Kindle Paperwhite without Amazon account

[marcl]

Are there any other limitations when I abort the registration with a Amazon account during initial setup of the Kindle or choose to log off from Amazon account except the collections and of course all things to the Amazon Server related..?

Has anybody tested if the Kindle talks to Amazon server even when logged off from Amazon but with wifi activated?

[ProfCrash]

I think the Kindle works fine without being registered, just no collections.

I know folks who register it, get their collections, and then turn off the WiFi and never turn it back on again.

I have no idea about the WiFi communication with Amazon

I think you have to register to get the Amazon Kindle dictionaries. However, you can use your own dictionaries.

[sirmaru]

What is the point of using a Kindle without an Amazon account?

Originally Posted by sirmaru

What is the point of using a Kindle without an Amazon account?

You can read books on a Kindle from any bookstore as long as you can convert those books to a compatible Kindle format. Some people just prefer to sideload all their books and not have their Kindles registered.

[Barbara1955]

Well pointless. Yes it still comunicates with the servers. Even with WiFi Off I still get regular updates on the Offers.

With all the Free ebooks & th temp free ebooks Amazon offers your sure missing out on a lot of good reading!

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Katie1

Even with WiFi Off I still get regular updates on the Offers.

Then your WiFi isn't turned off. If you're WiFi is off you should get a message asking you to turn it on to update the offers.

Note that when it downloads an update (with WiFI on) for the offers it does store many days worth of offers and will switch those accordingly without WiFi on.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by Katie1

With all the Free ebooks & th temp free ebooks Amazon offers your sure missing out on a lot of good reading!

Not me. I'm perfectly capable of finding the stuff I want to read, without any help from Amazon's marketing. I'm sure that applies to most other folk in this forum as well.

Mike

[ProfCrash]

I have the ad free version, I don't want the ads. (shrugs)

I know that there are folks who want the functionality of the e-reader but don't like that it can some how track you. That is one of the reasons so many people did not want Sony to add WiFi to their device. They didn't need it, side loading and SD cards worked fine, and some didn't want the tracking possibilities.

Every person has the right to decide how much data they share. For some folks that means paying the toll all the time instead of having easy pass. For some folks that means no Facebook. For some people that means an e-reader without WiFi.

Big whoop.

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I have the ad free version, I don't want the ads. (shrugs)

I know that there are folks who want the functionality of the e-reader but don't like that it can some how track you. That is one of the reasons so many people did not want Sony to add WiFi to their device. They didn't need it, side loading and SD cards worked fine, and some didn't want the tracking possibilities.

Every person has the right to decide how much data they share. For some folks that means paying the toll all the time instead of having easy pass. For some folks that means no Facebook. For some people that means an e-reader without WiFi.

Big whoop.

I agree, it is a personal preference that is totally up to the device owner. I personally prefer to use the WiFi/registration for Whispersync, Collections, etc. Some don't, and that is perfectly okay as far as I'm concerned.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Katie1

Well pointless. Yes it still comunicates with the servers. Even with WiFi Off I still get regular updates on the Offers.

That's not the way that mine worked. It would download a series of offers and scroll through them until they expired. Then I would get a splash screen that said that if I wanted to see more offers, I would need to sync with Amazon.

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by Katie1

Well pointless. Yes it still comunicates with the servers. Even with WiFi Off I still get regular updates on the Offers.

That's plain impossible. When the Wifi is off, the device can't communicate to get new ads.

Others have already posted the explanation - it's that the Kindle pulls the SOs for several weeks in advance.

Originally Posted by marcl

Are there any other limitations when I abort the registration with a Amazon account during initial setup of the Kindle or choose to log off from Amazon account except the collections and of course all things to the Amazon Server related..?

I think there are a few minor features which are disabled, like that you're unable to set device owner information, lock code, etc. But except for the collections, nothing tragic.

Has anybody tested if the Kindle talks to Amazon server even when logged off from Amazon but with wifi activated?

It definitely talks to Amazon whenever you turn the Wifi on, to verify that it actually has internet connectivity. (You can use a WIFI_NO_NET_PROBE file to disable that). It may also be requesting the current time and stuff like that.

And I think that I've seen it do various attempts to phone home even when unregistered, but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, if you're not interested in the Amazon store and the other online stuff, I think your best bet is to register it once, then keep it in Airplane mode. I'm personally keeping my devices offline essentially all the time.

[sirmaru]

I own 3 Kindle Devices, one Kindle App and have one more Kindle device on the way. Without registration at the Amazon site, syncing would be impossible.

Only if a person owns a single Kindle device would it make sense to deregister the unit and buy eBooks elsewhere.

For a time I used to compare eBook prices between Barnes & Noble, Sony and Amazon. Amazon had the lowest price for virtually EVERY eBook. Plus, Amazon offers thousands of eBooks free or at 99 cents or less.

I only read expensive theological, history and biography eBooks. The price differences on these types of eBooks are HUGE between various sites. Even with buying from Amazon, I keep a spreadsheet of all my wish list of purchase with prices and amounts of pages. I always buy the most pages for the buck. Even Amazon is still forced by some publishers to raise prices. If they raise them too much, I may never read those eBooks.

I tracked all those eBooks in a spreadsheet and eventually got rid of my Sony eReader and never purchased a Nook.

In fact there was a Federal lawsuit filed against 5 book publishers and Apple for collusion on maintaining HIGH eBook prices. Amazon was NOT one of the defendants.

Thus, it makes no sense to buy eBooks from anyone but Amazon but everyone has their own preferences. Most people I know do not buy eBooks. They still prefer the paper books at three times the price.

[Barbara1955]

Had dr appt so just getting back . My K3 is Always OFF until I have at least 25 ebooks to download at once. The Ads are Always changing. I neve been told to turn on WiFi for ads updates its been off the Months at a time! During the months I didnt have a computer & my maine computer was my Fire HD I Never had the WiFi on the K3 turned on I still recieved the ads.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by Katie1

Had dr appt so just getting back . My K3 is Always OFF until I have at least 25 ebooks to download at once. The Ads are Always changing. I neve been told to turn on WiFi for ads updates its been off the Months at a time! During the months I didnt have a computer & my maine computer was my Fire HD I Never had the WiFi on the K3 turned on I still recieved the ads.

The ads are pre-downloaded to your device when you have the wi-fi on. The only time Amazon can push ads to your device is when your device has an active wi-fi connection. There is no way for them to access your device when you have it in airplane mode (wif-fi off).