Download Limits

[haertig]

Originally Posted by jhowell

It seems to me that only a tiny minority of avid readers even own six reading devices, let alone have six in active use at the same time.

Who said all six are in active use at a time? Many people buy a new cellphone every year (I sure don't, but some people do!) Many people here list all the various Kindles, Kobos, and tablets that they have in their profile. Your profile lists one eReader and three tablets - I might guess that you also have a smart phone and maybe even another eReader or two that you do not list. Several people may have a tablet, buy a new one, then wipe the old one clean to factory specs, then give/sell it so someone else. These devices are not necessarily all still on the users account, but they will still show up there as being active there for the purpose of download limits.

Sure, one could manage all these devices, removing one when it is wiped and sold/donated, put into the basement "old electronics box", etc. - but it's easier to remove DRM in the first place and be done with it, for good. Which is the point I was attempting to make with my comments.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Of course. Like watching or not watching TV.

It's a fair cop.

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

There is no "download limit". There's a simultaneous use limit (if the publisher requests it). And the limit is not at all new. In fact it used to be fairly standard on all kindlebook purchases.

"Simultaneous use" is bullshit as I can only use one reader at a time. The limit is set by number of downloads to readers simultaneously which to me is a downloads limit. New downloads require removal of the file from one of the devices.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by haertig

Several people may have a tablet, buy a new one, then wipe the old one clean to factory specs, then give/sell it so someone else. These devices are not necessarily all still on the users account, but they will still show up there as being active there for the purpose of download limits.

I'm afraid I don't follow at all. If I wipe my old device and sell/give it someone else, how is it still going to "show up there as being active" for the purpose of simultaneous device usage? Even if it's wiped and still left registered to my account (for whatever reason) how is it going to affect the simultaneous use count of a book that's no longer downloaded to it? And if the device/app is no longer registered to a users account, how could it possibly count toward a book's simultaneous use count?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm afraid I don't follow at all. If I wipe my old device and sell/give it someone else, how is it still going to "show up there as being active" for the purpose of simultaneous device usage? Even if it's wiped and still left registered to my account (for whatever reason) how is it going to affect the simultaneous use count of a book that's no longer downloaded to it? And if the device/app is no longer registered to a users account, how could it possibly count toward a book's simultaneous use count?

Wiping the device doesn't de-register it, you have to de-register it from your account manually afterwards. That goes not only for Amazon, but also for Dropbox, Adobe and everyone else.

Also wiping doesn't remove content from the wiped device, as far as the content provider is concerned. I had a similar instance recently with paid software. I wiped my old tablet and sold it, but when I wanted to activate said software on my new tablet, I couldn't, because I had reached the usage limit. I should have uninstalled it from the old tablet before wiping it. But people don't generally uninstall and deregister everything one by one, they just wipe and reset to factory settings.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Richwood

"Simultaneous use" is bullshit as I can only use one reader at a time.

It's fine by me if you don't like the limitation. I'm no fan of it myself--though I've never run afoul of it in the 10 or so years I've been buying/downloading kindlebooks myself (even though I still have about 15 reading devices/apps registered to my Amazon account). But that's a different topic.

Originally Posted by Richwood

"The limit is set by number of downloads to readers simultaneously which to me is a downloads limit. New downloads require removal of the file from one of the devices.

Yes. They DO require a removal before you can download it again. And again. And again. And again. In fact... it could be said one could download one of their ebook purchases an infinite number of times. So long as the simultaneous use count is kept below six. The limit is the simultaneous use and has nothing to do with how many times a purchase can be conceivably downloaded.

But whatever. As already pointed out, everyone (myself included) has their own thresholds/excuses for misusing accuracy/language whenever it suits them.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's fine by me if you don't like the limitation. I'm no fan of it myself--though I've never run afoul of it in the 10 or so years I've been buying/downloading kindlebooks myself (even though I still have about 15 reading devices/apps registered to my Amazon account). But that's a different topic.

I seem to remember that you rarely re-read. So you probably rarely download the same books to every new device you buy.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I seem to remember that you rarely re-read. So you probably rarely download the same books to every new device you buy.

