazon, a company that earns money by renting out DRM-protected content, that sees the Kindle just as a vehicle to (1) sell more of that content and (2) as a vehicle to lock you to their platform
Please for the love of the universe, just start to factor in the incentives a company has when selling you a thing. Before buying my Kobo reader 12 years ago (still going strong!), the first thing I researched is how to get out of Amazon DRM hell. The answer is: get a reader by a company that sells readers as a main business and has an incentive to make sure they work and use it together with something like Calibre, so you have all your books if you lose the thing somewhere. If you're going to the powerful quasi-monopolist, that may be cheaper in the short term, but what about the time you lose when they eventually hold your whole library hostage or decide to drop support on something you relied on? You're not the person picking when that happens.
If I sum up how much I spent on books in 12 years that Kobo has paid for itself 50 times over and I still don't think there is any reason to replace it with something newer.
Totally agree that a manufacturer should provide both options - I'm just surprised to have non-standard preferences.
Every time they announce new Kindle products, half of the comments are like "I hope they have buttons," "I hope they bring back the Oasis," etc.
But they appear to exult in dashing the hopes of their customers, or at the very least they don't care about them at all. They've doubled down on no-key devices with stupid pens, pointless and poorly-implemented color, and tiny or excessively large form factors with little in between. It's kind of crazy just how much they don't seem to care.
The subtext of the article indicates that the problem isn't discontinuing support alone, but discontinuing support without offering those customers a reasonable replacement for their old devices that had keys and buttons. (Even if it's just a couple of buttons.)
On the other hand, I view my kindle as an appliance, and I don’t need it to have updated functionality. I think this is true of many electronics: digital cameras, printers, misc USB peripherals, etc. I believe Amazon could easily support the APIs it uses, and keep delivering me books that I’ve paid for or borrowed.
Financially, I suspect the kindle devices have a much longer lifetime than iPhones do, and Amazon is still making $$ off of old kindles.
If there were TLS concerns, a partial disablement (ex: can’t buy books from the device) would be way more acceptable than a complete cutoff. I’ve seen suggestions that it’s a DRM issue, and if that’s the primary motivation, it’s pretty disappointing.
I'm just in the process of developing a lifecycle policy, being able to cut off support for a 12 year systems would make my life much more full of joy.
The phrase that jumps out at me is:
> being able to cut off support for a 12 year systems would make my life much more full of joy
I think this is a nearly-poetical capturing of the core problem.
The focus is on the joy and well-being of the maintainer, not the impact to all the people who will be impacted by this change. Possibly some people rely on these devices and it adversely impact their joy and livelihood when support is ended.
This happens over and over again in tech.
on the other hand, some software gets harder and costlier to support the longer its out there (think spec changes, security issues, updates in law etc), and even paying a normal subscription for it can cause roi to go negative, especially when factoring in opportunity cost for a business (help the old users or spend that time/money making a new feature for the majority)
my thought on it is if its a subscription, maybe for some software, the longer someone uses the old version the subscription cost could go up slowly, or if its a one-time purchase, after x years they could just buy a support ticket or something...? for ad-supported software i have no ideas...
You can’t equate that to providing ongoing updates and support for a $100 hardware device indefinitely.
I think there is a smaller argument that the newer Kindles don't feel as nice. The Oasis was the pinnacle of e-reader hardware design, and it'll be sad when they stop supporting it, but it certainly won't be worthy of a news article or this kind of reaction.
To me it would. If they don't have a similar device released by that time.
It would get me motivated enough to finally de-DRM all the books on my device (or pirate copies I can't otherwise decrypt) and copy them to a third party something like a Kobo Reader or whatnot.
I am firmly in the Kindle ecosystem sort of by accident and inertia, but if they were to end support of the only device that meets my needs (page turn buttons and waterproof - which for the latter to be useful you need the former) it'd be the end of Kindles for me forever, and I'd certainly bitch a lot about it on-line!
If they end support for it 12 year after release but offer a reasonable upgrade path? I'd grin and bear it. 12 years is a decent amount of time for a $200 device.
Yeah, it's the smells wherever you go problem.
WWII fighter plane with red spots on it dot gif.
The vast majority of people who buy Kindles simply read books on them and don’t repeatedly cry online about features that are never coming back.
I’ve bought about 10 of the things dating back to 2012 either because I wanted to have the latest model or because I wanted to give one as a gift. They are all amazing devices.
I’ve never thought, “boy I better go online and complain about this one.” I’ve just been too busy buying and reading books on them!
And the sad part is that there's no best of both. You can't get a kindle paperwhite with buttons.
So until they can figure out how to make touch screen work in those conditions, any device released without page turn buttons is useless to me.
It's not a preference thing for me. It's simply a physical requirement for my environment.
Yes, I do understand I'm a rather niche use-case and don't really expect them to pander to me. But I will be vocal about it just so they know I exist! There are at least dozens of us!
The fact I can continue to buy refurbished Oasis units whenever I leave one in airplane seatback pocket is the only reason I'm still on the Kindle ecosystem. The second I cannot make that work it's off to third party for me and they will lose an infinitesimal portion of their captured audience for future book purchases.
