11 ms·

Not buying another Kindle

• laweijfmvo 6mo ago
  > Amazon recently confirmed that starting May 20, these older models will lose all access to the Kindle Store. While you can technically keep reading books already on the device, the real kicker is the factory reset limitation built into the software. If you ever need to reset your device or try to register it to a new account after the deadline, it becomes a literal paperweight. is this true though? You can't browse the store on the device, but you can buy and manage your books on amazon.com, including sending them to the kindle; no? also, i use my kindle to read library books. will that still work?
  • georgeecollins 6mo ago
    You won't be able to read library books on it after it resets (which it will eventually) unless you jail break it. My son jail break'd his kindle so I guess its not too hard and you can read library books that way.
    • devilbunny 6mo ago
      No Kindle Unlimited, though, and library apps will probably drop support for the older stuff in time. Jailbreak on very old Kindles is reasonably straightforward and the fact that Amazon hasn't even put out point releases to stop it (as the do with newer models) is a strong hint that they've just given up on maintaining them. I still have a K3 (Kindle Keyboard) that not only is jailbroken: it runs Tailscale. Unprotected books, no problem. Anna's Archive + Calibre will keep working just fine.
      • Cider9986 6mo ago
        As much as I am a fan of annas-archive, Zlibrary Koreader Plugin[1] makes a bargain I can't refuse. [1] https://github.com/ZlibraryKO/zlibrary.koplugin https://github.com/ZlibraryKO/zlibrary.koplugin
        • devilbunny 6mo ago
          Cool. Both my K3 and PW4 are jailbroken and have KOReader...
    • com2kid 6mo ago
      I got an android based epaper device and installed Libby on it. Overall it is a much better experience than doing the library to Kindle dance. I can just browse my local library's ebook collection on device and immediately open them in one tap. Battery life standby time isn't nearly as good, but being able to also read Notion pages, review full PDFs, and other benefits from having an actual tablet, make the battery life sacrifice worth it.
  • christkv 6mo ago
    calibre? I mean that's what I use with my old kindle.
  • squeaky-clean 6mo ago
    Basically any cloud connection to Amazon will be closed on these devices. The only way to add books will be USB.
• Insanity 6mo ago
  The devices were supported for more than a decade. Sure, this forced deprecation isn’t great but it’s still had a longer lifetime than many other devices. I’ll happily keep reading on my kindle, it’s the most ergonomic way of reading for me especially when traveling. I get that there are other options like Kobo, but I don’t see it as significantly better than the Kindles. And I like the fact that I can also use the iPad and iPhone apps for kindle to read on the go if I don’t have the physical kindle with me.
  • paulnpace 6mo ago
    IIRC, part of the original sales pitch was replacing physical books, for whatever reason one might like to do that. I did it because I was doing a LOT of travel. I haven't had a job that requires travel in a long time, so looking at it from that perspective, having my library also require some kind of additional device maintenance cycle or whatever really adds a layer of complexity I don't want to deal with, so depending on what options I have and what I'm buying, I'm finding myself these days purchasing physical books more frequently just to avoid the hassle for future me.
    • WillAdams 6mo ago
      Yeah, my sister bought into the Kindle eco-system early on, but I picked a Sony PRS-505 instead (mostly because it would fit in a Travelsmith shirt pocket) and for a long while, the only ebook which I had "purchased" was Robert Heinlein's _Space Cadet_ which I got w/ a $10 credit for browsing their store on a certain day (which I then got a price-fixing rebate check for which I kind of wish I'd kept...) and it was so rife with errors I had to check out a copy from the library to determine what some of them were. When the Sony ebook store closed down, my "library" was transferred to Kobo's and their copy of that novel was made in a different fashion, or corrected, so was actually readable on the Sony PRS-600 I eventually upgraded to. Since then, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite, and I've made a game of either getting free e-books when offered on the store, or purchasing books when on sale and I've had sufficient Amazon gift cards from Microsoft Rewards, so that I've not spent "real" money on any virtual books, except for when I've purchased an ebook to go along with a newly published hardcover by an author whose work I feel strongly enough that it merits such doubled purchasing.
• jihadjihad 6mo ago
  The site causes cancer but the conclusion of TFA is sensible: just get a Kobo and be done with it. I had a Kindle for years but there's no reason to stick to Amazon for e-readers anymore.
  • seabrookmx 6mo ago
    Kobo + Libby + Calibre has been my loadout for a decade. Works great!
    • jihadjihad 6mo ago
      Agree, though for me it's only been a year, so all I can feel toward your "for a decade" is jealousy. It really is a much more enjoyable experience. If only I'd switched sooner!
      • seabrookmx 6mo ago
        Kobo was a Canadian company (before being bought out by Rakuten, though I think they still have a big office in Toronto) and I'm Canadian. So I think we were early adopters of their e-readers for that reason. All our bookstores and electronics retailers (RIP Futureshop) carried them.
  • boplicity 6mo ago
    I really want to like the Kobo. I really do. But I've had such bad luck with their devices. For example, sometimes the pages randomly start turning, really fast, so I completely lose my place. It also never reliably syncs between devices. And the integration with Overdrive is unreliable, only working some of the time. I also read it in the bath sometimes, which supposedly is one of the features available due to the water resistance, but the steam causes random clicks on the device, which makes it not really functional. For me, I've mostly switched to reading on my phone. Dark mode, plus OLED, works very well for my needs.
