Kobo Revisited

Looking back at my blog, I see that May 10th was the day I unboxed my new Kobo. It's been almost 4 months, so I figured that it was about time to write my thoughts on the device.

First thing I should say is that the ereader landscape has certainly shifted since I purchased it and now the Kindle 3 is actually cheaper than the Kobo. Originally, I could look past some of the Kobo's hardware limitations and simply point to the price and be satisfied. I now think if I were a new consumer, I would have a much tougher choice. The Kindle 3 is without question, a better piece of hardware. (Or at least it certainly appears so on paper). They have the luxury of being a 3rd generation device so they have learned what works and what doesn't. The are several ways that the Kindle outpaces and Kobo which are very important to the ereading experience. First: Kindle advertises that the Kindle 3 will use a slightly different eInk screen that will provide better contrast than the Kindle 2. I have used my Dad's Kindle 2 side by side with my Kobo, and I can definitely say that it has already sharper screen than the Kobo. Any additional improvement in contrast will further put the Kindle ahead. Kindle 3 also advertises 20% faster page flips than the Kindle 2, which already is very significantly faster than the Kobo. This is what I consider Kobo's greatest flaw. The nature of eInk requires that the entire page needs to flicker black, then bring the letters out in relief while the background changes back to white. Now, this may sound like an incredible annoyance, but the entire process takes only a few tenths of a second to take place. It is certainly perceptable to the eye, but as a reader, you are usually in the “reading trance” so you don't even notice it. The actual Kindle and Kobo flicker times are not all that different. Indeed, a 20% reduction in flicker time from Kindle 2 to 3 would only be a few hundredths of a second. Where the Kindle has the Kobo absolutely trounced is the amount of time between button press and page flip. On the Kindle, the time is very short, perhaps ¼ second or less. The Kobo is probably closer to ¾ of a second. While a ½ second may not sound very long, it does make a huge difference when learning to “lead” a page turn. On the Kindle, you can press the button when you're essentially on the last word or two of the page and by the time your eyes refocus back at the top, a new page is waiting for you. On the other hand, the Kobo requires you learn to press the button half way through the second to last line on the page. It's something that you can get used to (I honestly don't think about it anymore), but in my opinion it is the single thing I would like fixed the most. I really doubt if that's possible as the Kobo likely has a slower processor than the Kindle, and that additional time is required for page rendering.

From the tone of my post to this point, you must think that I hate the Kobo and would gladly trade it in at any second. That is certainly not the case, and if I had to make the decision again, I would probably still buy the Kobo. Here's why: The Kobo store. If there's anything we've learned from iTunes and other online music stores it's this: content is king. I've poked around a fair bit on the Kindle Canada store and their selection does not seem to be close to the Kobo store. I don't know if is the same with the US store, or if there are Canadian publishing issues or what, but the selection seems limited when compared with the Canadian store. I can't give you too many specific examples, but at Christmas time when looking for titles on Dad's Kindle, I felt really cramped. I searched for several of my favourite authors and several times came away lacking. A more concrete example came later when my Dad complained that he couldn't find any David Baldashi books on the Kindle store. I fired up the Kobo Bookstore and was greeted with nearly his entire library. There are very few times I've searched for a book and not been able to find what I'm looking for on the Kobostore. The selection alone makes me willing to overlook any Kobo hardware shortcomings. The other huge plus for the Kobo is that it is not tied to any one bookstore. As long as the book has been published in ePub format, the Kobo can read it. I know that it may be possible to shoehorn books from other stores onto the Kindle, it is clear that the device's intentions are to display Kindle books and no others. For Kobo, it's the exact opposite. I can basically buy from anyone but Amazon. In addition, I like that the Kobo keeps a “Virtual Library” for you. If I lost all of my hardware (Kobo and computer), all of my books are backed up on my account so if I buy a replacement I can instantly restore my library. I don't know if Kindle shares this feature, or is more similar to Apple's policy where if you delete your songs, your SOL.

So, looking at the above two paragraphs, the prospective buyer needs to weigh hardware vs. access to content. If Kindle can match Kobo's content (and they are constantly expanding their store), the game is done and they've won, hands down. There's no way to defend the Kobo, especially with the Kindle 3's $139 price, superior hardware, and similar content. Until that day, I will stand beside my Kobo and my decision to purchase it.

But I will definitely be feel some envy when I look at James' unboxing pics. :)