Dozens of e-reader brands have slowed down on issuing software updates. Barnes and Noble NOOK tend only to support the e-readers they currently sell. The last update was over 6 months ago. The last Rakuten Kobo update was in October of 2024. Meebook tends only to release one update per generation; Onyx Boox releases one twice a year, if that. Tolino issues one every 6 or 7 months. Pocketbook releases new updates a couple of times a year, but only for newer models; they tend not to release change logs or tell people about it.
There are a few e-reader and e-notebook brands that are serious about updates. The Amazon Kindle line of e-readers is usually updated every 2-3 months. Sometimes, those updates are just bug fixes, but many new features have emerged lately. Remarkable issues new firmware every few months and updates their blog on all the essential stuff. Supernote has issued a new update every few months for their latest generation products.
How important are software updates when shopping for a new e-reader or e-notebook? Would you prefer none at all or only sometimes? A few brands are cavalier about issuing new updates and features, while others only issue them a couple of times a year, and some never do. Is the lack of software updates indicative that the software and hardware are in a good place, or is it simply not a priority?
Ultimately, I think most people who are serious about reading e-books only care about the book-reading experience. They want the fonts to be sharp, page-turns to be fast, and it has to have a good bookstore to buy digital content. The average person likely doesn’t care about how often it’s updated.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