    • wao0uuno 6mo ago
      I bought a Kobo Libra about a year ago and it's rock solid although I'm not using any sync features. I turned on the airplane mode on day one. Just works.
• johngossman 6mo ago
  I can understand why one would want to move from Kindle to another device, but this article starts by complaining that support is being dropped for devices from before 2013. I can even understand being upset by this, but I have absolutely no faith that whatever other device I switch to will still be supported in 10+ years. Could be. But I sure wouldn't count on it.
  • stevekemp 6mo ago
    I feel the same way. To be honest I'm on my third kindle, their life-span seems to be about five years for me. I don't love having to replace them, but paying €120 every five years is probably worth it. I mean that's €2/month, and I have a huge library of books which I load via calibre. I read daily, on the bus to work, at home in bed, and while there are "more free" ereaders I've become accustomed to the kindle and have no complaints. If I were not so clumsy they'd last longer, so that's on me. My physical library is pretty big, but being able to carry 50+ books at all times? And have a battery life of a few weeks? (I stay in airplane mode, as I transfer books via the USB cable). It's hard to complain.
    • Insanity 6mo ago
      Same boat as you, I'm on my second kindle in 10 years. Absolutely love the device and the convenience of reading on it. Also have a large physical library that I still add to occasionally (esp in relation to the space I have in Condo buildings), but reading on my kindle is my go-to choice.
    • broken-kebab 6mo ago
      Let me ask to what exactly have you been accustomed? Reading as such doesn't seem to be different on pretty much any e-reader.
      • stevekemp 6mo ago
        I've become used to the idea of having 10+ books in my bag at a time, instead of having to choose which physical ones to pack. Plus over the years I've gotten very familiar with the UI of the kindles, they're comfortable to hold and work in a way that feels natural and no-effort.
• occamofsandwich 6mo ago
  The ereader scene is just a disaster that shows the dangers of prioritizing DRM. I had ereaders for two decades, managed to read about 6 books on them and ultimately have almost nothing to do with related media forms because of the experience which replaced any actual reading routine with jumping through hoops.
  • wao0uuno 6mo ago
    I've owned an ereader for about a decade and never felt that I need to jump through any hoops to read a book on it. I've been getting my books from some gal called Anna. Apparently she has a pretty impressive archive.
    • WolfeReader 6mo ago
      I truly hope you're buying books as well - authors (and editors, illustrators, translators, etc) should be rewarded for their art.
      • theshrike79 6mo ago
        One of my favourite writers only publishes on Amazon, so I subscribe to their Patreon to offset the fact I "acquire" their books with alternate means.
      • themadturk 6mo ago
        Yes, it's not hard to do both.
  • WolfeReader 6mo ago
    The Kindle scene is a disaster that shows the dangers of prioritizing DRM. Meanwhile, I'm buying DRM-free books and keeping them in Calibre and reading on KOReader. It's a great experience.
  • tarentel 6mo ago
    I get the DRM hate but I've had a kindle, a few at this point, for roughly 14 years. I've read over 6 books this year alone. Not sure it's the device if you've only manage to read 6 books in 20 years.
• grimgrin 6mo ago
  the only bit of the service i cared about was mailing my kindle address mobis/epubs (even the mobile kindle app receives these) today i use a boox page, after a friend complimented his https://shop.boox.com/products/page https://shop.boox.com/products/page
  • alfanick 6mo ago
    Why do those devices need 3GB RAM and 8-core CPU if they well, show books? There is no hurry there. Give us full-blown terminal and ssh/mosh at least.
    • grimgrin 6mo ago
      probably because of android 11
    • bergie 6mo ago
      At least some of the Boox devices support Play Store, meaning that you can install termux. https://lockywolf.net/2024-08-07_Using-an-ebook-instead-of-a-laptop.d/index.html https://lockywolf.net/2024-08-07_Using-an-ebook-instead-of-a...
    • narinciye 6mo ago
      I run any kind of android app on my boox, firefox, wikipedia, claude etc... You can install also google keyboard and enable swipe typing, it works really well. Only thing I am dissatisfied is the casing. It can break easily if you are a bit careless, unless you use its hardcover.
• andrewla 6mo ago
  Has anyone done any interesting work on transflective / reflective frontlit LCD panels? It seems like this is rife for progress; LCDs can achieve densities and response rates that are beyond the reach of any eink device, and only the lack of good contrast stands in the way.
  • evanrelf 6mo ago
    The Daylight Computer[1] is the only thing I'm aware of. [1]: https://daylightcomputer.com/ https://daylightcomputer.com/
  • WillAdams 6mo ago
    Fujitsu used to offer them --- their Stylistic ST-4110 was my favourite device for a very long while, used as for maps/navigation as well as an ebook reader in addition to being my main computer --- quite miss it and the simplicity of a single (stylus-equipped/daylight-viewable) device, as opposed to the ménagerie which I currently use (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, Book 3 Pro 360, Kindle Scribe Coloursoft, Wacom One attached to MacBook)
• andrewla 6mo ago
  In my view the death of the eReader is just the price fixing on ebooks -- that ebooks are sold at par with at a premium to physical books still bothers me, and I think is responsible for the fact that the Kindle is dying -- Amazon can't move enough ebooks at these price levels to be worth investing anything in interested new hardware.
