Patrick LaForge

If you’re in the Google ecosystem, Boox seems to get a lot of praise

douglas adams was our most accurate futurist

Yeah and there may still be some complicated Calibre workaround but meh… apparently some Barnes and Noble books have no DRM if the publisher or author insists

Not digital, though?

Looks pretty good

I get that. Long ago, in the late 90s, when Amazon mostly sold books, I lived 50 miles from the nearest good bookstore. It was incredible. If you need an obscure product fast in a remote place, it's still kind of revolutionary.

Yeah, they basically own the bones of the internet. Can't do much about that. But I don't have to use them when I have a good alternative. Their site has gotten crappier, and they don't necessarily always have the best prices or quality.

Ha, I bought one of those a few years ago, and if something happens to it, I know I could just get on Amazon, find the order and get another. Hardware like that or a weird light bulb can be an issue. Local shops will order stuff for you, but for all I know they're using Amazon.

There are also creators, publishers and bookstores that sell their ebooks without DRM (and public domain sites for free classics that Amazon sometimes charge for). For example, I bought @lukeoneil47.bsky.social 's book from his publisher and just dragged-and-dropped from my laptop onto the Kobo.

Kobo has a bookstore, and I got a free sub to "Kobo Plus," which is similar to Kindle Unlimited. I have been moving to using public libraries for ebooks (and still buy a fair number of print books). Kobo uses regular Overdrive instead of Libby for borrowing, but it's more or less the same.

It is a bit more expensive and time-consuming. And I'm just one consumer making an infinitesimal contribution to fixing crowded city streets and sidewalks, reducing environmental damage, helping publishing and local retail, and keeping a few pennies from an evil asshole, but it feels good. (-30-)

The advantages of leaving the Amazon lifestyle can also have other benefits besides less packaging waste. I'm fostering competition. I'm patronizing more local businesses in person, which means getting steps and fresh air and human contact. When I see and hold a product, I make better decisions (11)

Amazon still uses too much packaging, and if you opt to combine more orders or bunch deliveries or have them come more slowly on an Amazon day, that reduces the waste, but then why are you paying for Prime at that point? (10)

Amazon still often has the best prices, but more and more of these products are shoddy knockoffs. You have to shop more carefully. Sometimes there are hidden delivery fees even with Prime. Search results are flooded with more garbage than in the past. (9)

Amazon's main selling point was the convenience and speed, but I have had an increasing number of delivery issues (late, missing shipments, wrong product, damaged product). Not a lot, but it was not the Amazon of old. (8)

I had canceled Comixology, the comics service Amazon bought and kind of ruined, a while ago. My Kindle was b/w so I used its app or Hoopla (library app) on the iPad to read comics and graphic novels. The Kobo has color and can handle comics, but no Hoopla integration. Seems like a wash. (7)

I recently bought a Kobo Libra Color, which is basically a Kindle, with its own "unlimited" library subscription, store for buying ebooks, a slightly better way to borrow from the public library, and simpler ways to transfer non-DRM non-Amazon ebooks onto the device. So far so good. (6)

Obviously I still have the Kindle and can use it as needed, or I can use Kindle apps on my phone or iPad for that set of books. It's really only an issue for the ones I never got around to finishing but might get back to. (5)

Kindle Unlimited's reading selection was never all that great, so it was easy to cancel. But I have a large number of purchased ebooks locked on my Kindle, because Amazon continues to make it harder to download them to my laptop or other e-ink devices even though I "own" them. (4)

Amazon recently bought my doctors (One Medical) and offered a substantial discount with Prime Membership. That hurts a bit. And there are a few (but a shrinking number) of shows on Prime Video that I rushed to finish so I could say goodbye to that largely garbage streaming service. (3)

Amazon Prime seemed like it should be easy. I have slowly moved a lot of my household purchases to Costco, Walmart, individual retailers for products that I want, and most sellers offer free shipping if you are willing to wait or spend a certain amount. But... (2)

I am continuing to divorce myself from the Amazon ecosystem, which is proving to be harder and more expensive than expected, almost like a real divorce, at least metaphorically. Some details... 1/?

Great story bsky.app/profile/pala...

Vonnegut told it better

Republican Voters Would Be Disproportionately Impacted by Proof of Citizenship Mandates Evidence shows Republican voters would face significant hurdles when exercising their freedom to vote – more than Democratic voters – under documentary proof of citizenship laws.

Oops! MAGA to be most affected by SAVE act.

Secure Democracy Foundation analysis of State Dept & census data shows states Trump won handily have the largest percentage of citizens without valid passports.

So MAGA just assumed citizenship was written on their faces?
#USDemocracy #Voices4Victory

Resist narratives of inevitability.

Broken bones, burning eyes: How Trump's DHS deploys 'less lethal' weapons on protesters Federal immigration officers have repeatedly used force in ways that appear to violate their own policies or general policing guidelines, NBC News found.

“I’ve never seen federal agents so out of control and acting in such a malicious manner,” a former federal prosecutor and federal judge said. “They said they were going after ‘the worst of the worst,’ then they became the problem.

Read this by @jonschuppe.bsky.social & @natashakorecki.bsky.social

YouTube video by Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Topic Where Do The Children Play?

Song for the Day: Where Do The Children Play? - Yusuf Cat Stephens

youtu.be/YrKAe4d46mk?...

Politics is a Story What is necessary more than ever before is a genuinely positive story that liberals can tell the public.

“Stories are not universally bought and cannot be imposed on others at the point of a gun or by other forms of force. John Locke was not wrong when he argued that force can only grant you submission, not belief.” www.liberalcurrents.com/politics-is-...

Swalwell: ICE agents shot Alex Pretti and Renee Good. And the only person in the world who has been held accountable by DHS is the pilot who somehow forgot to move Kristi Noem’s blankie.