Quote:
Originally Posted by Braid
I don't understand what you mean by this. When I purchase a book from amazon, it downloads automatically onto my Kindle the next time I sync it. From that point on, the file is on my Kindle and I can do what I want with it, regardless of whether I am online or offline.
How is this not the case with the "vast majority" of Kindle users?
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It is the case. But, in a lot of ways, the device is under Amazons control. And the book is still in the Amazon ecosystem. If they decide you shouldn't have a book, the next time you sync it will disappear. And if you lose that device, or something happens that you have to do a factory reset, you lose the books until you sort that out. And if you were half-way up the Amazon at the time, it might be a while until you can get access to the books.
The offline copies that Stevex and others are referring to are copies taken outside the Amazon ecosystem completely. The purpose might be for backup, or to read them on non-Amazon ereaders or apps. The belief is that most people with ereaders, buy from the attached shop, read the book and then forget about it. It doesn't matter if the device is a Kindle, Kobo or other, or they use one of the store based apps. This means that if that store disappeared tomorrow, these people would lose access to their books. They would notice the loss of the book they are reading, or planned to read, but they probably wouldn't care about the books they have already read.