  • lokar 6mo ago
    It's hard to evaluate the cost of a ebook vs physical book without knowing the cut that the author and publisher get of the sales price.
    • jmyeet 6mo ago
      Sure you can. An ebook has zero cost of distribution and no middlemen. A physical book has to be typeset, printed, shipped to stores, shipped to customers, marketed in store, etc etc etc. If a physical book is sold for $10 at least half that is printing, distribution and retail. Like the GP, the price fixing of ebooks at the Dane price as physical books mothers me as well, particularly because physical books can be sold, lent or given away. The exact same thing happened when CDs launched. They were cheaper to produce than vinyl or cassette very quickly but they sold at a premium for no reason at all.
      • LeCompteSftware 6mo ago
        Sure, it's easy to evaluate anything if you make up plausible-sounding numbers about it. The costs of printing and retail are definitely less than half the sales price: https://www.davidderrico.com/cost-breakdowns-e-books-vs-printed-books/ https://www.davidderrico.com/cost-breakdowns-e-books-vs-prin... Publishers say it's 10%; Derrico thinks they are underestimating certain logistical costs but no way it's 50%.
        • jmyeet 6mo ago
          Did you read that? You’re picking out one cost: printing. Scroll down to where the cost breakdown of a paperback is. More than $5 once you include distribution and retailing. Or, as some might say, more than 50% of $10.
• andrewla 6mo ago
  I'm still using a Kindle Oasis (and bought a couple of unopened used ones on eBay). I need the physical page turn buttons so Amazon has basically abandoned me. Trying out the Boox and Kobo readers I was immediately struck by their leggy and unresponsive UI (and this is saying something, coming from the kindle, which is already pretty laggy). I used a Nook in a demo and was impressed, but I'm leery of buying the ereader equivalent of a Zune. Have things improved since the last time I checked in? I really hate so much about the kindle and its ecosystem but it seems to be the best out there.
  • hosel 6mo ago
    I also use an oasis permanently in airplane mode, it’s almost perfect, but I am afraid of the day it bites the dust.
  • deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
  • themadturk 6mo ago
    Either I've gotten so used to lagginess on the Kobo that I don't notice it anymore, or it no longer is a problem. It seems to turn pages just fine, which is the only place I'm concerned about performance. I've got a Clara BW, so no page turn buttons (they make the device bigger than I liked).
• forinti 6mo ago
  If I can install alternative firmware, I will definitely consider buying one.
• Saris 6mo ago
  I use one because of kindle unlimited, it's nice to have a big selection of books I can just hit 'read' on right on the kindle store. I don't know if the alternative e-readers have an equivalent store? Tracking down epub files on my PC then transferring to the device multiple times a week sounds a bit frustrating as an alternative. Also they support kindles for a long time, my kindle oasis from 2016 that I bought used still is supported, and the things battery also somehow is still in good shape.
  • deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
  • jm4 6mo ago
    Kobo has an equivalent to Kindle Unlimited (as well as a good store). It also integrates directly with Overdrive so you can download free library books directly to your device. I recently switched to one and it's superior in just about every way.
• deleted 6mo ago
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• tbyehl 6mo ago
  I'm not buying another Kindle until there's a successor to the Voyage's "Limited Edition Premium Leather Origami Cover." If a competitor wants to lure me over, that is the way.
• randusername 6mo ago
  Sure you can, just get an older one. I'm very happy with my jailbroken Kindle 4 running KOReader. AFAIK re-registering won't brick it, you can still sideload just fine. We should be normalizing a separation of device and ecosystem. These are for consuming books, it's not an awful inconvenience to sideload every 19 hours of consumption to queue up the next read.
  • Cider9986 6mo ago
    Or you can Zlibrary Koreader Plugin[1]. [1] https://github.com/ZlibraryKO/zlibrary.koplugin https://github.com/ZlibraryKO/zlibrary.koplugin
• Mindless2112 6mo ago
  Never buy another ebook from Amazon, sure. Never buy another Kindle? I keep mine in airplane mode all the time and sideload all the books/papers I want to read. It works practically just as well as when I bought it. Why wouldn't I buy another? If Amazon makes a Kindle with color at 300 PPI, I will. Sure, proper EPUB support would be nice, but if I need that I can jailbreak and install Koreader. If there's another device with comparable hardware/software/battery, I'd consider it. AFAIK, Kindle still has the best standby battery life.
• ChrisArchitect 6mo ago
  Related: Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47678320 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47678320 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47690049 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47690049 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47747330 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47747330 Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816878 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816878
  • NetMageSCW 6mo ago
    That last is a bit click bait. The Kindle for PC app is being replaced with the Windows Store app. You will still be able to read on PCs.
• fmajid 6mo ago
  One way Amazon could make up for this is by unlocking these Kindles' boot loaders so owners can install KOreader instead. I am not holding my breath.
  • zikduruqe 6mo ago
    https://kindlemodding.org https://kindlemodding.org Depending on your model or version, it's not hard. I'm rocking a newer Paperwhite Special Edition, with KOreader installed.
    • fmajid 6mo ago
      Yes, of course, unsupported also means it stops gettng anti-jailbreaking updates as well. I meant Amazon could atone for desupporting these devices by releasing an official unlock, like how Meta did for the Oculus Go.
