Amazon discontinuing support for older Kindles in May

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by haertig

The below is my OPINION PIECE.

Amazon is not "stopping support". They haven't been doing anything to support the devices for a long time. No more firmware updates, etc.

What Amazon is doing is banning them from accessing your purchased books. They required downloads to go via WiFi when they banned Download and Transfer. Then they banned the devices from using WiFi access.

If Amazon had said (probably falsely) that they had to ban WiFi access for security reasons, but left Download and Transfer as an alternate way to purchase and use books, then that might not have been so bad (but it was still bad IMHO). Or, Amazon could have stopped Download and Transfer and allowed WiFi transfer (as they initially did). But no, they did not do this. They banned BOTH Download and Transfer AND WiFi access. That is not "stopping support". That is "intentionally making a device useless".

There's a big difference in what Amazon did compared to "stopping support". They already stopped support for these devices many years ago. But yet, these devices were still used by many. Until now. Yes, you can still use them if you are technically competent. Buy your ebooks elsewhere - not from Amazon - remove DRM, convert from EPUB to AZW3, and sideload them.

...and hope that Amazon has not already slipped their code to disable sideloading into your device. They'll probably be activating that code next, IMHO. I would advise people to keep their devices offline permanently to avoid Amazon activating that code, if it exists. I wouldn't doubt that it does. And I wouldn't buy any more books from Amazon either. I might guess that they're implementing or at least researching how to add code to their ebooks themselves, that would work in conjunction with their stealth code in your Kindle, that would permanently alter the way a Kindle behaves after opening that ebook. I wouldn't put it past them based on prior behavior. They're already reportedly making DRM changes using a stealth channel outside of the normal firmware uprgrade channel. IMHO, keep those Kindles permanently offline people. That's currently the safest bet when dealing with Amazon. Yeah, my paranoia is real. So is what Amazon is doing.

Amazon offers "features" that entice you to register your Kindle and keep it online. And to buy newer Kindle hardware. There's a reason behind that, and that reason is probably not to your benefit. We're seeing that unfold right before our eyes.

I disagree. Amazon has been supporting these devices by allowing them to download eBooks in formats and DRM that's compatible.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I disagree. Amazon has been supporting these devices by allowing them to download eBooks in formats and DRM that's compatible.

By this logic, Microsoft is still supporting Windows 3.1. You can still go to Microsoft websites and download files with it.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by haertig

I read more now that I'm retired, but back when I bought both of my ereaders, you nailed me with the above description.

In that case, either you were irrational or the ereader provided value beyond bringing down the cost per book to an acceptable level far into the future. The average cost in another 20 years argument really doesn't wash.

Originally Posted by haertig

They don't need a new device to actually read the book, but they need a new device to be able to download it so that they can read it.

No, because they download the book now while they can and it will be readable for the life of the device.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

No, because they download the book now while they can and it will be readable for the life of the device.

Assuming they got the notice from Amazon. Not all owners of old Kindles did. I didn't. And I downloaded a book with one of mine only a month or two ago, so the reason for not getting the email wasn't that I hadn't used them for years.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by haertig

They don't need a new device to actually read the book, but they need a new device to be able to download it so that they can read it. Of course, if they download it via the new device then they won't be able to read it on the old device since it is encrypted solely for the new device. So they're kind of stuck.

One friend of mine who owns a Kindle Touch and a Kindle PW 1 (5th gen) is now busily downloading all their ebooks from Amazon. At this time, they have approximately 6000 books that they have purchased from Amazon over the last 15 years. 6000 books to which they will be losing access after May 20th. Since the books require more storage than both their Kindles can supply, the workaround is to download as many as can be downloaded in a couple of hours, transferring them to their computer using calibre, removing the books and repeating. So far, it appears that they should be finished these cycles in another 7 to 10 days. Amazon would likely be upset with them since they are removing DRM to allow using both devices to download and read in the future.

Originally Posted by haertig

I will never consider buying a book that I can't download and safely store locally immediately after purchase. I did that for a few books many years ago, and Barnes&Noble taught me the error of my ways. But many people don't follow this protocol. They trusted Amazon when they said you could leave your purchases on their servers and download them later when you wanted to read them (just as B&N promised me that for those few books years ago). Well, so much for that...

I have unfond memories of several companies including Microsoft getting out of the ebook business. For Microsoft in the days before they shut down their servers, I was rather busy using ConvertLIT to remove DRM so I could maintain access to my ebooks. For the others, it was a small number of books and for those that did not use Adobe's ADEPT DRM, I wrote the books off as a learning experience.

