I’ve never used one but it struck me as odd that people would use a seperate device for smth so easily done on your phone.
Is there smth special about the hardware? Is it better somehow?
Wow, this post is 5 months ago.
The whole point of kindle and other ebook readers are its screen. All smartphone/tablets shines bright backlit light to your eye and casuing eye strain (most people do it so long that they don’t tend to notice it anymore). First generation e-link screens doesn’t have light, and it tends to be more paperlike than your screen. Also unlike your smart phone/tablets, it is distraction free. The hardware specs are low and you can’t switch to chatting, surfing the web, turn on music or watch a video. Books and only books. Also, with phones, I always need to watch the battery and ebook readers can last months if not weeks on one charge (depends on how much you use it).
Newer readers (like for the last decade), all have FRONTLIT screens. Light shines from the top to the bottom, through layers of screen and reflected back at the bottom, thus diminishing its effect and lessen eye strain.
That’s a cool explanation, thanks!
In essence, ebook reader try to keep reading as close to paper as possible, to avoid/lessen eye strain (front the early lightless ebook readers to newer lighted readers), with the benefit of taking it everywhere (have you tried carrying some doorstoppers around?). Though media tends to portray ebook vs paper as neither / or, while in reality you’ll see many people perfer both. I myselft purchases physical books because I love the smell of paper books, and I devour books on my kindle (I have 3, from kindle keyboard (no light), paperwhite (first gen with light) and voyage).
My Kindle is more than 10 years old, one of the ones with physical buttons to turn the Pages. No crappy software/spyware, enough storage to hold tons of books, and one of those E ink screens that don’t shine at you. When the battery on this one finally dies I will be performing surgery on it and replacing the battery rather than buying a new one
1- Kindle generally has a smaller attack surface for reading books compared to an Android tablet. The Kindle’s operating system is more specialized and focused on reading, reducing potential vulnerabilities compared to the more multifunctional and complex Android operating system.
2- If you have dealt with representational trauma in cyber warfare, the Kindle would be a refuge psychologically speaking as it wouldn’t cause much disorientation and have a lesser impact on your brain chemistry, of course, there are valid reasons you have fallen victim to consumerism here too, so learn to secure all your devices rather than scapegoating!
I have a Kobo eReader, it’s mostly because the display is way closer to an actual sheet of paper than anything else. I can read for longer without having a headache, and I even send long web articles to it using the Pocket service.
The battery life is also incomparable to our phones, which can be measured in weeks on a single charge. It’s nice when travelling, no need to worry about wasting your phone’s battery and spare it for emergencies.
Others have commented on how the display looks like paper but I will add that the battery life is incredible, the devices are very lightweight, and because they’re only designed to display books you don’t get any distractions from notifications or any other things you might do with your cell phone.
E-ink screens are amazing, they looks very different to normal displays, they actually look almost like paper, and does not strain you eyes like a phone or computer display.
After understanding that the rest is easy, an ebook reader is small, lightweight, has a battery life of several weeks of active use, and can hold vast ammounts of books.
Books are awesome, but ebooks are more conveniet in the modern world.
At the risk of making it sound like a cult, I didn’t understand either until I got one (although in my case, I didn’t understand why people would want one instead of an actual book, not instead of a phone).
Honestly it’s really handy. Super lightweight so I don’t get a wrist pain from holding it up at an awkward angle. Battery lasts for months so I can just pick it up and throw it in a bag for a holiday and never think about it. All of my books neatly organised. No notifications interrupting like you would end up with on a phone. Much bigger screen than a phone despite being much lighter, so more text on one page. All of that on top of the reduced eye strain, it’s a no-brainer for me.
I have one of the backlit, touchscreen ones these days and the light is useful I keep it on warm light and the dimmest possible for use at night. But I have to admit the older version with the side buttons was better than the touchscreen, I often find myself accidentally skipping pages with the newer one.
I was the same, I didn’t really see the point of them until I tried out my sister’s eBook reader. Then I was sold!
Also, while I still prefer physical books, I can’t deny that it’s nice to just be able to carry my entire library around in a bag.
Lack of notifications and other distracting apps is a big reason I prefer my ebook over reading on my phone. I have pretty bad ADHD, if what I’m reading doesn’t have me hyperfocused I’ll switch over to another app completely unconsciously.
Reading in the dark is the main reason I prefer my ebook over an actual book. It’s so easy to keep reading after my husband goes to sleep. Mine is old enough to have a power button, but they stupidly put it on the bottom edge so I frequently click it and turn my book off lol
I’m with you. Years ago now I got one and was blown away. I had hundreds and hundreds of paper novels and thought id never ever want to read on a screen, now I only have about 10 special books, and have moved exclusively to ereader (and audiobooks…).
The screen is better than paper. It lasts for months on a charge. It can carry thousands and thousands of books. I can use it in the dark without bothering anyone else with the light.
The only downside is, of course, in the event of The Apocalypse, I may not have electricity. But even that is mitigated by having a couple of solar powered usb chargers :)
Mitigated, not solved completely. Hopefully society rebuilds before the solar chargers die?
The main lure of Kindle or any other e-link device is its screen. E-Link, unlike your standard LED/OLED screens on your phone/computer/tablets has lightbulbs pointed DOWN, there’s a mirror that reflects the lgiht back up, because of this, the light that hits your eyes are much weaker and thus cause less strains (I would imagine Paperwhite and Voyage are worse with eye strains than Keyboard as Keyboard does not have lights).
I have Kindle KB, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Voyage, aside from KB where the battery is dead, both Paperwhite and Voyage are still in service and it is my best purchase to date.
That said, there are still times when I miss the weight of physical book on my hand, so I still borrow physical books from libraries and purchase physical books. Through the years I saw many arguments that tends to pose this “problem” as “either/or” situations, as if having one format is a distain for the other. That is simply not true, I devour ebooks, breathe physical books and seek articles on my computer.
As to why have a dedicated device for one purpose? Because it is the best at what it does. Phone/tablet computers possess too much distractions, even unprovoked I’m bombarded with notification popups. Kindle, just read. No distractions.
Your description of the technology is not quite correct.
Thank you, I knew I was missing something, I was thinking of this when I replied it.
That’s a nice graphic!
Yes, they have e-ink screens which look like paper. Very high resolution and very low power draw with perfect viewing angles and no issues with direct sunlight make it worth it to buy an extra device.
Though the amazon ones are software-locked afaik, so you can’t put your own books on there.