• two_cents 6mo ago
  > We are still dealing with a home screen that prioritizes advertisements and promoted recommendations over your actual library. Navigating a large collection of books remains a chore, with sluggish animations and a lack of robust folder management that has been a standard feature on rival devices for years. Such claims make me think that this article is biased. There are two tabs on main Kindle screen - Home and Library (and also pretty good search). In Library you can see all your books AND collections as folders. BOOX devices have their own issues https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33353640 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33353640 I think Kobo has same issues with DRM as Amazon does. Also, Kindle devices are cheaper, last time I checked, low end models of competitors, didn't have flush-front screens, like Paperwhite. I never had problems described in this article (but YMMV of course).
  • tanjtanjtanj 6mo ago
    The kobo store has problems with DRM but Kobo devices do not. they’ll open whatever you put on the file system (and it’s treated as a first class citizen along with anything you’ve bought from them). They also are extremely easy to install custom firmware on.
  • pickleglitch 6mo ago
    Kindle's are cheaper because Amazon sells them at or below cost to lure users into their ecosystem. This helps them control the market from both the seller and consumer sides, in keeping with their overall business model. Add to that the fact that you don't really own the e-books you "buy" through Amazon, just like pretty much every other digital "purchase" these days, and that's enough for me to never buy one. Of course, the general state of e-book devices is pretty abysmal. There are no good options I'm aware of.
    • two_cents 6mo ago
      > Add to that the fact that you don't really own the e-books you "buy" through Amazon, just like pretty much every other digital "purchase" these days, and that's enough for me to never buy one. True. That's why I prefer to buy books on other platforms, sometimes directly on authors website. And nothing stops me from reading them on Kindle. Maybe that's the reason why I don't understand the problem here.
• karmakurtisaani 6mo ago
  I have Onyx Boox for more technical reading and Tolino for lighter entertainment. Never buying any Amazon hardware ever again.
• dotdi 6mo ago
  I read a moderate amount I'd say, about 2 weeks average for a book, and I was using a very old and very beat-up but still functioning 4th gen Kindle until recently. However, I woke up from my stupor when Micro$oft's eBook store closed and purged their library from under everybodies butts. Giving Amazon complete control over my library is a horrible thought, so I'm out. I am now a happy Boox Go 10.3 + BookFusion user. Crisp screen, great battery life, full android with play store underneath. It syncs to my phone, has most of the bells and whistles I need in terms of reading, and it supports writing handwritten notes (albeit not onto the ebook itself; that's apparently too sci-fi even for 2026), and Bookfusion can sync notes into Obisidian vaults via an Obsidian plugin. I feel in control. I buy books from alternative sites with either no DRM to begin with, or where I'm confident I can remove it. Bookfusion costs me 20EUR a year. I'm fairly happy with my setup. EDIT: yes, I'm aware Boox are not the good guys in this story. I have not signed up to any of their services - the device is perfectly usable without that. I turned their book shop off immediately, and I do monitor+block the Chinese IPs it's trying to reach on my router.
  • ondra 6mo ago
    Note that Boox does not release the sources for the GPL software they redistribute.
    • joquarky 6mo ago
      Its obsolete anyway.
• precompute 6mo ago
  The big problem here is that devices can not be re-registered. It's a mean move from Amazon, and will make it difficult to re-enable extra features. However, those devices have multiple jailbreak methods available, so there's really no loss if you can take that extra step. All books are presumably still available on the kindle app / website, and because you already bought them you can pirate them. Kindles have the best text rendering (imo), and calibre can be used to sideload books. My PW1 had stellar text rendering. My next kindle, Kindle 10 had a lower PPI but decent text rendering. I now use a PW5 and the text is flawless. Kindle's UI does suck, though. Very slow and the keyboard is glacial. Still, page turns are zippy and it collects highlights in a central file, which is very handy.
• _23sd 6mo ago
  I think the most important criteria with a reader (aside from hardware quality) is whether you're comfortable going outside the manufacturer's store to buy DRM-free books, or at least ones that can be liberated from DRM for future proofing. Calibre still speaks the format of these old Kindles, so they're usable, I expect that will continue to be the case for Kindles. If format conversion is too annoying to deal with then it's better to read on a general purpose iOS or Android tablet. I have a Boox NA4C and it's ok, nice hardware, but I have noticed the constant phoning home and am annoyed by the GPL issues (not that I expected a Chinese Android device maker to be fulfilling their open source obligations). For that reason and others I've mostly come around to just reading on a phone and tablet with non-eink screens.
• andrewmutz 6mo ago
  I switched to the Kobo ecosystem about a year and a half ago and have been pretty happy. While the book availability and store aren't at complete parity, I've only had one situation where I couldnt get the book I wanted and it was available on the Amazon store (and I read a lot of books).
• vinyl7 6mo ago
  The future is physical media that can't be taken away or modified by the monopolies
  • NetMageSCW 6mo ago
    The future is constant subscriptions to all forms of entertainment that will be delivered in real time over the always available Internet.
• cable2600 6mo ago
  I have old Kindles that Amazon disabled from downloading new books. They are trying to force me to buy new Kindles, but I just use the Kindle reader app for my PC. Anyone can recommend an alternative to Kindle. Please let me know.
  • devilbunny 6mo ago
    Just read this thread. Or sideload via USB. It's not that large of an impediment if you're modestly technically savvy.
