Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ask Slashdot: Websites Friendly To eReader Browsers?

Posted by Soulskill on from the avoid-youtube dept.

DJCouchyCouch writes "I have a Kobo Touch eReader that comes with a bare-bones web browser. Since the screen is E-Ink based, the browsing experience is pretty poor due to the low refresh rate of the screen. Scrolling is twitchy and often laggy. Are there sites out there that can reformat a website to be more like book reading? I'm not asking for a perfect, tablet-like experience, just something better than what it does now."

6 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Instapaper! by vandel405 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Instapaper is great for this type of thing: http://instapaper.com./

  2. Scrolling? by joh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does the browser really try to scroll? On e-ink? Madness!

    This is not a problem with web pages, it's a problem with this browser. It should paginate web pages and page instead of scroll through them. Problem solved.

    1. Re:Scrolling? by MBCook · · Score: 3, Informative

      The browser on the Kindle doesn't scroll, it just jumps one page at a time, at least when you use the page buttons. It may jump in small bits if you move the cursor over the bottom of the page. I honestly haven't used it enough to remember. But it does have a reader mode which reformats the web page to strip out all the unnecessary junk and make it easy to read on the screen. It works just like the reader mode in Safari, which I think was based on Instapaper (as the top comment suggested).

      That mode actually works very well, and if you wanted to read some long article on the Kindle I wouldn't mind using it. But between the network connection, the CPU, and the eInk refresh rate the browser is very painful to use. To load any moderately complicated web site to the point you can navigate to find what you're after is an exercise in patience.

      Maybe the submitter should consider accessing the mobile versions of websites (where available). That would help.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  3. Re:Why didn't you just get an iPad? by artor3 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You need to move, but your only vehicle is a small, pre-owned compact? Why didn't you just by a moving truck? It can do everything you want and more! Sure it costs several times as much, is nowhere near as fuel efficient, and isn't as pleasant to use for your daily commute, but who cares!?

    E-readers and tablets are completely different devices, similar only in approximate shape and the fact that they both have a screen. E-readers are low cost, energy efficient, light weight, and have a screen designed to be read in any conditions without causing eye strain. Tablets cost 5x as much, burn through their battery 50x as fast, weigh 4x as much, and have a backlit screen that hurts your eyes if you stare at them to long. Tablets are great for a lot of things. Reading isn't one of them. And if you don't care about those other things, you ought to go with the superior device for your particular use case, even if that means occasionally wanting to check a web page on the road and being caught with an inferior tool for the job.

  4. Re:Why didn't you just get an iPad? by unkiereamus · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm not the guy, but I'll answer on my behalf: because eInk is significantly better when you actually have to just read a lot, without interacting much with the text. It's perfect for fiction and other entertainment reading, and meh for technical books and such - but when 90% of what you read is for entertainment, it's exactly the right device for that purpose. It really is easier on the eyes.

    While I agree with you that e-ink is easier on the eyes, there's a key point that I think you missed. Lighting. I might be an unusual use case, but I frequently read in places where I either don't have light available, or for various reasons it's desirable not to turn lights on. For that reason, my ebook reader of choice is an ipod touch (which replaced a Palm T|X), in white on black it's not terribly hard on the eyes, and the back light from the TFT is very nice.

    eInk is, of course, inherently incompatible with back lighting, and as far as I know (Though I could very well be wrong about this), the only major manufacturer to make a eInk device with a front light was Sony, and the fact that they only did it on one (now discontinued) model tells me that it probably didn't work that well, even though I never actually tried it myself.

    Until a manufacturer comes up with a decent built in lighting scheme for a eInk device, I'm sticking with TFTs.

    --
    I needed a sig so people would know who I am, but I was too drunk to make something witty, so you get this instead.
  5. readability "plug-in" by shonangreg · · Score: 3, Informative

    You could try readability: http://www.readability.com/bookmarklets It works well on my browsers, though I don't know if it will work on your browser.