Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by dwall

I just discovered that Amazon has now blocked the ability to register a new install of an older version of Kindle for PC

Good forum etiquette means not quoting fully such a long message. Remove most of it and put in ... If we want to read it, we can go to the message and read it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by stumped

Not so.
After KU went, I was testing printed reading and posting my suprise that it was still unaffected. And that it was illiogcical, as PR is a subset of KU

The prime reading change came a week later. ~3 days ago.
And in that gap, I tested and copied 3 more prime reading books, not because I particularly plan to read them, just to see what worked.

Also, some posts here from Germany implied changes there were happening at a different speed there, unless posters were confused.

Also also, the confusion over using a mobile device browser and seeing everything blocked for usb transfer - I wonder had that always been the case or was that yet another recent change

Not seen any posts from Canada, so we don't know status of Amazon.ca

When I read of KU being blocked, I tested Prime and yes, it too was blocked. So I cannot say Prime was blocked after KU. But it doesn't matter as both are now blocked from Download and transfer via USB.

[JSWolf]

Please read all of the posts in this thread as there may be information you'll need/want to know that you'll miss if you don't read everything.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by imno007

Bought a Kindle Paperwhite 2, but was unable to downgrade the firmware, so now I'm waiting on a Kindle PW1 to arrive so I can try that . Which is crazy, because before a few days ago I had never in my life owned a Kindle of any kind.

You don't need to downgrade the FW, and it's normal you can't.
No problem here with up to date PW3. I also had an Oasis gen 2 recently for a while and it was no different.

Not noticed any difference between KK3 and PW3 (for downloads from web site), and I only download via PC (Linux, but was Windows till Jan 2017). WiFi is off.

Amazon has no equivalent to my 4.7″ ereader or 8″ ereader with pen.

[jhowell]

A Mac user asked me privately for advice on using older versions of Kindle for Mac instead of Kindle for PC to work around the block against downloading recently published books.

I am not a Mac user so I am hoping someone who is one can comment on whether or not Kindle for Mac has been affected the same way as Kindle for PC.

[imno007]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You don't need to downgrade the FW, and it's normal you can't.
No problem here with up to date PW3. I also had an Oasis gen 2 recently for a while and it was no different.

Not noticed any difference between KK3 and PW3 (for downloads from web site), and I only download via PC (Linux, but was Windows till Jan 2017). WiFi is off.

Amazon has no equivalent to my 4.7″ ereader or 8″ ereader with pen.

Well, so far I've only tried a couple of KU books, and that's another reason I wanted the PW1, so that I can hopefully download them via wifi in something besides kfx format. Isn't this supposed to still be possible?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by jhowell

A Mac user asked me privately for advice on using older versions of Kindle for Mac instead of Kindle for PC to work around the block against downloading recently published books.

I am not a Mac user so I am hoping someone who is one can comment on whether or not Kindle for Mac has been affected the same way as Kindle for PC.

Testing on K4Mac on MacOS running in a VM was no different from the results using K4PC. I was unable to download any books published after 2023-Jan-03.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I am not a Mac user so I am hoping someone who is one can comment on whether or not Kindle for Mac has been affected the same way as Kindle for PC.

Just opened K4Mac. It auto-updated to 1.33 without permission.

An attempt to download a newer book gave this error: "PCMAC_126_Delivery_Error_Upgrade_Mac"

I'm not really inclined to troubleshoot it, I just won't buy from Amazon any more. I've already freed all of my previous purchases.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by imno007

Well, so far I've only tried a couple of KU books, and that's another reason I wanted the PW1, so that I can hopefully download them via wifi in something besides kfx format. Isn't this supposed to still be possible?

KU are loans. Forget about KU and Prime reading and just buy the books properly! KU also cheats the authors.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Testing on K4Mac on MacOS running in a VM was no different from the results using K4PC. I was unable to download any books published after 2023-Jan-03.

Originally Posted by meeera

Just opened K4Mac. It auto-updated to 1.33 without permission.

An attempt to download a newer book gave this error: "PCMAC_126_Delivery_Error_Upgrade_Mac"

Thanks for the answers.

[imno007]

Originally Posted by Quoth

KU are loans. Forget about KU and Prime reading and just buy the books properly! KU also cheats the authors.

As I explained above, the conversions aren't for me, but for a friend overseas without access. So the authors aren't being "cheated" in my case, because I still pay for the subscription and I rarely read any of them myself. So essentially, I'm paying for someone else and doing the conversions for them.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by imno007

I already explained above that the conversions aren't for me, but for a friend overseas without access. So the authors aren't being "cheated" in my case, because I still pay for the subscription and I rarely read any of them myself. So essentially, I'm paying for someone else and doing the conversions for them so that they can read the books on their non-Kindle devices.

Authors are being cheated, because when you borrow a book from KU, the author will get paid per pages read. So if you never read a KU book, its author will get nothing. The money you pay for the subscription goes to Amazon, not to authors.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Authors are being cheated, because when you borrow a book from KU, the author will get paid per pages read. So if you never read a KU book, its author will get nothing. The money you pay for the subscription goes to Amazon, not to authors.

Exactly. KU pays poorly to authors compared to regular sales. If you remove DRM on KU then the author might not get anything. A KU title somehow stripped of DRM and read a not-Kindle or a Kindle that never has WiFi on is counted as not read. No payment to author.

KU relies on Whispernet (WiFi or Mobile) direct connection to Kindles and monitoring of page turns. It invades privacy and pays authors less than a regular sale, even when it works as intended.
Amazon gets most of the subscription.

A real Library has to buy the ebooks it simultaneously loans. The UK & Irish libraries ALSO pay about 30p (40c?) per loan per title.
Amazon doesn't buy the books for lending. It decides on a pot and pays a small proportion to authors based on pages read.

It's a nasty exploitive system. Even if you don't sign up to KDP Select as an Author / Publisher (which gives Amazon exclusive rights) Amazon can still loan your title without paying you.

The best thing customers can do is ONLY borrow ebooks from your real library, not Amazon or Archive Org's Open Library and otherwise buy ebooks, but don't use Prime Reading or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.

[imno007]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Authors are being cheated, because when you borrow a book from KU, the author will get paid per pages read. So if you never read a KU book, its author will get nothing. The money you pay for the subscription goes to Amazon, not to authors.

My point is that it does really matter in this case, because KU isn't available to my friend, and she's an older woman who is not that tech savvy, so it's not like she's sharing them all over the internet. So whether I have a KU subscription or not makes no difference to any authors: they don't benefit any more or less either way.

In any case, this is only a side concern for me right now. I am mainly concerned about the books I purchase. Losing KU would be no great loss for me, since I find that the majority of books available through it are junk to me. No offense to those who enjoy a lot of that stuff!

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by imno007

My point is that it does really matter in this case, because KU isn't available to my friend, and she's an older woman who is not that tech savvy, so it's not like she's sharing them all over the internet. So whether I have a KU subscription or not makes no difference to any authors: they don't benefit any more or less either way.

The authors would benefit if the books were purchased instead though.