IT DOES!!! Thank you @meerkat and @MonkeyJenga
I can’t believe I couldn’t figure that out before this.
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Betterworld Books and World of Books are reasonable alternatives.
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Ooh, I’d never heard of DoItBest but it looks like there are a couple of local stores, and they ship! Thanks!
Any good options for a coffee table? HTbF was thinking IKEA, not sure how much better that is than Amazon.
I’m gonna do the Eno doublenest and wait for the REI sale. Thanks everyone!
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IKEA is making decent moves towards more sustainable materials and manufacturing processes. Actually one of the better options out there, though their materials vary wildly so I scrutinise the materials list before I buy something.
In Aus, IKEA employees are well-paid. I can’t tell you whether that holds true for the US. Amazon is pretty much infamous globally for how poorly it treats employees, right?
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I just wanted to say I’m so happy every time this thread pops up. We’re all figuring this out together and it takes more mental work than you’d think.
By our powers combined, we are … Captain Planet! I mean, Shopping!
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Can we talk ereaders? I have a kindle which I bought back when it was the only way to load an ereader with library books without plugging the ereader into a computer. I still have it and still use only for library books so maybe it doesn’t matter but I hate to be even giving the data to Amazon about what I read and I am also SO sick of the multiple steps needed to delete those dumb letters that show up when a book gets auto returned.
Are the Kobos better now for library borrowing? The Libby app is so good I basically want an e-ink reader running Libby. Does that exist? Bonus points for water proof but if not waterproof if it’s the general size of my kindle then it will fit in my bath pouch okay anyway.
P.S. what do I do with the kindle if/when it’s replaced that is the least wasteful?
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@nickybecky1 It’s possible I just got a lemon, but I ordered a Kobo for my husband and ended up returning it for a kindle. I thought the interface was super slow and clunky and I wasn’t impressed with the display either. I had the library borrowing set up fine, but just basic searching was really jumpy and slow.
I’m also kind of a tech princess though, FWIW, it’s part of my job plus my interests so I’m accustom to pretty high-end technology.
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I had two kobos in a row that died quickly, but maybe it was bad luck? Now I use a Samsung tablet as my e-reader. I miss the kobo screen that was kinder to my eyes but it’s worth it for the reliability and having all my entertainment on one device.
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Paging @Illathrael and @Meowmalade for thoughts on Kobos in the US library system.
I love my Kobo. I still have a working kindle and love that too; Kobos work with our library system and kindles don’t, so it’s a no-brainer here.
As for disposal, an e-reader is e-waste and can be recycled along with the rest of your e-waste however you do that.
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I freaking love my Kobo. Money still goes to a less-than-desirable CEO/whatever, but it does keep me out of the Amazon system.
Both library systems I’ve used have been Kobo friendly through Overdrive. All books I’ve purchased or downloaded for free in PDF and epub formats have easily been transferred over to my Kobo and very easily read.
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Libby is run by Overdrive, and Overdrive is an already available system on the Kobo e-readers!
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My parents have a kobo compatible with the library…I found it easier to use overdrive on my phone to locate and checkout the item, then download it directly to the kobo. Which is still less annoying than using cords and calibre to break DRM to put my library books on my kindle. And now I just dont have library books on my kindle but am saving for the kobo
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Mine worked great with library system using Overdrive. Very intuitive.
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I did tech training in libraries and my community apparently wasn’t big on Kobo so I’ve never seen one in real life. Because they are compatible with Overdrive though, I assume the experience is much more seamless! (If your library uses Overdrive) I really like reading on my iPad but of course you don’t get the e ink experience. Prior that I was using a Nook-branded Samsung Galaxy tablet because I wanted access to internet/email in color.
I agree that the process of getting/returning/deleting library ebooks is SO ANNOYING on Kindles and I wish people would stop buying them for their relatives who are scared of technology because trying to walk someone who barely remembers their library password, let alone the Amazon password you also need for everything, is the absolute worst. Plus, I feel like even Overdrive themselves is basically waiting for Amazon to get rid of their app? You can’t put Libby (new Overdrive) onto a Kindle without shenanigans.
I believe you also can’t use CloudLibrary on a Kindle (except for the Fire series), which is a different ebook vendor that some libraries use.
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Another bonus for not using a Kindle:
You can’t combine accounts with a Kindle or transfer your books over. It used to be you could download your media on any device, but now they are account bound for use on decided with Amazon app or access. This is how I lost 20+ Kindle purchases.
When you purchase a PDF or EPUB file, you don’t have those bullshit restrictions. I can read it on my phone, my computer, my kobo, etc. as long as the file is transferred to that device or uploaded to the cloud.
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It sounds like they are good! I’ve actually never seen or used one, I don’t think. 95% of people I help are using a kindle or iPad, it seems.
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I believe that you can use calibre and take mobi books off of your kindle and read them in calibre or put them onto kindles. I know that you can do this if you have the plug in that destroys DRM and lets you convert file types. I’m not into that for book theft, but once the book is paid for or borrowed, I am very pro reading it how the fuck you want.
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Oh I just discovered this thread! I’m here!
I stopped using amazon about 6 months ago. I have made one panic order of TVP from there since the pandemic but have otherwise not used it in 6 months! I’m so happy about that. And I’m happy to have found this thread.
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