How does the Amazon Kindle work?

[Quoth]

I never suggested boycotting Amazon. @NullNix You are taking almost every bit of advice out of context.

People need to learn to install books from Amazon and everywhere else via download and then USB. A laptop is best, but most smartphones and tablets will work too.

People need to make their own backups.

Do not hand Amazon a monopoly.

If you believe any Cloud is more reliable than a Kindle, I have a bridge you'd like to buy. Clouds go down all the time. Yes, they usually come up again.

Very many Internet based resources are gone. Make backups and you CAN pass on downloaded material to your children (one of them anyway, without breaking copyright*). The Media companies that say this is not true are greedy and lying. Also the evil DMCA doesn't apply outside of USA. USA is getting worse at misuse of intellectual property. Read the comments.

* Also copyright DOES expire (except maybe in the USA)

Buying a Kindle is about a buying a cheap good value eInk reader to read eBooks including ones from Amazon. You'll pay a premium for one with 3G.
If you simply want instant access, then you can put apps on a smartphone (or tablet) and access Amazon, Google Books, Nook store, Kobo store, Aldiko store and Smashwords directly (apps for most of these). The Kindle only works "direct" with Amazon. Best to learn how to download and use USB if wanting eInk instead of LCD/OLED apps on phone/tablet.
A Kindle is also the best way to use Gutenberg, over 57,000 copyright free titles today.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

A Kindle is also the best way to use Gutenberg, over 57,000 copyright free titles today.

Out of curiosity what makes you say that a Kindle is the best way to use Gutenberg? I've had no issues with using my non-Kindle ereader to access Gutenberg and download epub format directly to my ereader. I have yet to find an ebook on Gutenberg that is not available in epub format and in a much smaller file size than the mobi version -- for instance, Psmith in the City by P. G. Wodehouse shows up as 136KB in epub while the mobi version shows up at 552KB.

The minimalist design of the Gutenberg website makes it quite friendly to the web browser on any of the eInk devices I've used to access the site and there is no option to email directly to any device. I will admit my preferred method is to download the ebooks, import them to calibre, clean up, add metadata, etc. and then send to my ereader.

[jj2me]

I don't think it's been said yet in this thread, but my second main use (besides reading e-books) is deferred reading of web pages, by having them wirelessly delivered for free, formatted for the kindle. This is what I use:
- On Windows PC: Push to Kindle Chrome browser extension.
- On Android phone: Push to Kindle Android app.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by jj2me

I don't think it's been said yet in this thread, but my second main use (besides reading e-books) is deferred reading of web pages, by having them wirelessly delivered for free, formatted for the kindle. This is what I use:
- On Windows PC: Push to Kindle Chrome browser extension.
- On Android phone: Push to Kindle Android app.

Of course, if you have a Kobo reader, you can do something similar using Pocket (https://getpocket.com/)

Shari

[Sarmat89]

Is it possible to connect a Kindle to a computer in a storage device mode? Can EPUB/PDF/RTF books be stored on it? Is it possible to make folders to organize the files?

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

Is it possible to connect a Kindle to a computer in a storage device mode? Can EPUB/PDF/RTF books be stored on it? Is it possible to make folders to organize the files?

Note by "Kindle" I mean a e-ink Kindle, B&W screen. Fires are a bit different.

See the manuals (User Guides) for each Kindle, Amazon make PDF versions available.

The standard USB connection is indeed in storage device mode, just like a thumb drive.

You can store any document type but of those you mention only PDFs will be displayed.

You can make sub-folders and documents in them will display but they are only useful organisationally in storage device mode and are never shown on the Kindle screen.