KFX and Amazon's policies

[Cinisajoy]

@notimp
Do you have proof of this statement?
"90+% of "eBooks" used in the Amazon ecosystem are KFX right now, everything else is wishful thinking. Lets hear it for an industry that made none of you care about the format anymore. Except a handful of idealists."

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

It can be the very latest Kindle, and should not be ancient if you want KF8.

I bow to your better knowledge of Kindle models. However, it would still require me to buy an eink Kindle I'd never read on because it wouldn't have the capabilities I consider most important. It would be like having to pay a membership fee to enter a shop I decided to shop elsewhere 2 years ago - whilst there still exists an 'elsewhere', of course.

Out of interest, what is the newest eink Kindle model which cannot read KFX format and what year was it launched?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Out of interest, what is the newest eink Kindle model which cannot read KFX format and what year was it launched?

That would be the original Paperwhite, Amazon calls it 5th Generation, launched October 2012.

(Some more recent models originally shipped without KFX support and added it later via a firmware update.)

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by jhowell

That would be the original Paperwhite, Amazon calls it 5th Generation, launched October 2012.

Thanks for the info. So the batteries are already 5 years old. I wonder how long they'll last?

[shalym]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Thanks for the info. So the batteries are already 5 years old. I wonder how long they'll last?

What difference does it make? As j.p.s. said, you can own a brand new Kindle and you will still get KF8 if you download from your account on the website, and you can download from the website as long as you have an e-ink Kindle attached to your account...it doesn't have to be a *functioning* Kindle, you just have to be able to get it registered.

Shari

[haertig]

If they do somehow switch to KFX only, that might save me from myself (buying more books). Looking at my library, which is small compared to many here, I am covered for new novels until I'm 96 years old at my typical reading speed of about one book per month. If I'm still kicking after that, I guess I can go back and re-read a few of my favorites. But by then, I figure the Kindle's battery will be long dead, and people won't even remember what a Kindle is (was).

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by shalym

What difference does it make? As j.p.s. said, you can own a brand new Kindle and you will still get KF8 if you download from your account on the website

Is it guaranteed that Amazon will never be able to download a KFX to KFX-enabled devices using this method? This is an honest question, not sarcasm

I have Android devices and Amazon have chosen not to allow a download-to-PC option for me. Isn't it conceivable they could do the same for other devices?

I realise all this is ifs, buts and maybes, but we all decide how much we allow big corporations to do as they please as far as it affects our own little world. I have no illusions about the altruism of the corporate world.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Is it guaranteed that Amazon will never be able to download a KFX to KFX-enabled devices using this method? This is an honest question, not sarcasm

There is no guarantee. With software changes Amazon could download books for USB transfer in KFX format.

The same applies to all of the other e-book stores. Any of them could change their file format or DRM scheme in the future.

We have to deal with things as they are and adapt when we see changes coming.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Is it guaranteed that Amazon will never be able to download a KFX to KFX-enabled devices using this method? This is an honest question, not sarcasm

Originally Posted by jhowell

There is no guarantee. With software changes Amazon could download books for USB transfer in KFX format.

The same applies to all of the other e-book stores. Any of them could change their file format or DRM scheme in the future.

We have to deal with things as they are and adapt when we see changes coming.

I suspect what is saving us in this particular situation is the nightmare to amazon for customer service trying to explain the need to locate and copy multiple files for a single book and the names of the particular files for for the book that customer wants on the kindle right now or sooner.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by notimp

- DRM always being part of it -

Question to anyone that knows:

Does Amazon deliver books as KFX that the author/publisher stipulate no DRM?

[Shad Plante]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Question to anyone that knows:

Does Amazon deliver books as KFX that the author/publisher stipulate no DRM?

I just downloaded The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson to see since it is a Tor book with no DRM. It did download with the Enhanced Typography so it would be KFX.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does Amazon deliver books as KFX that the author/publisher stipulate no DRM?

Amazon doesn't promise no DRM. They just state "Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited" for some books, which means that they are not locked to a single Kindle device or account. In MOBI or KF8 format those books have no DRM. In KFX format they do have DRM, but all use the same generic encryption key.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Amazon doesn't promise no DRM. They just state "Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited" for some books, which means that they are not locked to a single Kindle device or account. In MOBI or KF8 format those books have no DRM. In KFX format they do have DRM, but all use the same generic encryption key.

Is this anything to worry about now or in the immediate future?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Amazon doesn't promise no DRM. They just state "Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited" for some books, which means that they are not locked to a single Kindle device or account. In MOBI or KF8 format those books have no DRM. In KFX format they do have DRM, but all use the same generic encryption key.

Thanks. I guess that succeeds in inserting a shade of gray.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Is this anything to worry about now or in the immediate future?

Frog. Water. Getting warmer. No one can say when or if "too hot" will happen.