BS: Kindle and AMD

Subject: BS: AMD and its Implications
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Apr 26 - 06:22 PM

I have AMD- age-related macular degeneration; not a surprise to me, it was an ailment shared by my mother and at least 3 siblings before me. AMD is quite common and there are many worse conditions; in all likelihood my world will never be without light so I am preparing to live a rich life and to thrive notwithstanding the condition.

I'm an inveterate reader- but that's the ability I am most likely to lose. My eyes, not my ears, have been the most important to me.

I have talked with my local library so I know there are many resources available, but I'm still not certain how one's daily life can be navigated. I live alone and like it; although I live in a culture of many friends I don't want to lean on them.

Mudcat is a being with multiple minds and countless experiences, so I ask: How does one navigate with AMD?

Question: Is buying something like Kindle a good way to start?

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: gillymor
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 10:45 AM

I love my Kindle Fire which is compact and goes everywhere with me but I see that one recommended for those with AMD seems to be the Paperwhite. Among it's features that might work for you are adjustable font size and the ability to listen to audio books.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 11:37 AM

These days I'd think most mainstream tablets have adjustable fonts, lighting, spacing, etc. Kindle is a one-trick pony, but you could use a Samsung or iPad or whatever and see a lot more. Those adjustable screens and fonts can be set for browser pages and more.

A 93-year-old friend tells me that she's in the late stages of macular degeneration and it is too tedious to do some of her hobbies with a magnifying glass. I think she can still see her phone, and I'm sure it has to do with font size.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: gillymor
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 11:44 AM

How is Kindle a "one trick pony"?

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 12:19 PM

You can't use those Amazon gadgets for other things, or at least you couldn't in the past. Very limited browsing ability or to add other apps for functionality. If you have a device dedicated to one thing then you need another device to do everything else. Why not just start with that other device?

If Amazon has given them the functionality of other full-octane tablets that would be good, but surprising.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: gillymor
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 12:34 PM

I've only owned Kindle Fires and they do the things I want them for. Besides having a sizable portable library for cheap I also browse the net, control my Spotify content, watch videos and do my email with it. They probably have other capabilities but that's all I'm concerned with.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 12:48 PM

They always did some of it, but you could only use an Andriod version called Amazon Fire OS with those apps, or you could "root" the tablet to sideload Android apps. I did that to two or three of them before I stopped using the Fire products and just switched to Samsung (where you can run the Kindle app for reading and getting to all of your books and changing font size and screen color and brightness, etc.)

That said, I went looking and in August 2025 Reuters ran the story Exclusive: Amazon looks to ditch homegrown software for Android in Fire tablet revamp, sources say.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab is plotting a big change to its Fire tablet lineup following years of escalating gripes from consumers and app developers over the company's homegrown operating system.

As part of a project known internally as Kittyhawk, Amazon plans to release a higher-end tablet as soon as next year offering the Android operating system software for the first time, according to six people familiar with the matter. Since the Fire tablet’s introduction in 2011, Amazon has used what is known as a “forked” version of Android with custom modifications that make it work like a unique operating system.

Amazon has long sought to undercut hardware rivals with inexpensive tablets and other devices that serve as a doorway to the firm's digital content, like e-books, videos and music. The devices have typically sold at or near manufacturing cost. But the focus on simplicity has held back sales, particularly among consumers who seek higher-performing devices.

The multiyear project to switch to Android marks a philosophical change for the online retail giant, which has eschewed third-party operating systems and software in favor of its own. As a result, Amazon has offered its own app store requiring developers to make separate versions of their apps for Fire tablets, limiting the store’s variety.

No surprise that they will cost more if they license all sorts of other software features.

See the rest at the link.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 01:11 PM

I've mentioned this before: People thought they'd bought certain books, and downloaded them to their Kindles. Amazon discovered they'd been swindled*: their rights to distribute works by one or more authors had been bought from someone who had no (erm) right to sell them. So Amazon reached out over the Net^† and quietly removed said works from users' Kindles. It's entirely apt that one of the removed works was George Orwell's 1984.

* Biter bit, an' all that.
† L-Space?

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 02:51 PM

The main quality I'm looking for, whether via Kindle or otherwise, is access to multiple/unlimited audio-books and documents and authors. Which presumes that I'll be relying on my ears but that also means that I will need to be able to reach navigate them -reliably- by means of buttons and toggles.

(Incidentally, I don't read much fiction and movies are not on my list of must-haves.)

I am a touch typist but if I don't have the ability to *read* what I wrote, that won't help me much.

at this point I still have one functioning eye but I have to assume that it will progress in only one direction.

Keep 'em coming! Many thanks....

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: DaveRo
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 02:56 PM

'Kindle' normally refers to the Kindle e-reader. The Kindle Fire was a cheap tablet, now renamed the Amazon Fire. The Kindle e-readers all have e-ink displays, mostly monochrome.

The advantage of an e-ink reader is that it is lighter, can be read outdoors, and uses far less power. I find them easier on the eye than reading a lit-up tablet, better contrast, like reading a (new) book. And it's much easier to hold for long periods. How that relates to AMD I don't know.

I have and use an old cheap 6-inch Kindle. I also read books on the Kindle app on my 10-inch tablet - especially if they have maps diagrams or colour.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: gillymor
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 02:56 PM

Now that I've given Kindle a glowing recommendation I've decided to dump it, if I can find a landing place for my digital library. This thread got me to thinking about Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon and billionaire trump bootlicker who has pretty much wrecked my once-august hometown newspaper and perpetrated at least one massive scam to illegally sign up Prime subscribers. I've long been uneasy about putting money in his pocket and it's past time to flush the bastard.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 08:11 PM

Ebbie, the library of Congress still has a talking book program FREE. The materials and machinery are shipped to you without cost - talk to the folks at the public library. Many laptops have speech and dictation capabilities these days.

I can find out more if you’d like.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 26 - 11:27 PM

I second Rap's remarks. And there are plenty of apps now that you can speak to and the words are transcribed on the screen, into a document or email, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Apr 26 - 07:35 AM

If you can afford it, the TCL Nxtpaper 14 seems to give you the most screen area for the money of any tablet.

Subject: RE: BS: Kindle and AMD
From: DaveRo
Date: 07 Apr 26 - 09:37 AM

Jack Campin wrote: If you can afford it, the TCL Nxtpaper 14 seems to give you the most screen area for the money of any tablet.

Interesting. The display is switchable between a normal tablet display and two varieties of e-ink-like display - colour and black & white.

There's also a TCL Nxtpaper 11 plus, newer and smaller (and therefore lighter).

TCL