• Bob Smith@sopuli.xyz
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    6 days ago

    Very user-hostile, but very unsurprising.

    Kindle hardware can be very nice, but almost every software decision is designed to keep users within their walled garden.

    No epub support, no third party app support, no ability to load non-store audio, and now this. What a waste. These things could be so much more useful than they are.

    • wjrii@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Calibre has always been a small price to pay, but if sideloading goes away, I’ll certainly never “upgrade” again, and I’ll trash my 11th gen Paperwhite if they somehow make it stop working. Usable e-ink ereaders are even doable as DIY projects now, and Kobo will probably stay less closed-off than Amazon for a good while.

      That said, reading the comments and the article it seems like as long as your OS (or some app) supports MTP, everything should still work more or less as it has, which is to say kind of annoying and with Amazon pulling little microaggressions like deleting your cover thumbnails, but overall sideloading should still function.

      • glimse@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        I love love love the DIY electronics scene but for a device that’s meant to be held…I dunno. Ergonomics are usually an afterthought if considered at all. I can’t imagine a DIY e-reader being comfortable to use

        Note: NOT shilling for Amazon here, I will never buy another Kindle

        • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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          5 days ago

          As much as the idea is cool, that display is also horrendous for reading. I could absolutely see it as “good enough” for a lot of projects, but not an ereader. 400x300 isn’t enough.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        I bought 2 Kindle 4 and 2 Kindle keyboard on Ebay for $40 a couple years ago and couldn’t be happier.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Abolish patent law.

      Maybe replace it with some very strict non-extensible protection, based on time since patent registration or profit made with it, maybe something else, whichever happens earlier.

      Either that or get used to oligopoly in every area of economics affected by electronics and computers and even all scientific advancement.

      That this takes time to happen, doesn’t change the fact.