Amazon competitor Bookshop.org says Kobo eReader support will happen this year after all

If you’re looking for an e-reader that allows you to buy expensive bestsellers from your local independent bookshops, your research will inevitably point you to Rakuten’s Kobo eReader. 如果你正在寻找一款能够让你从当地独立书店购买畅销书的电子阅读器，你的调研结果不可避免地会指向乐天（Rakuten）旗下的 Kobo 电子阅读器。

But, as it turns out, this reputation is largely based on outdated methods for buying Kobo books, involving signing up for a Kobo account from bookshops’ websites. While there are a handful of indie bookshops nationwide still supporting Kobo through this website method, most of that kind of support ended years ago. 但事实证明，这种声誉很大程度上基于购买 Kobo 图书的过时方法，即通过书店网站注册 Kobo 账户。虽然全国仍有少数独立书店通过这种网站方式支持 Kobo，但大多数此类支持在几年前就已经终止了。

I’ve found it impossible to buy e-books for my recently purchased Kobo from any of my local, beloved bookshops. I want to support these bookshops, and I don’t want to own a physical copy of every book I read. I also want to use an e-reader rather than an Android or iOS app on a phone or tablet because e-readers offer long battery life, digital ink, and low-glare screens. These allow me to read comfortably for hours, even outdoors, similar to a physical book. 我发现，我无法从任何我喜爱的当地书店为我新买的 Kobo 购买电子书。我希望能支持这些书店，但也不想把我读过的每一本书都买成纸质版。此外，我更倾向于使用电子阅读器，而不是手机或平板电脑上的 Android 或 iOS 应用，因为电子阅读器拥有超长续航、电子墨水屏和低眩光屏幕。这些特性让我即使在户外也能像看纸质书一样舒适地阅读数小时。

One solution for Kobo owners, originally promised for 2025, was a partnership with Bookshop.org, an Amazon competitor that supports local bookshops with every order. Bookshop.org currently offers e-books through its mobile app for iOS and Android. That partnership was at first promised for 2025 and then delayed to 2026, and for a brief time earlier this year, looked like it would be delayed indefinitely. 对于 Kobo 用户来说，一个最初承诺于 2025 年实现的解决方案是与 Bookshop.org 建立合作。Bookshop.org 是亚马逊的竞争对手，每一笔订单都会支持当地书店。目前，Bookshop.org 通过其 iOS 和 Android 移动应用提供电子书。该合作最初承诺在 2025 年实现，随后推迟至 2026 年，而在今年早些时候，一度看起来似乎要无限期推迟。

After Bookshop.org changed the wording on its web page referencing Kobo support, removing “2026” and replacing it with “sometime in the future,” I reached out to get a status update. Bookshop.org’s founder and CEO, Andy Hunter, told me in an emailed reply that progress with Kobo has now been made. The web page has been updated, saying once again that support is expected to roll out “later this year.” 在 Bookshop.org 修改了网页上关于 Kobo 支持的措辞，删除了“2026 年”并将其替换为“未来某个时间”后，我联系了他们以获取最新进展。Bookshop.org 的创始人兼首席执行官 Andy Hunter 在回复邮件中告诉我，目前与 Kobo 的合作已经取得进展。网页已更新，再次声明预计支持功能将于“今年晚些时候”推出。

“The Kobo integration is something both Kobo and Bookshop.org want to make happen,” Hunter said. The holdup has been both on the business side and engineering side to ensure it is “done in such a way that respects publisher requirements for digital rights management. It took us some time to hammer out the business terms and allocate the necessary engineering resources,” he explained. “Kobo 的整合是 Kobo 和 Bookshop.org 都希望实现的目标，”Hunter 说道。他解释说，延误的原因在于商业和工程两方面，以确保“以尊重出版商数字版权管理（DRM）要求的方式完成整合。我们花了一些时间来敲定商业条款并分配必要的工程资源。”

Hunter, whose company also competes with Amazon by selling physical books, says his engineers have been focused on improving the mobile device app, which launched about 15 months ago. Their attention is now being returned to Kobo support, albeit the timing remains vague. “We have recently settled on business terms with Kobo, and we are confident the collaboration is going to happen, but can’t promise a specific launch date until the engineering work is further along,” Hunter said. Hunter 的公司也通过销售纸质书与亚马逊竞争，他表示，他的工程师们一直专注于改进约 15 个月前推出的移动应用。现在他们的注意力已转回 Kobo 的支持工作上，尽管具体时间仍不明确。“我们最近已经与 Kobo 敲定了商业条款，我们有信心合作一定会实现，但在工程进度进一步推进之前，无法承诺具体的发布日期，”Hunter 说。

Obviously, whether or not Bookshop.org ever figures out Kobo support, Kobo users don’t have to buy all their books from Japanese-based e-commerce giant Rakuten. Kobo users can read a large selection of digital rights management (DRM)-free books on their readers, and a large selection (though not all) of library books offered through Overdrive. Independent e-book store eBooks.com also delivers DRM-protected books in a format that Kobo supports, it says. 显然，无论 Bookshop.org 是否最终能实现对 Kobo 的支持，Kobo 用户都不必非得从日本电商巨头乐天那里购买所有书籍。Kobo 用户可以在阅读器上阅读大量无数字版权管理（DRM）的图书，以及通过 Overdrive 提供的海量（尽管并非全部）图书馆书籍。独立电子书店 eBooks.com 也表示，他们提供 Kobo 支持格式的 DRM 保护书籍。

Another solution, should your goal be to support local bookshops with e-book purchases, is to use a different e-reader. An Android reader like Boox or Meebook that supports the Google Play app store should be able to download Bookshop.org’s app, the bookseller says. 如果你购买电子书的目标是支持当地书店，另一个解决方案是使用不同的电子阅读器。该书店表示，像 Boox 或 Meebook 这样支持 Google Play 应用商店的 Android 阅读器应该能够下载 Bookshop.org 的应用程序。

Still, like countless other Kobo owners, I’m rooting for the Bookshop.org integration to materialize. Supporting local independent bookstores was my main motivation for buying this particular e-reader, misled as I was by my online research (and the confident advice of ChatGPT). Now that I own a Kobo Libra Colour, I really do love its reading screen, fast response, and long battery life. I also continue to hold on to my six-year-old Kindle for the same reasons. But I also love the local, small-business bookstores with their personalized recommendations, support of local authors, and sheer love of books. Here’s hoping that the top e-commerce site that supports local shops, Bookshop.org, will soon actually support the popular Kobo device, which claims 12 million users in 190 countries. 尽管如此，像无数其他 Kobo 用户一样，我仍然期待 Bookshop.org 的整合能够实现。支持当地独立书店是我购买这款电子阅读器的主要动力，尽管我被网上的调研（以及 ChatGPT 的自信建议）误导了。现在我拥有了一台 Kobo Libra Colour，我确实非常喜欢它的阅读屏幕、快速响应和超长续航。出于同样的原因，我也保留着我那台六年前的 Kindle。但我同样热爱那些提供个性化推荐、支持当地作家并对书籍充满热爱的当地小型书店。希望支持当地书店的顶级电商网站 Bookshop.org 能尽快真正支持这款在 190 个国家拥有 1200 万用户的热门 Kobo 设备。