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Sorry to be dense, but I want to make sure I understand the ecosystem change (for a process I've been using for many years). I have a beloved Kobo ecosystem which I intend to maintain, but apparently my buying habits are about to change drastically.
I was forced to upgrade my Kindle download software (was the 2017 release) to download any ebook with the new change, and now instead of an AZW file I receive a folder/Zip of related files, which includes an AZW placeholder, and presumably only the Kindle reader can reconstruct the full file. (KFX-ZIP format). This is independent of Kindle Unlimited per se -- it applies to all Kindle e-books. Calibre can no longer be used to read the content, and is limited to metadata/bibliographic tracking for personal collections.
For Calibre users, DeDRM can't (yet? ever?) deal with this, so the ebook cannot be converted to another format for use on my Kobo ereader. Therefore it requires a Kindle device to read.
In the past, I would copy the original AZW out of the My Kindle Content directory into a separate directory and import the AZW from there for Calibre conversion. Therefore the AZW file and its conversions were backupable. But since Amazon controls the content of the Kindle Content directory, it can (and does) delete files. I assume that the "voucher" file contained in the ZIP directory is used to ensure purchase (not a problem) but also to enforce limits on the count of Kindle Unlimited borrows (which is an irritant). That essentially makes backups ineffective. (Amazon can reach in and change the voucher).
Is this a correct summary of the whole affair?
(Thanks for your patience...)
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