while I wasn’t expecting the kobo to solve All My Problems™, I was evidently hoping for more from both Kobo and Rakuten.
The Kobo arrived yesterday.
I wanted to put together this list for future reference but also to help out others, maybe!
a) these are the primary reasons I purchased the Kobo
b) the reasons I am ultimately deciding to return this device.
a)More access to Japanese books.
b) I thought I could access 楽天市場 books via Kobo. Turns out, even with a VPN, I am unable to read or access those books and so it’s impossible to download them to Kobo. I’ve heard this isn’t the case for ALL titles, but I wanted access to everything.
I also thought that I could view the kindle book I purchased on the kobo, but amazon did some stuff recently to make it pretty tricky to do so (you can no longer download the books and save them locally and decrypt, etc unless you get an older version of the kindle app) and I honestly don’t have the time or energy to deal with the ins and outs of figuring it out.
a) screen setting would have a brightness setting that works well in dark spaces while I’m nap-trapped
b) I tested my iphone and the kobo side by side in a pitch black room and honestly there was no difference. The Kobo’s e-ink screen made the reading experience a tiny bit better, but not $220 better.
a) related to 2️⃣, the screen would be bigger = easier to read.
b) I guess I didn’t realize how big my iphone is? but the kobo screen is maybe an inch wider. Which is nice. but not $220 nice.
a) Less reliance on phone for entertainment.
b) maybe this is a “no duh” moment, but I am surprised at how phone-dependent the kobo is. I thought it would be a bit more, less tech-heavy. Instead, I was on my phone and computer for a couple hours today and yesterday just trying to set it up and get books on there. The library function (overdrive) was pretty simple to set up, and probably if you’re using a Rakuten USA account, it’s a lot easier. Technically I could use that but there’s less options for Japanese books and again, not worth the extra$$.
a) S can use this when she is older to read more Japanese books.
b) considering all the above, my husband and I decided that it’s better to get as many physical books as possible for S and that when it’s time to use e-books more frequently, we’ll purchase a tablet. I don’t want S to use a tablet now, so that would be way down the line - I have no idea when but I want to put it off as loooong as possible. I don’t think that an e-reader is the answer for us at this point, unfortunately.
