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Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

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Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#41

Post by Larrikin »

lordleft wrote: post #36

I've used a kindle for years and have bought hundreds of ebooks through Amazon's platform. The convenience of being able to carry a library with me in a single device is undeniable. ~14 years of support seems reasonable, especially in the context of modern tech. And yet decisions like this always upset me. For all the limitations of physical books, I can hand my physical books to my literal children and grandchildren…

We are going backwards. The concept of a library would be illegal if invented today. They are only allowed to exist today because they've been around for hundreds of years. There are still people who attack them and try to shut them down.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#42

Post by kelnos »

SilverElfin wrote: post #31

Does anyone use a Kindle anymore? I feel like the writing was on the wall ten years ago. It’s a dead end product that no one cares about. And all the shady stuff like forced deletion of books was a sign. But also, I think people have really become tired of sitting in front of screens. Physical books are more popular among friends than Kindles or other digital books are, and that wasn’t the case ten years ago.

> It’s a dead end product that no one cares about.

I think you are very much out of touch with the average book/e-book consumer.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#43

Post by beej71 »

neilv wrote: post #5

I don't approve of a company shutting off network service for a device it sold, but... If this is a hint at much more formidable DRM coming out, could a silver lining for authors and publishers be more sales? Or is mass piracy going to just continue, full steam ahead? (Authors and publishers need any bit of good news they can get right now.)

If there's a way to read the book, the book can and will be copied. It doesn't matter if it's DRM protected with 84 bazillion bit encryption, if there are dead trees involved, or anything else. You can make it harder to copy, but copied it will be.

Mass piracy will continue full steam ahead at current rates.

Most of these sites allow you to read on a computer screen and those can be captured and OCR'd. And if they don't allow that, you can take a photo of your device and OCR that. And if you can't do that, you can manually type in the book. There's always a way, and it will always happen to any books that publishers are making any kind of profit on.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#44

Post by Insanity »

lordleft wrote: post #36

I've used a kindle for years and have bought hundreds of ebooks through Amazon's platform. The convenience of being able to carry a library with me in a single device is undeniable. ~14 years of support seems reasonable, especially in the context of modern tech. And yet decisions like this always upset me. For all the limitations of physical books, I can hand my physical books to my literal children and grandchildren…

I buy both physical and digital books and much prefer digital, reading on my kindle is more convenient (especially to adjust the font size). For sharing with family, I have a family library set up with Amazon and the experience is really smooth.

I do enjoy owning physical copies of books I liked, and they are part of the “decor” at home at this point. I have limited space so I have 2 completely stacked bookshelves, and then piles of books around the kitchen on top of the cupboards etc.

So I don’t think it needs to be “either or”. :)

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#45

Post by beej71 »

mrguyorama wrote: post #17
neilv wrote: post #5

I don't approve of a company shutting off network service for a device it sold, but... If this is a hint at much more formidable DRM coming out, could a silver lining for authors and publishers be more sales? Or is mass piracy going to just continue, full steam ahead? (Authors and publishers need any bit of good news they can get right now.)

DRM is why I will never own a second ebook reader and have returned to buying books. None of my books stop working after 12 years, but my kindle, which still works fine, has indeed failed to do it's most basic job.

I love ebook readers. I just don't put any DRM'd books on them. But I also buy all that stuff used. No more money to Bezos, and it saves the landfill, too.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#46

Post by generic92034 »

ratg13 wrote: post #16
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #9

Man, Amazon is really going above-and-beyond to cripple the last bastion of Kindle devices that carry a DRM scheme we can crack.

I hate Amazon more because than most people, but let’s be realistic. These devices came out in 2007-2012 14-19 years is a respectable lifetime for a handheld electronic device.

14-19 years might be a respectable lifetime for a handheld electronic device, but in most cases (good care assumed) it is not a respectable lifetime for a book.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#47

Post by bityard »

lordleft wrote: post #36

I've used a kindle for years and have bought hundreds of ebooks through Amazon's platform. The convenience of being able to carry a library with me in a single device is undeniable. ~14 years of support seems reasonable, especially in the context of modern tech. And yet decisions like this always upset me. For all the limitations of physical books, I can hand my physical books to my literal children and grandchildren…

Lots of us felt the same way since the beginning of ebooks. If you lose your Amazon account, you lose your books, which means you never really owned them.

There are (and have been) DRM-free eBook stores. You _might_ be able to strip the DRM from your Amazon books. However, the process and ease of doing so seems to change often, I don't know if it's easy or hard right now.

In the future, consider supporting ebook manufacturers and stores that don't lock down your device, and sell DRM-free books. Kobo is one example. We have a bunch of these in our household. They don't require an account, I can just upload books via USB port on any computer, and they are pretty hackable.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#48

Post by theshrike79 »

mrguyorama wrote: post #17
neilv wrote: post #5

I don't approve of a company shutting off network service for a device it sold, but... If this is a hint at much more formidable DRM coming out, could a silver lining for authors and publishers be more sales? Or is mass piracy going to just continue, full steam ahead? (Authors and publishers need any bit of good news they can get right now.)

DRM is why I will never own a second ebook reader and have returned to buying books. None of my books stop working after 12 years, but my kindle, which still works fine, has indeed failed to do it's most basic job.

I'd like to be the person with the massive shelf of pretty books in a bookshelf.

But alas, I don't have the square meters for that. Also I tend to like THICCC books and carrying around a 1600 page monster daily on my commute isn't it.

So Kobo Libra Colour it is then.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#49

Post by theshrike79 »

SilverElfin wrote: post #31

Does anyone use a Kindle anymore? I feel like the writing was on the wall ten years ago. It’s a dead end product that no one cares about. And all the shady stuff like forced deletion of books was a sign. But also, I think people have really become tired of sitting in front of screens. Physical books are more popular among friends than Kindles or other digital books are, and that wasn’t the case ten years ago.

People literally own MULTIPLE kindles with different covers on them for different situations.

Re: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May

#50

Post by sbarre »

timdiggerm wrote: post #28
sbarre wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal: DRM actively discourages me from purchasing digital goods.

Yeah but HN commenters are not a representative sample of the ebook consumer base

Like I said, anecdotal...
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