Possibly Dumb E-Reader / Tablet Questions

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hi - I’m faced with replacing my very aged MIL’s very early Nook. It’s become far too hard for her to use; her short-term memory is getting flakier and remembering new info is challenging. The process for checking a book out from the library and transferring it to the Nook has 23 steps. She now gets lost every time.

She also can’t really deal with advertising. On a typical commercial web page with lots of ads she can’t reliably find the content versus all the brightly colored [click here to buy something unrelated] boxes. A simple UI with uncluttered display is the ONLY thing that will work.

My goal is to buy her a tablet-like device, remove 100% of the distractors, and leave her with something close to a one-click solution for library books. The question is which one.

Background:
I was very disappointed with the early Nook (that she chose), because it was designed from the git-go as a Barnes and Noble purchasing terminal, not an actual e-reader.

I get the impression Kindle and Amazon Fire are similar: the UI is fixed and is designed primarily to sell you stuff. She has enough money, but wants only free content. Which to us means the public library.

Cost of the device isn’t really a factor; all these things are so cheap the price differences don’t matter. She’s not interested in any paid-for subscription content. She’s also not interested in videos or music; just books.

She has a Win7 PC and WiFi at home. My only experience with Android is on a locked-down AT&T phone. I’ve also used an iPad.
So, here’s my plea for your expertise and experience.

Am I right about Kindle & Fire being mostly sales devices? Can I remove all that crap from the UI? What’s left?

Are Android tablets “jailbroken” from the get-go? Or are they loaded with apps I can’t uninstall just like my phone is? If there’s a particularly good choice for a jailbroken one, fill me in.

Whatever I get, it has to connect with Overdrive, which is the e-library system our library uses. Overdrive has a good app for Android & Apple; not sure about Kindle or Fire.

Text size: her eyes are not so good, and even the largest Nook text size is marginal. At which point very little text fits on that toy 4"x4" screen.
Any advice? Thanks to all.

2

Brand new Fire owner here, let’s see if I can help:

I don’t see any sales reminders on my Fire other than “you may also like…” at the end or beginning of a book. The only other ads I see are on the lock screen. But you get rid of it simply by swiping. There’ll also be an ad at the pulldown menu, but that can be swiped away too and isn’t even noticeable unless the little “1” in the corner bugs you, or you use the pulldown menu.

Mine had a handful of apps that came with it (mostly Amazon related) but way, way less than my phone. They’re very easy to ignore and you can sort them into folders. In theory, you can throw literally every app into a folder and tell her “don’t touch that”. Then the only ones on her homescreen are the ones she uses.

I use Overdrive to get my library books as well, and it’s a three-click system. Click on Overdrive (and log in) to find my book, then I click on the book, which automatically sends me to the Amazon page for that book, I then click “rent now” and it’s there. I find it really straightforward and don’t see any additional advertising at that.

My Fire doesn’t have the largest screen available (it’s more expensive), but I believe you can enlarge the text on the books you read. I haven’t had it for too long, and don’t need to enlarge the text myself, so I’m not entirely sure on this one.

Another thing you could do, if you or her don’t mind spending the money, is get a Fire and spend the 9.99 for Amazon Unlimited. The 10 bucks a month gives you access to a shitload of books and magazines that are free to use. This would make it much easier for her to find books because you don’t need to go through Overdrive, just go through the app and get the book direct from there. The only real downside is it costs you 10 bucks a month.

Hope that helps a bit

3

Fire devices have are more than eReaders. They have apps, access to the Web, and are probably more than you want for your MiL.

Kindles are eReaders. You can absolutely get a version with no ads. I only get that version in fact. Without the ads, all that’s left is an eReader. There is access to the Amazon store if you go looking for it and you have access to WiFi. You can take it a step further if you like and set it up as a “child” to your account to set rules for what she can see. A quick search indicates that Overdrive does work with Kindle. IMO, a Kindle is your simplest and best option. (A single function device. No muss, no fuss.)

ETA: Both Kindle and Fire will have options to adjust text size in the device settings and while you are reading. I can walk of you through this.

ETA2: Both Kindle and Fire will come in different sizes if you need a larger screen. FYI- Fire is an Android device, but it’s Amazon proprietary.

4

Awesome info overall. Thank you.

Ref the above, what is “rent” in the context of a book borrowed from the county public library? That’s not the terminology I’d expect to see.

I’d read and thought about Amazon Unlimited. If she finds she uses the thing enough that might be real useful. Right now she’s in that twilight zone where her Depression upbringing says “Ten *whole *dollars!!??!! :eek: Every month!!??!! :eek::eek: I could buy a car with all that money!!!”.

Not that $10 actually matters financially; but the idea is horrifying. Soon enough she won’t be worrying about money any more; I hope she’ll still be interested in reading by then.

5

It’s really quite slick. You click on the rent button, it’s downloaded onto my device for a specific period of time, and then it just goes away when the time is up. No muss, no fuss. There’s an option to return the book early, but it’s a bit convoluted. I only have a book or three out at once, so I haven’t been told I have too many. Therefore, I don’t worry about the due dates. I read plenty fast enough and I’m not hurtin for memory, so I just leave it ignored until it vanishes.

6

Why not read the book on the Win 7 PC?

7

Could do. That would certainly solve the type size problem. I’m thinking about replacing her once-huge 19" monitor with a much larger one for just that reason. The shame with modern wide format monitors is something more portrait oriented would work better for a lot of websites and book-reading apps.

The point of the e-reader is that it’s portable and lightweight. She’s not cooped up in her apartment at her desk in the senior living place. Instead she can go out in the garden, hang out in the lounges with her pals, sit under a tree with the ducks, etc., while enjoying her books.

8

Correct terminology is key here.

Jail broken in the sense of being able to add any app you want is quite common, but not universal, on Android devices. You are not usually locked into just the apps on a given app store. There’s typically a setting to allow apps from unknown sources and then you can load an app (in a .apk file format) onto your device. Adding a new app store is sometimes harder to do. (E.g., Google’s on an Amazon device.) So you have to use a site that gets the apk for you from the alternate source. For example, for a long time the real VLC player apk was only available from the VLC web site.

Uninstalling unwanted apps is sometimes limited. Some makers even prevent you from keeping their garbage apps from running. To get rid of crap completely often requires root privilege. This is not the same as being jail broken. It’s trickier to do, often not for newbs and the battle between the makers and rooters is nonstop. Last year’s Fire Tablet OS might be rootable but maybe not this year’s.

9

I suggest you look into a Kobo ereader; uses Overdrive, much greater range of text sizes than Kindle or Nook, and they have a bigger screen available if you want.

10

It may differ by library, but I’m pretty sure that when I go to the Amazon site, it refers to “claiming” my book, not renting.