There's multiple touch zones (which aren't visible or marked), there's multiple gestures you can interact with, and it's so slow and janky enough that you never know what will happen when you touch it.
Will it go forwards? Or backwards? By one page? Or a dozen? Will it open the settings? Or change the brightness? Or just close the book? You never know.
I want to lose myself in the book, I want to forget the device even exists, not fight the device for half a minute whenever it decides to go forward by 11 pages, open the settings, change the font and brightness just because I wanted to go one page back
Are you normally reading in a moving vehicle or something?
I’m sure Amazon has enough actual customer data to make their product decisions based on what moves the most volume.
is it kindle, no but can i read a book on it yeah. easily.
Also "but people buy it anyway" is terrible way to disregard legitimate criticizm without thinking
To be fair, I don’t think the criticisms are illegitimate by your definition, I just think they’re pointless and from vocal crybabies.
I'm happy there is a mass of popular sentiment that consumer devices are better with buttons. I think they're to whom we can credit the return (or addition of new) buttons to cars, to phones, and to all manner of appliances (induction stoves, thermostats, ACs.)
In either case, it looks like the last Kindle with buttons disappeared only late 2024, a year and a half ago. This was a recent enough phenomena that these complaints make sense. Amazon still has a chance to get with the times and release an eReader with buttons.
Kindles last a month on a charge or two. It's very light. It's affordable.
It doesn’t show colors, but I have an android tab to read papers and technical content, anyway.
I tried looking at alternatives, but low price + extreme power efficiency + being able to sideload books is just great.
Also, koreader!
BTW, slapping a pop socket on the back so I can comfortably read with one hand was a game changer.
The newer battery is nice and usb-c is a big upgrade instead of finding my last mini usb (or whatever it was). I think I'm down to just one last thing on that stupid cable (a camping lantern).
My current kindle is my third one, and is the last. I will never ever pay for a kindle to Amazon, due to its user hostility.
Oh, and also you cannot move ebooks between accounts, even not with a lot of friction, eg. support tickets, which would be a fair way to game piracy and unwanted lending, which was some inconvinience for me in a situation. Not a huge monetary loss for me, rather a reminder that when you pay to Amazon (or Valve, or any other contemporary DRM-burdened vendor) you are only leasing...
Just US and UK have family accounts.
I keep it offline in airplane mode permanently from 2016 and haven't seen a single ad in a long long time.
I have my 2016 one setup without a password so when I open my cover the device unlocks, so I never really even see the ad unless I try.
The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable.
If they were in the actual UI and for stuff like cars and perfume I might mind, but they aren't so I never cared.
Speak for yourself. Aside from the principle, some of us don’t want to be advertised to in the comfort of our own home/bed/while we’re camping or whatever. Ads don’t have to be actively flashing, spaz-inducing insanity to be objectionable.
Not to mention that by definition an ad like this WILL be seen and attended to, even if only momentarily. That in itself is also objectionable.
But what a sad world we live in…
But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie.
You can... turn them upside down to become a left-handed device. That way you can be weak-handed with either hand!
Those have been around since day 1 afaik - my second gen kindle had them over ~12 years ago
https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4
I have a Kobo I keep at home. I love it, but don’t want to risk breaking it while carrying it around in my backpack, and it’s too big to comfortably hold on a crowded BART (let alone to dig around in my bag to get it out and put it away). The X4 is always in my pants pocket during the commute and small enough to break out wherever I am. Also, it’s small enough to not feel fragile, and cheap enough that it wouldn’t be devastating if I broke it anyway.
The only missing feature is a backlight for reading at night.
Brazilian Government just released a great public library of e-books: https://meclivros.mec.gov.br/
An Android e-ink reader would be perfect for it. And I'd use kindle app to read my kindle ebooks. But I don't really see people using them.
For actually reading ebooks, I'm using Koreader instead of the built-in reader because I find the UI a bit easier to get my head around. I mostly use it for PDFs related to classroom learning, but have the odd epub knocking around from project gutenburg etc.
It has Google Play support, so I can use the Libby app to access my local library's ebook collection (including offline access to travel guides - so useful). I also use the Sefaria app to read Hebrew scripture (also supports offline). These apps tend to use the battery faster than Koreader and having scrolling controls instead of page-turning controls is a bit of a pain, but quite manageable.
I haven't tried the Kindle app, but I'm sure it would work fine.
It's 10 inches, which I find to be a bit too large for an E-Reader. But for surfing the web and note taking this is a terrific device. Boox has smaller Android devices.
I don't know if I love it yet but I read seven ebooks in a month on it, so I guess it's been a good purchase. The android kindle app has a neat smooth scrolling feature that works really well.
https://www.reddit.com/r/xteinkereader/
It’s like an entrepreneur with social media marketing skills came across a container full of really cheap small eink displays, then designed a product and marketing around it.
From day 1 it was super laggy. Once I opened a book to read it was fine, but everything up to getting to that point was lag upon lag.
This was a new device of a new generation.