• xyzsparetimexyz 6mo ago
  I bought a kobo years ago, never updated it, never connected it to wifi, never bought a book for it, just download epubs and write them to it via calibre
  • taco_emoji 6mo ago
    I do the same with a Kindle. Also jailbroke it and made it so it won't auto-update in case I do ever accidentally turn the wi-fi back on.
• pizzathyme 6mo ago
  If you don't like this, physical books are wonderful. Unpopular here but: This won't bother non-techies who aren't religiously against DRM. They love their kindles, old ones should be thrown away and they will buy a new one (with cool new features like blue light blocking mode).
• cyberax 6mo ago
  Kindle is abandoning readers... I got a Kindle Oasis in 2018 and it was a perfect device for me. Cellular connectivity, Bluetooth support for audiobooks, and synchronization. I could start reading on my phone, then transition to listening in my car, and then pick up reading on Kindle. And it worked well in a literal airplane. I didn't have to faff about with WiFi passwords to sync to the latest page, thanks to the cellular connectivity. And now Kindle devices lost cellular (why?!?), lost physical keys (facepalm), and are getting worse and worse UI/UX-wise.
• pwinnski 6mo ago
  Every year or so, I look into alternative to my Paperwhite, which has been in "airplane mode" since I bought it. So far, nothing else seems to be quite up to the level of my existing device for my use case, let alone better. It's possible I needed to log into Amazon in 2016 and 2020 when I bought my two Paperwhites, but I haven't needed to do so again since, so I'm not sure this will affect me at all. If it does, I'll have to check my notes for what was closest last year when I last checked.
• rainmaking 6mo ago
  Can't you put some kind of alt os on it if you want old hardware? Seems the usual way to do it.
  • Tokiin 6mo ago
    Yes definitely. I just followed the steps over at https://kindlemodding.org/ https://kindlemodding.org/ and got my Paperwhite running beautifully and with more customization than ever.
• d1l 6mo ago
  What on earth is this guy saying doesn’t he own like every kindle?
• tristor 6mo ago
  I've had so many problems with ereaders that I've just gone back to using paper books, they have a better UX and none of the issues. I love my reMarkable tablet, but I definitely do NOT use it as an ereader and have no interest in doing so.
• dbvn 6mo ago
  Kindle Paperwhite is the only device that comes close to the magic of a physical book
  • NetMageSCW 6mo ago
    Without physical page turn buttons (and the Voyage buttons don’t count), it lacks compared to physical books still.
• nottorp 6mo ago
  I don't understand. Will they stop working with Calibre or not? Incidentally, I hope there are alternative readers that are also just readers. No Android no "applications". I like being able to go on holiday without worrying about charging the ebook reader.
• everdrive 6mo ago
  Services will always disappoint you. The book on your shelf can only disappoint you with its contents.
  • 0xffff2 6mo ago
    Not true. The books on my shelves constantly disappointed me every time I moved or went on a more than weekend long vacation. I ditched my fairly large and expensive to acquire collection of printed books about a decade ago and don't regret it a single bit. Paper is heavy and annoying to move around in a way that a Kindle simply isn't.
    • carefree-bob 6mo ago
      There is also the issue of rot and mold. Librarians suffer from more lung diseases because of this.
• someone4958923 6mo ago
  I went through this migration last year. A few things that helped: Calibre is the escape hatch. Converts everything to EPUB. Even if you don't use it day-to-day, it's the best tool for getting your library out of Amazon's format. Public domain catalogs are huge now. Standard Ebooks, Internet Archive, Gutenberg - tens of thousands of well-formatted free EPUBs. Most people don't realize how much is out there. For actually reading on macOS/iOS, I ended up on BookShelves (https://getbookshelves.app https://getbookshelves.app) after trying a few options. Native app, reads EPUB and comics, has Calibre wireless sync, and browses those public domain catalogs directly. Books are just files on your device - no account, no cloud lock-in. Honestly the hardest part was realizing how much of my library I'd been renting rather than owning.
  • deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
  • MengerSponge 6mo ago
    If you're even the slightest bit tech savvy you can find a DRM stripping utility for Calibre. Apprentice Alf is long retired, but a fork of that DeDRM still is maintained
    • cbdevidal 6mo ago
      Newer Kindle books published in the last few years require more than the Calibre plugin. Amazon is tightening the loop. https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/1q1uza4/successful_dedrm_with_kindle_for_pc_28_in_january/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/1q1uza4/successful...
    • bentley 6mo ago
      Life is too short and my reading backlog too large for me to spend any time, money, or effort whatsoever on DRMed books. There are enough copyright‐expired and copyrighted‐but‐DRM‐free books to keep me fully occupied in perpetuity.
    • trashface 6mo ago
      I just tried this _today_ and its not easy, you need DeDRM and at least one or two other utilities. I have yet to convert a single book.
• WalterBright 6mo ago
  This is hardly unique to Kindles. I have an old iPod, which still works fine. But nearly all of its apps no longer work because the servers they connect to don't support it anymore, making it essentially useless. Same thing happened to my older Samsung tablet. Same thing to my various internet radios.
  • hdkfov 6mo ago
    [dead]
• postepowanieadm 6mo ago
  The interface got much worse, managing large liberties is impossible.
• benn67 6mo ago
  I love my kobo I got Claude to SSH into it and stuff. I got it where I can say download the latest blog post from xyz, convert it to a kepub and add it.
