Disqus - Latest Comments for txa1265

Re: ‘Riviera: The Promised Land Remaster’ Is Coming to iOS, Android, and Steam Following Its Recent Launch On Switch in Japan

Michael Anderson — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:06:09 -0000

I only played them on the GBA and then PSP ... but would absolutely love to revisit them on Switch or iOS.

Re: Gen Z and millennials are heading back to the libraries, new survey reveals

Michael Anderson — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 08:20:53 -0000

Well, when you're part of the generations who can barely afford housing, figuring out how you can read without spending $1000 / year is an awesome idea.

Re: What is better to read on, the Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Scribe?

Michael Anderson — Fri, 12 May 2023 07:54:25 -0000

In my opinion the Paperwhite is better for reading (but I DO love the Scribe as well!), because the lighting on the Scribe is 'obvious' - no matter what it really feels lit up and that messes with the natural paper feel of the reading experience, whereas the Paperwhite just feels readable in all circumstances.

I get that the Scribe has much more real estate to illuminate uniformly ... but with the Scribe I found myself messing with the settings more (it also doesn't have an ambient sensor)

Re: “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret,” Movie Reminds Us Why the Book is Still Banned

Michael Anderson — Mon, 01 May 2023 18:55:17 -0000

Rather than such neutral language, let's be very clear WHO wants to ban books: fascists, right wing extremists, religious zealots, and bigots. All of whom find a happy home in the current Republican Party. They want to ban learning history. They want girls to menstruate and put them in jail for talking about it. There is a reason that the Nazis came to America to learn techniques in the 30s ... and we're seeing it again.

Re: Renewals and Cancellations: 'The Rookie,' 'Will Trent,' 'The Good Doctor'

Michael Anderson — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 13:19:54 -0000

Very much agree - really enjoyed the show, how it highlights actual issues and does it with solid narrative and writing/acting. We're renewing dopey meandering 'used to be good' shows like Rookie but this is on the cusp? Ugh.

Re: Donations are keeping Z-Library in business

Michael Anderson — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 12:01:54 -0000

There is exactly ONE pirate business model - the one where the scumbag STEALS from the author, who they CHOOSE to not pay for their art. The pirate has ZERO claim to the art, their actions have NO excuse.

Re: The 10 Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2022 – SwitchArcade Special

Michael Anderson — Sat, 31 Dec 2022 13:17:50 -0000

I didn't play most of those, but one new release that I played and totally loved was "Legend of Heroes Trails from Zero" - recommended for fans of the series and JRPG fans in general!

Re: Amazon Kindle Scribe to get a bunch of new features soon

Michael Anderson — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 11:38:48 -0000

Since I already bought it I hope good stuff happens, but to me it is the typical stuff tech companies do - promise it will all be fixed 'in a future patch'. Reviews were mediocre, so they want to stop losing sales.

But let's all keep in mind that Amazon fired 10,000 people recently, most heavily in the division that produces the Kindle (and Alexa & other stuff). So how well staffed they are for this?

Re: Remarkable 2 vs the Amazon Kindle Scribe – What one is better?

Michael Anderson — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 12:11:25 -0000

Only had the Scribe for one day, and while I love the screen (the resolution and lighting are incredible) ... my primary use case is as a 'digital notebook' and the Remarkable is just SO much better in every possible way. Layers, pen options, etc. I was using a fountain pen on Molskine notebooks before, and the calligraphy pen on the Remarkable with all of the pressure levels is the closest possible thing - the Scribe is incredibly generic. I'll give it a week as my sole note-taker, and we'll see ...

Re: Hands on Review of the Amazon Kindle Scribe

Michael Anderson — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 14:17:04 -0000

Thanks for this (and your site's video review) - mine arrives tomorrow and I look forward to putting it through the paces. Definitely noticed 'keyboard lag' in naming the notebook compared to what I'm used to with Remarkable - will be interesting. The screen looks gorgeous!

Re: Alexa and Kindles are unprofitable for Amazon

Michael Anderson — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 10:22:32 -0000

Ugh. I provided data that Amazon wasn't profitable for 23 YEARS until 2017! You have provided ... guesses? You started claiming Onyx/Boox are profitable, and have yet to provide evidence of this - before your next claim, please provide evidence.

There is no debate whether or not Amazon HARDWARE is profitable - it is NOT. Period. If you are debating that, please stop - it is WRONG. You are now moving goalposts and talking about hardware AND content, which is NOT logical - because is it NOT the topic!

Amazon has long been using the 'razor & blade' business model - which means losing on hardware to gain market share selling profitable software/content.

And most of it makes sense - Amazon makes money on ebooks, audio books, movies & music, and subscriptions. So getting devices into homes to drive up THOSE businesses is the key.

But how often do you need a new one? I admit to buying the latest Kindle Paperwhite despite having a perfectly good last gen Paperwhite ... because it was USB-C (the bigger screen is awesome as well). But we have a half-dozen Echo devices around the house - and the *newest* is 3 years old.

So at a certain point the loss incurred by selling the hardware becomes a drag on the profitability of the content - and THAT is where I think this becomes an issue.