I find the Kindle UX better on my iPhone or iPad.
https://kindlemodding.org/
They aren’t bricking the devices, they are making them not work with the Amazon store and library features anymore. My Kindle Keyboard (3rd generation device) still works perfectly well with sideloaded books. It’s jailbroken and runs KOReader, which lets you read ePub directly.
It’s easier to read things on my Kindle Keyboard than on my original iPad.
You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.
If your product doesn't work without support, you have villain aspects from day 1.
Planned obsolescence is always bad.
Err, no. Something “existing” is not the same as something being supported. Is the original printer still providing free translations to modern languages? Fixing typos and other mistakes? Adding chapters on a regular basis?
It’s kinda ludicrous to call the fact that a thing didn’t spontaneously disappear “support”.
Given, the kindle won't last 500 years, but the support window is in some senses longer than for those 500-year-old books, which never received a single security update.
14 year support window is pretty good. Not being able to get a modern device with buttons, and having no way to read your books with buttons, isn't.
Go to your router settings and blacklist the Kindle's mac id.
Sleep peacefully that your kindle will never be bricked or wiped by a software update.
Removing some old book I had was the first major red flag.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20297331
I do get the argument about lockdown. And there's some mediums I feel more strongly in that area. I suppose Amazon just has me exactly where they want me :)
Its clock no longer tells correct time; but it’s fine, a book doesn’t have to do that - and I have a watch.
Wasn't the original concept of the Kindle that it shouldn't need to be replaced by newer models?
Why -- Aren't they also claiming productivity enhancements with AI? ;-)
And did they calculate how much environmental damage may result the decision?
What is discontinued is integration with Amazon account. Which seems fair to me to be fair.
An original-model Kindle has more of its original functionality than an original-model iPad.
But all you are losing is the ability to use the Amazon store and borrowing that requires DRM. It still works fine as an e-Ink reader.
Anecdotally, the OSes on the really old ones are easily jailbroken. They have never updated them to an unbreakable one that I am aware of.
More than I can say for my first-gen iPads, which would still be wonderful devices for reading books today. I have a Kindle because it is, and long has been, the cheapest e-Ink device. It’s my reading-outdoors device; I don’t use it except at the beach/pool.
Turn the page
Ofc there's the high seas, but I'd quite like to support the authors and I can afford ~£10 for a book now and then. But are there any stores as good/convenient as the Amazon one?
This is somewhat annoying. Please don't offer only one storefront as a place to buy your work.
I make a lot of use of my local library through the native Overdrive integration.
It's like people have to be taught the same lesson about SAAS over and over and over again. Like what did they expect, to not get rug pulled eventually? Crazy. You own your shit or you don't. Simple as.
For some reason, they're inclined to trust Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Kindle/dp/B0CNVCQZG1/
This is the first one that pops up if you search "kindle" on Amazon.
I'm not sure how more clearly you could show the variants with and without ads.
Damn near impossible to find DRM free books to purchase though.
My method has always been to buy physical books (which is also better to support the author, because they get a bigger % of the price you pay.
And then, there are other creative ways to download the ebook... (without buying from Amazon, or other monopolists.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/1q1uza4/successful...
If publishers/authors want my money, they can release a version without DRM.
Calibre web and calibre web automated downloader remove a fair bit of the clunk.
Ironically, files downloaded from "other" sources have no issue. So they're just making it harder to buy from Amazon legally.
After the announcement I decided to switch to physical books
Been super happy with my Kobo Clara.
Got a USB expander dongle on AliExpress for something like six bucks that breaks out a few USB 2 ports and the Kobo is happy as a clam. So am I now, because the Kobo is great.
It’s not too disgusting, and over-the-air is nice to have.
Primarily use two of these for a prepper book cache. (Two is one and one is none.) The battery lasts about a month on low cost chargers, and a pair of 32GB SD cards holds my entire collection. (A redundant pair since two is one.) Whole thing sits in an EMP bag in the bugout bag of my car, so I always have my library everywhere I go.
Exporting to PDF used to be pretty straightforward; the newest encryption is a lot harder to bypass but is still possible:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/1q1uza4/successful...
Voice input or autocorrect?
- use Chrome, by Google, a company earning money with selling ads and wonder why the adblocker is not working
- use Kindle, by Amazon, a company that earns money by renting out DRM-protected content, that sees the Kindle just as a vehicle to (1) sell more of that content and (2) as a vehicle to lock you to their platform
Please for the love of the universe, just start to factor in the incentives a company has when selling you a thing. Before buying my Kobo reader 12 years ago (still going strong!), the first thing I researched is how to get out of Amazon DRM hell. The answer is: get a reader by a company that sells readers as a main business and has an incentive to make sure they work and use it together with something like Calibre, so you have all your books if you lose the thing somewhere. If you're going to the powerful quasi-monopolist, that may be cheaper in the short term, but what about the time you lose when they eventually hold your whole library hostage or decide to drop support on something you relied on? You're not the person picking when that happens.
If I sum up how much I spent on books in 12 years that Kobo has paid for itself 50 times over and I still don't think there is any reason to replace it with something newer.