• AJRF 6mo ago
  You can get a Kobo Reader and disable internet access to it so it never connects to a server. You can then plug it in to your computer and it shows up as a mass storage device. Then just drop PDFs, ePubs in. I never liked Calibre, it's weirdly shoddy software, slow as a dog, and the worst UX i've ever seen in a popular app - so I needed something I could just drop my files into.
  • ekjhgkejhgk 6mo ago
    I did this with a pocketbook. I wish I could recommend it strongly, but in fact the USB port is extremely finicky (often can't charge, can't get Calibre to detect it). As it is I can only recommend it as the cheapest ebook reader that's comfortable to read from.
    • WolfeReader 6mo ago
      I've had two Pocketbooks and never encountered these issues. Sounds like you had some bad luck.
  • beezlebroxxxxxx 6mo ago
    I do the same thing with a kindle. I've never had it connected to the internet or used any amazon services with it. All my books were just moved over via usb. The weird thing is how huge Calibre is considering, I'd wager, 90% of people (myself included) just use it to convert books and never touch 1/100th of the tools and functionality in it, not touching on the fact that it's not a shining example of intuitive software. But once you have it setup, using it as a middleman is pretty straightforward and easy. Is there a simpler conversion tool that does as good of a job? I've literally not looked in a decade plus.
  • twentyfiveoh1 6mo ago
    Bingo. A Kobo which never touches the internet and uses only epubs and PDFs. I should have done it ages ago.
  • theshrike79 6mo ago
    The dev behind Calibre is a Big Personality, the story was they were more willing to support a private Python 2 fork than spend the time porting Calibre to Python 3 :) But it still is THE best way to convert books from one format to another and one of the best to fill in metadata in a compatible way. The UX is god-awful though.
• ekjhgkejhgk 6mo ago
  Stallman was right https://stallman.org/amazon.html https://stallman.org/amazon.html
• toyg 6mo ago
  This is the company that once remotely removed 1984 (of all books). Of course they don't care about you.
• drtournier 6mo ago
  Always loved to have an e-ink reader but the walled gardens always made it so hard. Until I bought the xteink x4, as skeptical as I could be. What a great little device. https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4 https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4
  • mmstghjx 6mo ago
    I love mine. I've owned a Kindle Paperwhite and a Boox Note 4+ but I never really got into the habit of reading much on them. The Note is great for notetaking, but the Kindle is too big to bring with me everywhere. The X4 is so small that I can throw it in my pocket and read a page or two when I'm waiting for something instead of doomscolling on my phone. I love that little thing. I've read two books since 3/27 and I'm halfway through my 3rd book.
• MarlonPro 6mo ago
  I only read ebook when I don't have access to my physical books. When I do read ebooks, I prefer it on my XTeink X4. It doesn't have the conveniences that Kindle and other similar divices offer but it works for me.
• nickvec 6mo ago
  Besides portability, what other benefits are there to using e-books? I vastly prefer having a physical copy of a book, mainly because I’d rather not look at a screen while reading (unless necessary.) Plus, I love lending out books to friends, and I feel like it’s a much bigger pain to do so virtually (unless they’re tech savvy!)
  • ike2792 6mo ago
    When you own a lot of books physical storage becomes an issue. I had to stop buying physical books because I have nowhere to put them.
    • nickvec 6mo ago
      Ah, that’s a very valid use case. I sadly don’t read as much as I’d like to (I only have a couple dozen books to my name, though I’m in my mid 20s.) I can see storage becoming an issue though if one owns hundreds, if not thousands, of books. Not a bad problem to have I suppose!
  • random_human_ 6mo ago
    For me: - Easier access to books in other languages or out of print - Quick access to a dictionary - Backlight for reading in bed or in the evening - Pocketability - Way cheaper if you read a lot of public domain books (or have a parrot sitting on your shoulder) That said, I have a jailbroken Kindle, but I am not giving a cent to Amazon. Should it break I'd just get a Kobo.
  • beezlebroxxxxxx 6mo ago
    They are very practical for travelling. I love reading physical books, but also read fast and love reading 3-4 books at a time. An e-reader is basically half the weight of 1 book compared to lugging 3 or 4 books in a carry-on.
  • ReliantGuyZ 6mo ago
    I mostly use my Kindle to read books from my local library's digital catalog. The Libby app hooks into many (all?) US library systems, so I use my phone to check out a book and it's available immediately to download. This is hugely convenient and feels magical since it doesn't cost anything.
• ReptileMan 6mo ago
  As a person that does most of his book shopping from Anna's archive - which is the best e-ink reader display wise? Everything else is irrelevant.
  • beezlebroxxxxxx 6mo ago
    If you use Anna's for everything, essentially all of the available e-readers work just fine as a usb-stick-with-a-screen-attached. None of them in my experience handle PDFs well, but I'm sure there are large format ones that do better. I have a kindle, but have never used any of the amazon specific functionality and don't plan on it. Stays permanently in airplane mode. I have no complaints and find the software more "refined" but not exceptional. I just convert everything to a mobi file. My partner has a kobo and it seems just as serviceable. Out of the box it supports more file types, but it can be iffy on formatting sometimes, so I've had to fiddle with some stuff in Calibre to make stuff display nicely. I'm sure sticking to epubs would resolve that issue though. TBH, I find all of the mass market e-readers to all have pretty comparable displays. I used to use a 20 year old kindle and don't find newer ones wildly better. The tech seems pretty stagnant. You're usually picking between things like backlights or light-temp now.
