looking for privacy friendly quality ereader

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But if you live in such a country, isn't it stealing to read any of them? I would think so.

No, Jon, it is not stealing you need to worry about.

If you happen to be reading The Satanic Verses in Iran, you will not need to worry about whether you stole the book or purchased it, if you happen to have a Douay Bible in your luggage or on your ereader when visiting Malaysia, you won't be charged with theft, if you happen to have a copy of a non-annotated or improperly annotated Mein Kampf in Germany, again the charge will not be theft.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The font is too light and the font is a sans-serif font. Also, the paragraph spaces are too large plus, left justified.And finally, no indents of not too large a size. All of that makes it unreadable to me.

a) it is not a good photo
b) I want it this way and no other if it is presented electronically - as an ebook. So I can read fluently.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by DNSB

And, IMNSHO, the "people may live in countries" card has been played far too often.

It is played in response to the "only thieves want privacy" card. I wish it didn't have to be played at all, but there you have it.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rkomar

It is played in response to the "only thieves want privacy" card. I wish it didn't have to be played at all, but there you have it.

I don't agree with "only thieves want privacy."

But when it comes to ebooks/ereaders, if someone says they aren't going to borrow ebooks from a library and they aren't going to purchase them and they aren't going to read only public domain titles... well, you've really whittled down available ways to legally secure ebooks.

I too value privacy, though I guess not to the level of others. I read on Kobos and Nooks. Both are registered when purchased and WiFi is shut off afterwards. I purchase my books from Amazon, but then I sideload them onto my readers. Everyone gets a glimpse of what I'm doing I suppose, but I don't feel the eye of Big Brother on everything I do.

[Marinolino]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I don't agree with "only thieves want privacy."

But when it comes to ebooks/ereaders, if someone says they aren't going to borrow ebooks from a library and they aren't going to purchase them and they aren't going to read only public domain titles... well, you've really whittled down available ways to legally secure ebooks.

...

I've e.g. scanned many of my paper books and have created pdfs thereof (password protected), so that I can read them on eink or listen to them, for my personal usage only.

If someone stole my e-reader and got his hands on those files (including my undrm-ed mobi/epub files thereon), that could pose a problem to me, depending on the country of residence.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

a) it is not a good photo
b) I want it this way and no other if it is presented electronically - as an ebook. So I can read fluently.

Before eBooks, most pBooks use a serif font with indents, no paragraph space, full justification, and hyphenation. So when was it you decided you can no longer read that and have to have a serf font, left justified, and no hyphenation?

A lot of us have been reading pBooks for a long time before moving to eBooks and I never read online that anyone wants a completely different formatting because they cannot read pBooks they way they are formatted.

I'm curious about this shift.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I don't agree with "only thieves want privacy."

But when it comes to ebooks/ereaders, if someone says they aren't going to borrow ebooks from a library and they aren't going to purchase them and they aren't going to read only public domain titles... well, you've really whittled down available ways to legally secure ebooks.

I too value privacy, though I guess not to the level of others. I read on Kobos and Nooks. Both are registered when purchased and WiFi is shut off afterwards. I purchase my books from Amazon, but then I sideload them onto my readers. Everyone gets a glimpse of what I'm doing I suppose, but I don't feel the eye of Big Brother on everything I do.

I'm trying to figure out how someone feels the need to fake register a Kobo. How is that person going to buy eBooks without giving out any information? It does feel like "I want to keep my Reader fully private so big brother won't see that I'm reading eBooks that I stole.". If I'm wrong, that's fine. I don't mind asking why someone wants or feels the need such privacy. I've not locked down my H2O. I don't use WiFi, I don't sync, and I don't ave Kobo Desktop installed. But I have an account with Kobo. I've bought eBooks from Kobo, I've given them my credit card and bank card details. I've never had any issue. I even have an account at Amazon and again no issue.

Big brother is not as bad as some make them out to be. But what I am trying to do is separate those who are truly paranoid from those how are doing so in order to steal eBooks.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Before eBooks, most pBooks use a serif font with indents, no paragraph space, full justification, and hyphenation. So when was it you decided you can no longer read that and have to have a serf font, left justified, and no hyphenation?

A lot of us have been reading pBooks for a long time before moving to eBooks and I never read online that anyone wants a completely different formatting because they cannot read pBooks they way they are formatted.

I'm curious about this shift.

Oh, there's a big misunderstanding
I love paper books and enjoy my 20,000 library.
Ebooks can never be displayed like the corresponding typesetting of paper books.
Ebooks cannot change the font width, they only have to concentrate on the spaces, which is not the case with paper books.
I can read paper books fluently - if you try the same layout for ebooks, only word for word - the different space width in relation to the font width inhibits my reading flow.
And that's why I want a completely different layout as soon as I read electronically.

[Deskisamess]

Ebooks cannot change the font width, they only have to concentrate on the spaces, which is not the case with paper books.

But with a paper book, everything is static for the reader. For many ebook readers, that very fact is what attracted them to digital books, because of the ability to adjust font size, spacing, margins, and the font face itself.

The example picture you posted is awful IMO. The san serif font is very lightweight, and the two column view doesn't work for me on several levels. For one thing, the columns are too wide, and the space between the columns is too narrow. Even with a paper book, there is a wider gutter between the two facing pages.

