Amazon reveals first color Kindle, new Kindle Scribe, and more

Some of the biggest pros and cons of Kindles vs Books:

Pros - Lightweight, I can even fit it into a holder on the side of a chair or bed so I don't have to hold it.

- I don't have to physically manipulate the 1000 page book to try and get to certain pages.

- No dust.

Cons - I can't tell you the authors or names of most of the books I've read on it. When you have a physical book you're confronted by the book and author's name, along with an image to burn the combination into your mind. As a kid going to the library I knew whether I had read a book just from the jacket.

- Amazon shenanigans.

- Battery won't last forever and you'll need to replace the whole unit.

I count the physical manipulation of pages as an advantage of dead tree books. E-ink is very nice, but there’s nothing like flipping through actual pages to find some information.

Of course, the situation reverses when you’re trying to search a word rather than a page. It’s too convenient to use a global search function on e-readers.

There are non-amazon ereaders, e.g. kobo.

- The standby screen is the book cover of your most recent read.

- No amazon shenanigans. Works just fine with calibre or the local library (onleihe).

- I bought my kobo aura hd in 2013 IIRC. Battery is still fine. Apparently newer models even have an ifixit partnership https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/21137184146071-Repai...

That said, there are some additional drawbacks which make me like physical books still:

- For physical books you have an intuitive understand and memory where in the book something happened, e.g. in the first quarter or on an earmarked page. On an ereader every book and every page feels the same.

- Easy multi page view and crossref. For instance, I can have two textbooks about the same subject open and easily compare different sections by just using bookmarks and spreading them on my desk. For that I would need multiple ereaders. Same reason a tablet with pen is nice but feels limiting.

- DRM is annoying enough to be basically an ad for piracy. Get the ebook, download, add it to adobe software, connect cable, transfer to ereader, disconnect cable, still doesn't work, reauthorize device, maybe it works. Meanwhile without drm: add to calibre, get book via wifi, done.

- Maybe better with newer tech, but eink was still somewhat lower resolution and contrast compared to a printed book. Also, page turning is fast enough but not seamless.

I've had two Kindles since 2010. (My first kindle had a physical keyboard it was that long ago)

It broke because I had it in my back pocket and I sat on it. Bought a new one immediately.

I've yet to have any measurable battery degradation on either and I read 1-3 books a month. (Including 1000+ page monsters by Brandon Sanderson).

My eyesight has gotten worse and I can't read a typical book with its tiny print. The biggest Pro for me is adjustable font sizes. Another Pro is free books! After purchasing probably a 1000 books in my life; I'm done buying and storing books. I did the library thing for a few years when the library was only a couple of blocks away but book selection and availability was never good. Now I can easily get any book I want from the comfort of my home.

Those are some great pros! I have also found a lot of very good Kindle Unlimited books.

Yeah before the Kindle I had a Sony E-Reader which worked fine for a long time, until it eventually ran into battery problems, after which I got my Kindle.

Its battery has degraded over time, but even at half the original length its not a problem.