• binarysolo 6mo ago
  As someone affected by this: -The old kindles are great products that last a long time -I don't expect Amazon to support them forever, but kindasorta bricking them on their way out is a dick move -Jailbreaking is straightforward but this probably hits older people who are not very tech-savvy the most. Like quite a few others here, I too have an elderly family member who I had to help resolve this I feel there's gotta be some compromise between letting old electronics age gracefully so they don't occupy landfill and a company's need to support aging products over a long time... though I'm not sure what's a good model.
• acabal 6mo ago
  I've always told people, Kindles are ereaders seeming designed by people who hate books. The renderer is atrocious and is holding back the entire industry, much like IE6's crappy renderer and monopoly on users held the entire web back a decade. Browsers (and thus ebooks, which are just HTML/CSS) can now do pretty decent typography, but Amazon inexplicably refuses to get on board with epub. Their file formats are equally garbage. Mobi, a format that has hardly changed since circa the year 2005, was still in active use until just recently. Their other proprietary formats are confusing in feature set and are opaque to create. The official tool to create Amazon ebooks only runs on Windows![1] Kindles still can't natively read epubs, but since they accept epubs via email, their customers get confused and email me about it. (Epubs sent via email are quietly convert to Amazon's propriety format, meaning all bets are off on the result. Good luck, publisher!) I always tell people, buy literally any other ereader. [1] Calibre can also create them but it's reverse-engineering and not the official implementation.
• klik99 6mo ago
  I have several Kindles for me and my kids, I have never bought a book on the Amazon store, instead I side load everything. Amazon basically subsidized a cheap and tough e-reader assuming it would drive everyone to the store, which I actively do not engage with. If it gets bricked in 10 years, I still think it would be worth it.
  • culi 6mo ago
    Just to be clear, "bricked" here means: 1. if you factory reset a device after May 20, you will not be able to sign in or use the device at all. 2. if you have one already you can use it with your downloaded books but you cannot use the official store at all. You might not have a problem with #2, but #1 is a dealbreaker imo
    • klik99 6mo ago
      Again, this is after 13 years, so the subsidized price is worth it for me (personally) for at least 13 years of use. In the original article it compares it to kobo and says “Meanwhile, when you buy a Kobo, you are buying a tool that can be maintained for a decade or more”, so 13 years either way. That said, I don’t like Kindles approach, this is purely a cost benefit calculation and Amazon subsidizing the hardware makes it worth it (for me). I only use ereaders for reading and don’t want/need any more features.
• pmarreck 6mo ago
  Yep, go ePub. Have been doing that for years now, after converting my entire Amazon purchase library to ePub thanks to an old loophole. Apple figured the correct model out years ago with iTunes Music.
• bragr 6mo ago
  Do NOT buy a Kobo device for Libby integration. It is a LIE. I found out the hard way. Kobo only integrates with OverDrive, the predecessor to Libby. You can only use one library card at a time with OverDrive, and don't have access to the audioboks or periodicals on Libby. Meanwhile Kobo will aggressively push you to sign up for their monthly subscription to get access to that kind of content. If you want Libby on e-paper, sans Kindle, your best bet is to look at the E Paper android tablets (I use Boox) and just install the Libby app. The experience isn't perfect but its the least worst option.
  • DoctorOW 6mo ago
    > You can only use one library card at a time with OverDrive, and don't have access to the audioboks or periodicals on Libby. I personally was fine with the limitations, after all I'm only one person and I would only ever read books on my ereader.
    • bragr 6mo ago
      You can't even get all books either. I've got multiple library cards so it is a non-starter.
  • prism56 6mo ago
    Just want to semi recommend Pocketbook (please do your own research, never take a random recommendation et al). I bought the Verse Pro Color. It doesn't require an account, it doesn't require wifi. I transfer epubs via USB and the pocketbook works on device without ever logging into a Pocketbook account. There are other reasons not to like the device, but it's refreshing not to need to login to even use the device.
  • WolfeReader 6mo ago
    Kobo works with Libby if you use Adobe Digital Editions as an intermediary. From the Libby web page, you have an option to download the ASCM. Load that onto ADE, and you have the book. Then plug in your Kobo and transfer the book. It even respects the loan duration! This isn't perfect, but it works, so I can't agree that Libby and Kobo are absolutely incompatible.
• chairmansteve 6mo ago
  I get good value out of using the Libby app with my local library.
• teekert 6mo ago
  “I’ve carried a Kindle in my bag for over a decade. Through every hardware iteration, from the physical keyboard right up to the latest Paperwhite, a Kindle has been with me everywhere” Wow. I got a kindle keyboard in 2012? It gave out about 4 years ago when I got a PocketBook Touch HD3, which has been great these last 4 years. I think it’s just insane that some people buy all the generations. What a waste.
• frereubu 6mo ago
  While I agree with the sentiment, one nitpick - "When you buy a Kindle, you are buying a disposable product with a predetermined shelf life. Meanwhile, when you buy a Kobo, you are buying a tool that can be maintained for a decade or more." My Kindle is still going strong after 15 years, including a few years of not using it at all when I was enjoying reading physical books. That longevity is why I'm angry about this. I have a perfectly serviceable device and it's effectively being taken away from me.
