• Admiral Patrick@dubvee.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    1 month ago

    Don’t let the ugly UI scare you off. Once you get past that awful first impression, Calibre turns out to be a pretty great app.

    Couldn’t have said it better myself. The UI looks ancient and cartoonish, but once you actually start using it, you don’t even notice because of what it can actually do.

    • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      Well what were you expecting? This is like when people install GrapheneOS on Pixels, because it’s still the best platform to have a Google-free device.

      It’s entirely possible that someone wants to buy a Kindle because of it being a great device, but not want to be tied to Amazon’s data mining exercises and/or buy books from them because of their behaviour as a publishing company.

      • Altima NEO@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        1 month ago

        I think he’s trying to point out that if someone were that concerned with trying to not be data mined by Amazon, they wouldn’t have an Amazon account to be able to order a Kindle in the first place.

      • jqubed@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        1 month ago

        The article starts out explaining that other devices are not sold in Brazil; Kindle is the only option.

    • ghedin@lemmy.eco.brOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      1 month ago

      Why? I wrote about how to use a Kindle without tying it to Amazon. Kinda hard buying one anywhere else but from Amazon…

      • gatorgato@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 month ago

        It was a good article. I bet if you think really hard you will see the irony this reader found with an Amazon-free Kindle… Purchased from Amazon.

        Also, I heard that some people pirate books for Kindle.

      • MaggiWuerze@feddit.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        28 days ago

        Then check the verb in your title. Using is not making. And ‘Kindle’ is used like Kleenex, as a generic term for eBook readers.

    • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      1 month ago

      Hardware and software are different things.

      It’s perfectly reasonable to want the hardware of a Kindle, while not wanting to deal with the software shenanigans. I’m sure plenty of people on Lemmy have bought a laptop before then put a different OS onto it, for example.

      Even putting that aside, did you not read the first paragraph? The author clearly states that alternatives like Boox and Kobo aren’t available in their country.

      You actually as if their position is unreasonable. It really isn’t.

  • jqubed@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    1 month ago

    I was wondering why anyone would go to the trouble when you can just buy a different brand.

    In Brazil, you can pick any e-reader you want, as long as it’s a Kindle. (Kobo, Boox, and other brands don’t sell their devices here.)

    That’s too bad, and surprising since later in the article it mentions that Kobo does have a store in Brazil to sell EPUB files, but not their readers.

    • ghedin@lemmy.eco.brOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      It’s a shame indeed. Kobo used to sell their devices here, but they pulled out years ago. We also had a local bookseller that tried to face off Amazon, Saraiva, that released its own e-reader in ~2017, called Lev. (Probably a rebranded Chinese device; it was awful.) It didn’t last. Right now, we have only Kindle devices for buying, and even that isn’t complete — Kindle Scribe hasn’t arrived yet.

      • obbeel@lemmy.eco.br
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 month ago

        I bought a Kobo Clara last year and it works. I can even buy books. I live in Brazil.

  • ikidd@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 month ago

    That was pretty thin on details.

    I’ve had a Fire 8 for a while now that I bought because it was cheap as hell, thinking I could subvert it to the side of good. To an extent I guess I did, but I’d still rather use an old android 4.1 7" that doesn’t have a lock screen I can’t get rid of, so I have one less swipe to read for a few minutes when I wake up in the middle of the night.

    I wish I could make it work like that one, but so far no go. And you can’t get rid of some of the Amazon bullshit, so there’s that. It just feels like its sitting there waiting to fuck me over somehow so I don’t bother.