[haertig]

I bought my Paperwhite 3 new in October 2017. WiFi was enabled and I registered it. It started locking up within a few weeks so I updated it to the newest firmware. That didn't fix the issue so I sent it back to Amazon for repair. They installed new firmware - the same version that I had previously installed - and predictably this did not fix the lockup issue either. When I got the Paperwhite back from Amazon the Device screen under Settings said "unregistered". I left it saying it was unregistered, and disabled WiFi (erased the password for my router and put it in Airplane Mode). For some unknown reason, the lockup issue disappeared on it's own a few weeks later. I have no idea why, but I happily accepted my good fortune.

Since then I have bought several ebooks from Amazon for my "unregistered Paperwhite". It still shows up as a device on my Amazon account to this day, despite what the Paperwhite says on it's Settings screen. The only way I have ever put ebooks on this Paperwhite is by sideloading them after having run them through Calibre and de-DRM'ing them with the plugin. I used either the Kindle For PC or the Download And Transfer method to get the ebooks to put into Calibre. I have updated the firmware once or twice by downloading the firmware file to my computer and copying it to the proper directory on the Paperwhite. It's currently running 5.9.4.

This Paperwhite has been in Airplane Mode since late 2017. I no longer buy ebooks from Amazon because I can't download them, run them through Calibre, and sideload them onto my "network unaware" Paperwhite. I do not intend to ever update the firmware on this Paperwhite because (1) it works just fine the way it is, and (2) I don't trust Amazon to not do nefarious things with firmware updates. Even if the Paperwhite somehow finds a way to claw itself out of Airplane Mode, it's not going to get very far since it doesn't know any SSID's or passwords to connect to any WiFi network.

I'll keep using my Paperwhite until it dies. I have tons of books in Calibre, ready to sideload, thus I have no need to buy any more ebooks from Amazon (or anywhere else, really). Once this Paperwhite dies, it appears that the only choice might be a Kobo. At least based on what I see today. B&N made Nooks unattractive several years ago by denying ebook downloads, and now Amazon has done the same with the Kindle. The only other big player in the eReader market is Kobo (as far as I know). Things may change over time, so I will reevaluate the situation if/when my Paperwhite finally dies. But it's still going strong. Battery still lasts a reasonable length of time. I at least partially attribute this Paperwhite's longevity and stability to me having kept Amazon's tentacles out of it for all these years.