Speaking of Kindle is the bigger Oasis worth the extra squid

Fri 16 Jul 2021, 13:10

Cursive hand writing recognition on tablets? Anyone use, or have tried, handwriting to ascii text recognition from hand writing with a touch-screen Tablet or a 3-in-1 foldover Laptop? Does it work functionally well enough to be worth using?

I've been reduced to single hand finger-picking or right fingers plus 1 left hand finger at keyboards because my left hand nerves are interrupted by some serious spinal injuries. Alas. Anyone any useful observations.

I *hates* dictation...

Fri 16 Jul 2021, 13:01

Thank you Christine .. I'm still undecided cos since turning to apps light Nigh Reader that reverse text/background from the - fashionable??? - black on a white and slightly flickering background (I see flicker up to 85 hertz on cathode ray tubes, preferably running at 90hz) shifting to light text…

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Tue 13 Jul 2021, 10:48 (last edited on Tue 13 Jul 2021, 10:54)

Malcolm, if you are happy using Retina screen for reading kindle books, why don't you just download the free amazon kindle link for PCs and Macs? I use the PC version on my Microsoft Surface, and it works really well, giving me access to everything in my kindle library. I have a different (android) version on my phone as well as my Kindle Paperwhite which I use mostly when travelling or late at night.

What I don't find easy is reading public library books via Kindle, and think Kobo (which I have never used) might be better for that. 

On free access to digital copies of books out of copyright, there are lots of other websites as well as Gutenberg. I particularly like Hathi Trust texts, https://www.hathitrust.org/ The page-turning and search facilities make it much more like reading a "proper" book, but their collection is limited.

And on audiobooks, can I recommend the Free Audiobooks app by Sanity Audio Apps for books out of copyright. It's become less good recently, and now starts with an advert for amazon's Audible. Their volunteer readers are of variable quality, but if you are lucky you will find a voice that you like. (Not tried it on an iphone, but very good on my android.)

Tue 13 Jul 2021, 01:02

heh heh heh whilst thinking nostalgia ain't what it used to be, anyone remember having to commence to boot a new operating system onto a computer by setting DIP SWITCHES! - dozes of them it seemed - to be able to commence reading the operating system into the RAM and storage media?? 

pah kids nowadays don't know they've been born...

Mon 12 Jul 2021, 21:59

Hi Malcolm.  I'm afraid I have no advice whatsoever to offer on Kindles or alternatives, but I couldn't resist responding to a fellow punched-card user.  I also used these for my first programs, but these days when I talk to any IT people I have to show them an actual punched card (I've still got a few lying around) before they can imagine what such a thing might be, and as for the idea that that might actually be how you communicate with a computer....

Sun 11 Jul 2021, 20:54

Hmm yes ... we've got a tablet but because of the manner in which the screen is illuminated on a tablet compared to the "eInk" screens on the Paperwhite Kindles and the Kobo, I and many others find the eInk screens much less uncomfortable for reading for a longer period of time. They are cunningly planned for sustained book reading.

The difference between the ecellent Retina screens of the Apple iPads and things like most Android tablets is marked, as well.

Though I've pretty well gone "fully dark" on websites, i.e used extensions like Dark Reader in web browsers to reverse the common white background/black text to reverse on most websites that will support inversion to light text/dark background. Those of us old enough to have used old console computers will remember such computer interfaces. Indeed my first brush with PDP 11/40s was with a paper printed teletype console. A ridiculously profligate consumer of dead trees! Yes, even used punched cards in my earliest days at Uni...

So I'm still inclined to an eInk dedicated ebook reader... 

Sun 11 Jul 2021, 19:56 (last edited on Sun 11 Jul 2021, 20:15)

Hi Malcolm.

I'm not totally sure how well this might work for you, but I believe most if not all Android tablets can have a Kindle app installed and you can then read your Kindle books on a tablet rather than a Kindle device proper.

An 8" or a 10" tablet will certainly give more screen space for reading and probably better sound as well as the ability to use other apps as well as just reading your books.

I've no idea of the cost of the large Kindle devices but some Android tablets are available at reasonably low cost so this could be a double advantage rather than just using a reading device such as a Kindle.

You can, by the way, get many books which are out of copyright free including much of H G Wells from Gutenberg eBooks. I have downloaded and read War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, and many others from other authors such as Charlotte Bronte's  Jane Eyre. I downloaded them as .mobi files but .epub are also available as is plain text.

Sun 11 Jul 2021, 18:37

I'm also minded to get an extra Kindle when my daughter moves out to her first home after having been a "boomerang" graduate from Uni as then we might need an etra one.

I find the original Paperwhite too small when I have the text at the size my erratic remaining good eye likes, due to constant new-page flipping. I'm a fast reader.

The posh (and waterproof) Oasis is nearly 8 inches in size, whereas the Paperwhite measures out as just under 6, ie. 5" summat.

Apart from the extra storage memory, and I believe a sound capability (correct?) any other significant features in terms of screen quality etc has anyone gone for this more expensive beast? Is it worth it?

Also with a big screen is the offering from Toronto-based KOBO. Has anyone gone for one of these?

Is escaping from the Amazon ecosystem worth the effort (seeing as I've invested a lot into Audible audiobooks as prolonged reading "gets" me nowadays, alas)?

Kindles aren't good at formatting PDF files according to my Maths-undergraduate son - who's a pretty competent sort with the modern tekky stuff - as he's been trying to download old publications from the 'net in this form and found them very hashed up. I found the same with an ebook of H.G.Wells' complete works when I tried getting it off the 'net when first got a Kindle years ago, but that wasn't a PDF, and don't recall what format it was.

Anything anyone can advise on?

Many thanks.