kindle to kindle??

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by KevinP1

Can I transfer my files from the computer (landlord's Mac) via usb w/o having to use wi-fi via Amazon?

Yes, you can, provided you're happy to log on to your Amazon account on your landlord's computer.

Just sign in at the Amazon web site, go to the "Manage my Content and Devices" section, and download your books to the landlord's computer "for transfer via USB". Then plug in your PW and copy the downloaded books into the Documents folder.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Yes, you can, provided you're happy to log on to your Amazon account on your landlord's computer.

Just sign in at the Amazon web site, go to the "Manage my Content and Devices" section, and download your books to the landlord's computer "for transfer via USB". Then plug in your PW and copy the downloaded books into the Documents folder.

That sounds too easy. For DRM books, do you need to select which of your registered devices those books will be tranfered to? I have not done that, but it seems logical.

The original question was "kindle to kindle" (which occupied my thoughts in a literal way), not using the landlords computer. I am used to dealing with things at the "bits and bytes" level, as local as possible, from the bottom up. I spend more time at github than amazon. But indeed, your suggested top-down approach certainly makes life easier if he can use his landlord's Mac as you described.

Using Calibre and AA require downloading it and its dependencies, so just downloading the books using this amazon feature (of which I was not previously aware) makes much more sense, and that will be my new recommendation in cases like this.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

That sounds too easy. For DRM books, do you need to select which of your registered devices those books will be tranfered to? I have not done that, but it seems logical.

Yes, you need to say which device you're going to transfer it to, as if it has DRM Amazon need to know which key to apply.


(Technical aside: The Mobi/Kindle format actually has the ability to contain the keys for more than one device, but Amazon don't make use of it. The book contents gets encrypted with a random key, and then that key is encrypted using the device key and stored with the book. There's room for more than one encrypted copy of the book key, making the book, theoretically, readable on more than one device. This mechanism was used in the old Mobipocket days.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Yes, you can, provided you're happy to log on to your Amazon account on your landlord's computer.

Just sign in at the Amazon web site, go to the "Manage my Content and Devices" section, and download your books to the landlord's computer "for transfer via USB". Then plug in your PW and copy the downloaded books into the Documents folder.

You can only do it 10 books on a page, though. It would take an awfully long time for a large library.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

That sounds too easy. For DRM books, do you need to select which of your registered devices those books will be tranfered to? I have not done that, but it seems logical.

The original question was "kindle to kindle" (which occupied my thoughts in a literal way), not using the landlords computer. I am used to dealing with things at the "bits and bytes" level, as local as possible, from the bottom up. I spend more time at github than amazon. But indeed, your suggested top-down approach certainly makes life easier if he can use his landlord's Mac as you described.

Using Calibre and AA require downloading it and its dependencies, so just downloading the books using this amazon feature (of which I was not previously aware) makes much more sense, and that will be my new recommendation in cases like this.

You can also use the version of the ApprenticeAlf tools which is distributed as an OSX app relying only on the python installation that comes with OSX.
Or the Windows drop target (a Windows wrapper around the regular old cross-platform python/tk) which unfortunately requires a separate installation of Python since Microsoft does not see fit to provide you with widely-used scripting libraries as a matter of course.

calilbre is not strictly required, it is just the easiest method especially if you already use it.

So, while borrowing the landlord's Macbook to "Download And Transfer Via USB" will work, it could be done entirely without any internet other than the 3G Kindle Keyboard.

A one-time download of the AA tools archive (2.16 MB for the whole set).

If your operating system is Windows:
A one-time download of the Python2 for Windows installer (17.8 MB)
OR
A one-time download of calibre (weighing in at 61.1 MB).

And you could download the book using Amazon's fee 3G connectivity, strip the DRM from your book, using a non-internet-connected computer, and transfer it to the newer Kindle.
Amazon doesn't drop compatibility with old formats (they just try sending the new ones if supported).

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

(Technical aside: The Mobi/Kindle format actually has the ability to contain the keys for more than one device, but Amazon don't make use of it. The book contents gets encrypted with a random key, and then that key is encrypted using the device key and stored with the book. There's room for more than one encrypted copy of the book key, making the book, theoretically, readable on more than one device. This mechanism was used in the old Mobipocket days.)

That sounds like how TrueCrypt encrypts entire hard drives, letting you relatively quickly change the "passphrase" encryption key.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

That sounds like how TrueCrypt encrypts entire hard drives, letting you relatively quickly change the "passphrase" encryption key.

It is also the method used by LUKS, for the same reason (it has I think eight keyslots for passphrase material). It's very, very useful if your passphrase is itself generated by a cryptographic device, because it means that if you get a new one (that necessarily generates a different output for a given challenge) you can add the new one using the old one before (optionally) removing the old one.

[KevinP1]

well, I rec'd refurbished PW3 yesterday and following suggestions here ended up at the epubor website and after getting permission DL'd trial version of transfer tool and it worked great. Gotta buy it. Please note I will only use this tool with stuff I purchased or that is not not protected so that I can read it on my own devices, myself and not loan or give to others. I think that this is fair--like buying a music album that you want listen to on multiple devices that you own. A shame that this has to be so complicated but that is the way it is.Thanks again to all those that helped me. k

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by KevinP1

well, I rec'd refurbished PW3 yesterday and following suggestions here ended up at the epubor website and after getting permission DL'd trial version of transfer tool and it worked great. Gotta buy it. Please note I will only use this tool with stuff I purchased or that is not not protected so that I can read it on my own devices, myself and not loan or give to others. I think that this is fair--like buying a music album that you want listen to on multiple devices that you own. A shame that this has to be so complicated but that is the way it is.Thanks again to all those that helped me. k

Why not just use Calibre and Alf's tools? Much easier, and free.