Why no SD cards?

[gevaisa]

Has Amazon ever explained why the Kindle ereaders don't have SD card slots? I would love to try a Kindle but I'm a terrible ebook hoarder who feels naked if I don't have all my books with me when I'm out and about.

Thank you very much!

[jbcohen]

I am also an ebook hoarder, thats why I signed up with Kindle unlimited, all I can read for $10 a month. I keep track of the value of the books that I download and this month I am up to $140 worth of books. I will probably wind up the month at that aount.

As far as the SD slot goes, I will keep my mouth shut since I do not know the answer. Someone will be along with the answer.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by gevaisa

Has Amazon ever explained why the Kindle ereaders don't have SD card slots? I would love to try a Kindle but I'm a terrible ebook hoarder who feels naked if I don't have all my books with me when I'm out and about.

You are not supposed to have your hoarded collection on your Kindle.
Here is how you are supposed to use your Kindle:
1. Buy an e-book at Amazon.
2. Read that e-book
3. go to step 1

And that is what the vast majority of users do. Why would Amazon want to support people that want to bring in their collection, or buy books elsewhere?
Go and buy an e-ink reader from a manufacturer that makes a profit on the reader and not on content
You will have 14 supported formats, including DRM protected epub, dropbox integration, SD card and other features, like numerous configuration options.

[Ghitulescu]

In addition to the previous answer, the presence of an SD slot would mean that there were also other means of loading books on that Kindle than using the Amazon's own software. That means another level of control, and since this works with Apple (iTunes) why shouldn't it work with Kindle?

[gevaisa]

jbcohen, I'm in Australia and I don't think Kindle Unlimited is offered here (yet?). But I'd definitely try it if it were.

kacir, not really sure what you're getting at. Wouldn't having an SD slot just mean I could carry around a huge collection of Kindle ebooks I bought off Amazon?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ghitulescu

In addition to the previous answer, the presence of an SD slot would mean that there were also other means of loading books on that Kindle than using the Amazon's own software.

Er, there already are.

[Lemurion]

I think there are several reasons why Amazon doesn't include SD card slots.

To begin with, it's not a part of Amazon's model for the device. It's designed to work in conjunction with Amazon's cloud, so there's no need, from Amazon's perspective, for expandable storage. It doesn't help you buy books from Amazon or read the books you bought from Amazon, so putting one in a Kindle doesn't make sense from a design perspective.

Second, it saves costs. Adding a card reader would either lead to increased prices or a reduced margin, and that doesn't make sense for something that's designed not to need one anyway.

Plus, leaving one out helps them make the devices thinner, which is a big plus in today's market where everything is advertised as being thinner than its predecessor.

The only reason I can see that Amazon would have for adding an SD card slot would be if its absence was hurting sales, but given its dominant position in the market there's no evidence that that's the case.

As far as Amazon's concerned, there's just no point.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

To begin with, it's not a part of Amazon's model for the device. It's designed to work in conjunction with Amazon's cloud, so there's no need, from Amazon's perspective, for expandable storage. It doesn't help you buy books from Amazon or read the books you bought from Amazon, so putting one in a Kindle doesn't make sense from a design perspective.

I think this is the main reason why there is no SD slot in Kindles.

[JSWolf]

It's a way for Amazon to control you.

[pidgeon92]

I was on KindleBoards back when the original Kindle had an SD slot. People would often complain about their Kindle having problems/freezing up, and it was often due to the SD card. The problems would stop when they removed them. I wasn't surprised when the SD slot disappeared with the announcement of the K2.

[Cybrpnk]

Originally Posted by gevaisa

Why no SD cards?

Control.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Cybrpnk

Control.

I hear that a lot but I think it's facile. It comes down to economics: why spend money to give the Kindle a capability that it doesn't need for its designed purpose? Sure, the absence of a card slot gives Amazon more control, but I think that's more a side effect than a primary goal.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by gevaisa

I would love to try a Kindle but I'm a terrible ebook hoarder who feels naked if I don't have all my books with me when I'm out and about.

I used to try this with my physical book collection and IT JUST NEVER WORKED. In our day and age, this is completely unreasonable. I should be able to carry my 5,000 strong library with me EVERYWHERE. I never read a book a second time... but still! (/sarcasm )

Originally Posted by Ghitulescu

In addition to the previous answer, the presence of an SD slot would mean that there were also other means of loading books on that Kindle than using the Amazon's own software.

You mean other devious methods like an USB cable?! Which you will still be able to use without problems (assuming you have a computer, obviously).

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's a way for Amazon to control you.

And to prove how good of a job they are doing with their nefarious mind-control methods (Bezos you evil genius!) I shall name all of my children and pets in the following Amazon inspired manner:

Matt's 1st Child
Matt's 2nd Child
Matt's 3rd Child

and the pets shall be:

Matt's 1st Pet
Matt's 2nd Pet
Matt's 3rd Pet

Brilliant!

And they all have to wear attire suitable only for the Amazon and nowhere else. And they must all constantly SMILE! That is how thorough the control is! It's crazy!

[kacir]

Originally Posted by gevaisa

... why the Kindle ereaders don't have SD card slots?

There is another explanation.
Kindle is set up to index all the books you load on it. This can not be switched of or changed without hacking. Like many other things.
When you load dozens of books, you have to leave the Kindle on a charger and put up with a sluggish performance until it finishes indexing. It has to build a database, so when you search for something inside books, it can search very quickly.

Now imagine putting in an SD card with 16 GB of books.

[tubemonkey]

Clouds are great; when there's WiFi. Not so hot when you're traveling and WiFi is nowhere in sight. At least Amazon doesn't gouge you as much as Apple does for storage bumps.