It has nothing to do with with re-reading or not. I NEVER download the same books to every new device I buy. I download the book I'm reading (whether it's a new book or a re-read) to the one or two devices I might actually read it on. I never have more than a handful of ebooks on any device. I delete books off of devices regularly. Looks like I've discovered another benefit of doing so!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It has nothing to do with with re-reading or not. I NEVER download the same books to every new device I buy. I download the book I'm reading (whether it's a new book or a re-read) to the one or two devices I might actually read it on. I never have more than a handful of ebooks on any device. I delete books off of devices regularly. Looks like I've discovered another benefit of doing so!

Yes. Another easy and simple way is to sideload a batch of de-DRMed books to every new device and never worry about usage restrictions. But this method is probably deeply offending to your sense of minimalism. Each to their own.

[DiapDealer]

I'm the weirdo who has no interest in anything other than buying an ebook when I'm ready to read it; downloading it and doing so, then deleting it. I leave the dedrming, storing, backing up, curating, fixing, transferring, and other diddling to those with more time, energy and inclination than I do these days.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm the weirdo who has no interest in anything other than buying an ebook when I'm ready to read it; downloading it and doing so, then deleting it. I leave the dedrming, storing, backing up, curating, fixing, transferring, and other diddling to those with more time, energy and inclination than I do these days.

If anything, you're in the majority with your lack of interest in such things. Us weirdos who obsessively collect, fix and micro-manage our ebooks are definitely a tiny, tiny minority. A bit like stamp collectors in the good old days (are there any stamp collectors nowadays? Presumably not, because who still uses stamps... ). BTW, I used to collect stamps as a child.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Seriously... why do people keep referring to this as a "download limit"? I'm genuinely curious.

Because that's what Amazon calls it, or at least that's what they called it the last time I ran into it. It's not a simultaneous limit. It's a limit on the number of devices you can download to. You can't simply delete it from a device, then download it to another device. You have to delete the first device from your device list in amazon before you can download it onto another device.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Because that's what Amazon calls it, or at least that's what they called it the last time I ran into it. It's not a simultaneous limit. It's a limit on the number of devices you can download to. You can't simply delete it from a device, then download it to another device. You have to delete the first device from your device list in amazon before you can download it onto another device.

Unless amazon has changed something, I'm with DiapDealer on this.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Because that's what Amazon calls it, or at least that's what they called it the last time I ran into it. It's not a simultaneous limit. It's a limit on the number of devices you can download to. You can't simply delete it from a device, then download it to another device. You have to delete the first device from your device list in amazon before you can download it onto another device.

This was a well known issue on the old Amazon forums that users sometimes have to contact Amazon if the license isn't "released" if the book in question is deleted from a device. It is supposed to work that way...delete the book from a device, then sync, so it can be downloaded to another device.

But there is usually a delay in the syncing from device to the Amazon servers. When that happens, a call to Amazon is needed. Deleting the device itself is not necessary.

Unless something has changed, it's called Simultaneous Use license, and is 6, unless otherwise mentioned on the book's product page.

Textbooks are sometimes only 1 device, 2 for some. Usually if not mentioned, it's unlimited.

[barryem]

I have 6 eink Kindles of various vintages and the Kindle app on my main phone (the one with service) and the phone without service I use for reading. I also have it on a few tablets for convenience although I rarely read on them. As a result I used to run into the limit all the time.

Finally I began removing DRM and uploading the book to my library as a doc and reading that. I did that for a while and people started posting about having their accounts shut down and I depend on Amazon so I called their Kindle support and told them what I was doing and asked if that would ever get me in trouble with them. I was assured it would not.

Then a couple of years later there were more reports of people being cut off from their accounts so I called them again and asked the same question. This time the guy didn't know the answer so he said he'd ask around and call me back. He called the next day and said not only do they have no problem with us doing that, a lot of them do it as well.

This means I lose a few features such as X-Ray but I mostly use that to locate characters I've forgotten and I've found text search does a better job of that since they made X-Ray more complicated. I don't really care about any of the other lost features.

I can download my books as docs to as many devices as I like. I rotate through my Kindles, or I did before I started reading on my phone. I never run into any kind of limits. It works perfectly for me. And Amazon obviously doesn't care.

Barry