Re: Alexa and Kindles are unprofitable for Amazon

Michael Anderson — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 15:35:49 -0000

I have no idea and never claimed I did - you were the one who made the assertion and are therefore required to back up your claim. I claim to not trust them because they refused to honor the terms of the open source software they are using.

Lots of startups and tech firms get funding that allows them to operate at a loss ... heck, Amazon was essentially unprofitable until a few years ago!

Re: Alexa and Kindles are unprofitable for Amazon

Michael Anderson — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 13:45:15 -0000

Onyx Boox is a Chinese company what information do you have that they are profitable? We know they use GPL code but refuse to actually honor the terms of use and release their code - so already a dishonest company that shouldn't be supported.

Re: Amazon Kindle Rewards is not a good value

Michael Anderson — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 13:16:02 -0000

Honestly I glazed over reading all the rules when I got it - reminds me of the Nintendo points that are only good for trivial virtual items and expire ...

I mean, shouldn't this stuff incentivize people in some way? Like buy 10 books and get a free book like one of those ice cream punch cards?

Re: Tablet shipment sees fifth consecutive drop as demand wanes

Michael Anderson — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 09:07:18 -0000

It really makes sense - at the high end both iPadOS and Android operating systems are inadequate compared to the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab hardware, so no real impetus to upgrade.

On the low end the basic devices for media consumption are more than adequate across several years - and most phones are 6-7" screen so good enough for a lot of media stuff...again no reason to update.

Re: Apple launches new M2-powered iPad Pro and base iPad

Michael Anderson — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:01:55 -0000

So iPad Pro is compatible with Apple Pencil 2, just not the base model (which is incredibly bad decision for literally no reason). But for the video part - it is appalling that the new Pro uses the EXACT same camera hardware as the 18 month old Pros.

Re: Apple launches new M2-powered iPad Pro and base iPad

Michael Anderson — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 08:09:40 -0000

As someone who has used the iPad since it first came out ... I would call this the most disappointing launch yet. I have the 11" M1 iPad Pro which is awesome but incredibly overpowered. The core problem is iPadOS simply hasn't kept up with the hardware - iPad hardware is at least 5 years ahead of every other 'mobile tablet' and iPadOS is years ahead of Android tablets ... but there is no need for these things that cost as much as a Macbook Air.

Re: How good is the Kindle Scribe at note taking?

Michael Anderson — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 09:11:53 -0000

Hi David! I've not used the SuperNote, but have and really like the Remarkable 2 which is another E-Ink paper-like device. I also have an iPad Pro but tend to use the keyboard rather than stylus and do much more than note-taking.

I don't know how the Kindle Scribe will stack up - especially as Amazon first-gen devices tend to be ... uneven at best. But I'll check it out!

Also - Discovery in Cary was great last month!

Re: How good is the Kindle Scribe at note taking?

Michael Anderson — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 09:59:17 -0000

Was hoping based on title that you'd been given early access to test out the actual note-taking feel.

I love my Remarkable 2 that I got this spring, but the lack of a backlight is definitely a drawback. My use-case is just notes for my various engineering projects. I went ahead and pre-ordered the bundle with cloth case and premium pen. We'll see how it all works!

Re: Kindle Paperwhite 11th generation vs Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

Michael Anderson — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 08:36:35 -0000

Absolutely agree - I have Audible/Audiobooks/etc. on my smartphone hooked to my bluetooth earbuds for audiobooks. Therefore I got the basic 8GB version - which I absolutely love, as the screen is awesome and the speed is so much better than the previous version.

Re: The Kindle Paperwhite 5 has a new page turn animation system

Michael Anderson — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 05:44:45 -0000

I was late to getting a Paperwhite 4 and was wholly unimpressed with its performance ... but the Paperwhite 5 is the complete opposite! Everything is crisp and snappy and instantaneous and smooth. Really love the new one - and of course having USB-C is going to be incredibly convenient!

Re: Will you buy the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 5?

Michael Anderson — Sun, 03 Oct 2021 21:36:50 -0000

I ordered the standard Paperwhite 5. Looking forward to handing down my current one to one of my kids :)

Re: Google Pixel 6 Pro leaked benchmark reveals possible Tensor SoC specs

Michael Anderson — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 07:13:11 -0000

So unless I am reading things wrong, that would mean that a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is 2x as powerful, and the iPhone 12 Pro is >3.5x as powerful? Whew ... impressive.

Re: Thriller books suffer a 6% decline in sales

Michael Anderson — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 12:45:25 -0000

I agree that most of us will jump around genres (I also jump between new and re-reads) ... but here we have *data* telling us that while the market as a whole increased while a certain genre decreased. We can disagree about the reasons, but not about the fact that Thrillers dropped >20% compared to the overall market of books. So why do YOU think Thrillers fell in readership while the greater market increased?

Re: Thriller books suffer a 6% decline in sales

Michael Anderson — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 05:40:50 -0000

For me and others I have talked to - including a couple of author friends - it is related to the pandemic. Personally I have read more 'cozy British mysteries' in the last year or so than in my entire life!