Since that time, if I've paid for the ebook, I strip DRM and keep an accessible local copy. Library loans, Kindle Unlimited, Kobo Plus and other loans get a dummy entry in calibre since my personal feeling is that I did not pay for the ebook so removing DRM is morally wrong but I do want to keep track of having read the ebook.

[cellaris]

Just out of curiosity, how have those who still use such old Amazon e-readers managed to keep the battery working? I had a lot of problems with them, whether I used them too much—due to constant recharging—or too little—because they’d run completely flat. After a certain point (which I’d put at around 10 years), I found them very difficult to use.

For various reasons, not just battery life, that 10-year limit is the benchmark I apply to other brands as well. Of the more than 60 e-readers I’ve owned, there isn’t a single one that I still use after that length of time, except on the odd occasion. Certainly not for regular reading, with the prospect of many more years and many more books ahead. Perhaps my case isn’t typical; I don’t know.

[Sirtel]

I don't use mine for reading anymore (and haven't since 2016), but I do charge them regularly. I haven't kept track how long one charge lasts these days. A few days, perhaps, if used for reading.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by issybird

No, because they download the book now while they can and it will be readable for the life of the device.

And what happens if they don't have enough storage room on the device to download all the books they have purchased?

Or what happens if they are too busy with important things going on in their life right now to be able to dedicate the time to all that downloading?

[nana77]

By reading about from the other thread, that mentions the end of support for Android Amazon apps (which is from Aug 2025?), I'd read there is a newest tablet from Amazon named "Kittyhawk" that might be upcoming.
Apart that Microsoft App for Windows 11, does those apps on Androids are still working?
I mean, if I buy a Pocketbook Color Note, that runs Android, will it be able to have Kindle store in it, too?

The project’s code name carries symbolic weight. Kitty Hawk, North Carolina was the site of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight in 1903—a metaphor for Amazon’s attempt to lift its hardware ambitions into a higher orbit. But the name also evokes the failed Kittyhawk flying car startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, which collapsed after consuming hundreds of millions in funding.

omg

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by nana77

By reading about from the other thread, that mentions the end of support for Android Amazon apps (which is from Aug 2025?), I'd read there is a newest tablet from Amazon named "Kittyhawk" that might be upcoming.
Apart that Microsoft App for Windows 11, does those apps on Androids are still working?
I mean, if I buy a Pocketbook Color Note, that runs Android, will it be able to have Kindle store in it, too?

omg

Those ereaders have Google Play to get Kindle for Android. No Amazon app store needed.

[DiapDealer]

I'm always amused by the the "I'll be fine, but who's going to wipe the tears of the hordes of the poor defenseless, casual-reading idiots who have 40,000 unread books just waiting on Amazon servers that will be lost to them forever?" argument.

The truth here is that the handful of non-niche folk that this affects, will ask around; find out what happened; buy a new Kindle (or maybe not because the old one has been buried in a closet since after they started reading on their tablet/phone ages ago) and go on with their happy casual-reading lives. Not because they're mindless sheep who've been brainwashed/indoctrinated by the evil mega-corps pushing an "everything needs to be replaced" agenda. But because they're people with different priorities than those who are gnashing their teeth and proclaiming a great lie is being perpetrated against the world.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Those ereaders have Google Play to get Kindle for Android. No Amazon app store needed.

And I'm pretty sure the Amazon app store can be easily added to most android devices, anyway.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

And these Kindles will work fine, just not with Amazon's servers. They'll still read sideloaded content like they always have.
.....
They will continue to read current content and sideloaded content. This constant refrain that they will be useless after the cutoff date is vastly overblown.

Just useless for anything Amazon not already on the device (and that only if you don't have to factory reset it). You'll only be able to sideload DRM-free books converted to kf8 or mobi. Which pretty much means books from almost anywhere but Amazon going forward. At least it seems it will soon require more effort than I may be willing to put in. Which I find kinda funny.

I've personally never sideloaded anything to a Kindle yet. I buy mostly from Kobo, only occasionally from Amazon, and sideload to a Nook.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

And I'm pretty sure the Amazon app store can be easily added to most android devices, anyway.

It only works on Fires now. I have it on an Android tablet. Now it just says "Amazon Appstore is no longer available on Android devices" when you open it. The couple of games I had from there downloaded to that tablet are still working for now.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

It only works on Fires now. I have it on an Android tablet. Now it just says "Amazon Appstore is no longer available on Android devices" when you open it. The couple of games I had from there downloaded to that tablet are still working for now.

I wasn't aware that changed. Thanks. I had it on an old Pixel phone and an Asus tablet at one point. There were never many things (that I needed) that were available from Amazon, but not Google Play, but it was a handy, and simple, workaround at the time.