Quote:
Originally Posted by Iphinome
I don't know exactly how the kindle DRM works I haven't researched it but there are limited ways to do these things at least limited offline ways.
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The kindle in fact uses one of the "limited" offline ways.
Kindle DRM is *not* tied into the wireless. Kindle does *not* "phone home" to validate licensing like other connected DRM schemes. (XBLA, for example.)
Rather, Kindle DRM depends on the reader's serial number and/or user account.
DRM is *not* the reason Amazon is unlikely to do an unconnected reader; the reasons are economic (Kindle is a storefront first, a reader second) and strategic (social networking via Kindle is clearly part of Aazon's longer-term strategy for selling Kindle and ebooks) and a wireless-free Kindle would be dependent on PC access to buy books (killing the "built-in storefront" aspect) and would lack the real-time sync and networking features.
Wireless connectivity is not indispensable but it *is* a key component of what a Kindle is. Given the minimal cost add-in from at least WiFi (under $10), it seems unlikely Amazon will give up connectivity on a Kindle reader any time soon.