So it looks similar to a paper book layout as it's held in the readers hands, but nothing about that "look" helps with readability. It's a deterrent, not a help, and very visually unappealing and cluttered.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

The example picture you posted is awful IMO. The san serif font is very lightweight, and the two column view doesn't work for me on several levels. For one thing, the columns are too wide, and the space between the columns is too narrow. Even with a paper book, there is a wider gutter between the two facing pages.

I do not mind. If I want to admire the look, I take a paper book with leather cover and gold cut.
If I want to get to know the content, then again I don't care about the appearance - then the reader is a tool for conveying the content - and the better it does it for my needs, the more I use it.
I have devices from different manufacturers, but now I only use Chinese Androids

So it looks similar to a paper book layout as it's held in the readers hands, but nothing about that "look" helps with readability. It's a deterrent, not a help, and very visually unappealing and cluttered.

But I just look at the whole page four times and read it complete.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Oh, there's a big misunderstanding
I love paper books and enjoy my 20,000 library.
Ebooks can never be displayed like the corresponding typesetting of paper books.
Ebooks cannot change the font width, they only have to concentrate on the spaces, which is not the case with paper books.
I can read paper books fluently - if you try the same layout for ebooks, only word for word - the different space width in relation to the font width inhibits my reading flow.
And that's why I want a completely different layout as soon as I read electronically.

This is, it's a completely different type of font and the layout issues you have with Readers still exists. Even if you use left justify with no hyphens, you end up with some distracting formatting when you get noticeably short lines. Kindles are notorious for dropping one out of the story when the line is short and it's left justified vs the most other lines at full justify.

The font width is not an issue. That is what is is based on the font. Reading is better when we have kerning and hyphenation. Though one thing with pBooks is most fonts display with enough weight. With eBooks and eInk Readers, the fonts might or might not have enough weight.

But how is it decided to change from serif to sans-serif and decided that left is best?

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This is, it's a completely different type of font and the layout issues you have with Readers still exists. Even if you use left justify with no hyphens, you end up with some distracting formatting when you get noticeably short lines. Kindles are notorious for dropping one out of the story when the line is short and it's left justified vs the most other lines at full justify.

The font width is not an issue. That is what is is based on the font. Reading is better when we have kerning and hyphenation. Though one thing with pBooks is most fonts display with enough weight. With eBooks and eInk Readers, the fonts might or might not have enough weight.

But how is it decided to change from serif to sans-serif and decided that left is best?

I almost only read German books and hyphenation is not quite as easy as in English - and a wrong hyphenation and unevenly long spaces tear me out of the action more than short lines.
And words in sans serif have clearer typefaces than those with serifs, which are only helpful if you read progressively line by line, but do not record half a column (quarter page) at a glance.
I read a paper book completely differently than an ebook.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Before eBooks, most pBooks use a serif font with indents, no paragraph space, full justification, and hyphenation. So when was it you decided you can no longer read that and have to have a serf font, left justified, and no hyphenation?

A lot of us have been reading pBooks for a long time before moving to eBooks and I never read online that anyone wants a completely different formatting because they cannot read pBooks they way they are formatted.

I'm curious about this shift.

I'm reading your post in a sans-serif font, with left justification, no hyphenation, and you've used spaces between paragraphs rather than indentation.

That is what people are used to now.

eBooks enable people to read in the styles they would prefer, rather that it being chosen in advance by the publisher. That can only be a good thing.

[Tar]

I fail to see any connection whatsoever between ereader privacy and prohibited copying of ebooks.

No Ereader provider is checking the sideloaded book validity and then calling cops on you if something's amiss. The only phase when you can get caught by law enforcement is when initially downloading the digital copies.

A person who tries to download prohibited digital ebook copies would protect his privacy before and during the actual download time on the PC. Not afterwards and the least in the ereader itself.

It's not like police is going to routinely check your ereader's books to see if they're procured in lawful manner lol.

And I totally understand those who don't care about practicing privacy protection. When your information is already submitted everywhere, you have little motivation to believe in protecting that which you do not have. And when you are invested into an ecosystem, you will fight to protect it and your habits. This is completely normal, we're just on different sides of the fence. Nothing wrong with either side in my opinion.

That being said, I admit that ereader privacy concerns are mostly useless. The devices have no microphone or camera and most don't have decent internet accesibility for you to leave useful footprints around.
But to me it is a matter of principle and preference as well as just me feeling good when I can feel that I own the device and I don't owe it even a fake email to use it, nor have to think too much about what it might be doing behind my back.
Of course there are real issues as well, such as that blunder when Amazon remotely deleted user's Orwell (and other) books. Needless to say this can make privacy conscious people reluctant to use such devices. I want to own not just my ereader but also ebooks on it, however procured they are. Because of this, personally I enjoy devices where I'm the sole controller and can simply sideload the books instead of some software dictating the rules. I think in the end maybe the pocketbook is a good choice for me. Sadly their build quality doesn't appear to be the best.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Tar

[...]personally I enjoy devices where I'm the sole controller and can simply sideload the books instead of some software dictating the rules.

As far as I am aware, you can sideload books to every device on the market.
I use a Kobo, but I've never bought a book from them.

(To be clear, before the thread gets sidetracked further, I do buy books, just not from Kobo)