  • ErroneousBosh 6mo ago
    My Kindle 7 has severely degraded battery life now, it barely lasts two weeks. It's got to be about 12 years old now. The screen's got some little black dots where it fell out of my laptop bag in the back of the Landrover and got squashed under the spare tyre and a toolbox. Even that didn't kill it though, it just gave it a couple of little black dots about the size of a lower-case "o" in the smallest font. I can live with that.
    • jamesgeck0 6mo ago
      I dunno about the Kindle 7 specifically, but replacing the battery in many models is pretty easy.
  • port11 6mo ago
    The statement can be extended to almost any device indeed. To my dismay, Tolinos/Vivlios (or whatever your country calls the rebranded device) haven’t seen any improvements in forever and the local stores are hard to use. I’m still using my Kindle Oasis 2nd Gen, plugged off and jailbroken, side loading my old collection or public domain books. No one has made something remotely as nice to use as the Oasis, including Amazon themselves. Jailbreaking was quite easy. The only thing that will kill my Oasis is the battery being nearly impossible to change.
• seam_carver 6mo ago
  Side tangent: I’m the developer of Kindle Comic Converter. Kindle updates 5.19.2+ have completely broken the sideloaded manga reader with bugs like huge margins, pages being on the wrong side in 2 page landscape mode, no panel view, no % read tracker, and laggy page turns. I’ve documented the problems here and the first report was 60 days ago. https://youtu.be/Eo6K7omlE7g https://youtu.be/Eo6K7omlE7g And I haven’t even touched all the problems with normal sideloaded books like broken embedded/publisher fonts. And the 11th gen seems to have the final update be 5.19.2 so there is no hope of future fixes. Kindle settings > help > contact us > email/call if you want to voice complaints.
• reassess_blind 6mo ago
  It’s never been easier to make your own ereader with parts from AliExpress.
• bityard 6mo ago
  Amazing that it's 2026 and people who write articles on tech-focused sites are still surprised that they never actually owned the books on their Kindle. Do they also think they own their steam games, or Gmail address? I'm a fan of the Roku e-readers. Affordable, hackable, and you can add your own books just by plugging it into your computer.
  • tiltowait 6mo ago
    I assume you mean Kobo, not Roku?
    • bityard 6mo ago
      Oof, yes, kobo
    • gnabgib 6mo ago
      Rakuten.. a combo. Kobo the brand was sold to Rakuten (close to Roku) in 2012 after 3 short years. They also own Viber (same name - a popular global secure messaging platform that isn't owned by Meta) and ebates (renamed - a cashback platform). Amongst various other Rakuten branded things
• EgorKolds 6mo ago
  Oh no! I love my ancient Kindle, and I still use it. This will destroy so many memories that it carried.
• marak830 6mo ago
  Slightly off topic, but I was discussing with my wife getting a kindle for my son (8) recently. Any recommendations for alternatives? I have no problem using calibre to convert the books, and manually transfer from my PC. It just needs to read books.
  • frm88 6mo ago
    Depending on how old your son is and or how much you want to invest: https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4 https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4 https://www.boox.com/ https://www.boox.com/
    • marak830 6mo ago
      Oh thanks that Xteink X4 looks interesting, I'll do some research. Cheers!
• jimmydddd 6mo ago
  I just stopped reading books a few years ago. I just drink a cup of coffee and stare at the wall. Much more relaxing.
• NoPicklez 6mo ago
  > Meanwhile, when you buy a Kobo, you are buying a tool that can be maintained for a decade or more. But wasn't your Kindle that you bought prior to 2013 maintained for over a decade? 13 years really.
• Markoff 6mo ago
  Is there a cheaper _reliable_ option to Kindle? I'm not aware of it, so unless they locked new Kindle from copying books through USB and working offline I'm not understanding what is this uproar about. I've got my Kindle for free, so are my books copied there in last 15 years...
• BrenBarn 6mo ago
  "In 2026"? It's been clear for at least a decade that the Kindle was just another attempt by Amazon to gain more control over everything.
• alok-g 6mo ago
  Amazon had recently closed their Android App Store as well. Practically all apps I had ever installed from the app store, including paid ones, have stopped working. Seems like Apps installed from their store had some internal dependence on the store app itself.
  • pjmlp 6mo ago
    Most likely getting ready for the Vega OS transition, which isn't compatible.
• KnuthIsGod 6mo ago
  Just use Calibre to sideload books into any reader or tablet.
  • NetMageSCW 6mo ago
    That’s like saying just carry physical hardback books around wherever you go. Missed the point.
• Handsome2734 6mo ago
  When kindle shutted down its service in China, it has already become a joke. You just own a e-ink screen for every penny you spent on it, no matter on the device or the books
• adjejmxbdjdn 6mo ago
  With Kobo devices still available I don’t know why anyone was buying Kindles in the first place. Kobo links with Overdrive which means you can borrow ebooks from your local library for free, and you can transfer books of a variety of formats openly into the device.
  • NetMageSCW 6mo ago
    Because the Amazon ecosystem of ebooks and Kindle Unlimited. The device isn’t as important as the service.
• jubuff 6mo ago
  I exclusively use my kindle for Project Gutenberg books so this does not effect me, but I'm appreciative of sentiment behind the backlash. I only wish it was stronger.
• kk_mors 5mo ago
  [flagged]