Message from Amazon about my much loved Kindle

[ElinoristhenewEnid]

Just got this email this morning. Absolutely gutted - my kindle was bought for me by my ds for Christmas 2011 when he was a student- still works perfectly.

Kindles are very simple beasts and most of the time aren't even connected to the internet. And who's to say that they won't just carry on working without updated software. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

OP, annoying as it is, there's probably no way around this. I would make sure all my books are downloaded on the old Kindle and keep going with it or keep it as a spare if you choose to upgrade. With the 20% off and £15 credit, the cost to change to a basic new model isn't huge as it's currently on offer and you can usually stack the discounts.

Or perhaps buy a newer one second hand. I have a paperwhite from a few years ago (gen 11 I think) and it's waterproof so good for reading at the spa/in the bath and also has a light so can be read in the dark. However, they're going for £60/70 on eBay, so a more expensive than I thought.

Mine is too, but 14 years is a long time for support especially given how much e-reader technology has progressed since then. If you’re tech savvy a lot of people jail break Kindles so you can make it so that it works just not through Amazon.

Personally, I’m going to replace probably with a paperwhite and enjoy it being waterproof!

Yes same here. The Apple Books app is good too.

I’m a bit confused because I’ve got the same email saying paperwhite 1st generation is one of the ones becoming unsupported, but my kindle paperwhite is a 5th gen. So not sure what this means for me?

To be fair its still perfectly possible to buy a record player and so this is unlikely.

External DVD drives for laptops/PCs will also continue to be available for some time I imagine.

Most people I know, including me, just put the kindle app on their phone and read their books on that.

Or you could put it on any kind of a tablet at all. You don't need an actual Kindle to use the Kindle app.

Yes it’s any kindle produced before 2012 - mine was bought in 2011

The problem is that I have downloaded documents onto my kindle not from Amazon using my kindle email address and pdfs. Not sure they would work on the kindle app.

You can still buy downloads of shows if you want to keep them.

Surely better than the huge numbers of dvds, videos and cds ending up in landfill now. You can't even given them away now!

Also, reading on a phone using the app isn't the same as a Kindle. Eye strain instead of something that looks like a book. Limited battery life. Difficult to read in bright sunshine. Potential for distractions/scrolling.

Wow.. I thought my kindle was broken but maybe I missed the email?

You can pay £10 to make your kindle ad-free, and then you can set it so it shows the cover of the book in sleep mode

Yeah, I opted not to in order not to give them more money! Preferred to live with the slight annoyance

My smartphone is a 2016 model and not been patched for security since 2021.
Phone works fine for calls, Whatsapp and internet, but I don't use anything of interest that could be worth hacking and it is not linked to my laptop. D laughs and say it might make it to 'Antiques Road Show' 😊
But I will use it until it knackers out and even then will get another cheap smartphone, tbh I'm not really interested in phones and hardly use it anyway.

I am exactly the same. I assumed it would affect me because of the email but having seen this thread I just checked mine and it's 5th generation.

Bit naughty of them to try and tempt people into replacing their kindle when it isn't strictly necessary.

Same! Tho I did wonder if it’s my mums old kindle that she upgraded after the screen broke and I tried to fix so may have registered it as mine for a bit.

either way I think I may take them up on the discount. My paperwhite 5th gen is not the most responsive and I’ve lost all the cover art which bothers me. Amazon halfheartedly tried to help resolve it but I kinda got wind that it was a step towards obsolescence so I’ve been mentally prepared for this coming.

I do also like the matcha green. But I struggle to understand all the options tho. Can anyone explain the difference of with ads and without? And other versions too?

This is what I don’t understand. Because the ad free kindle is £30 more than one with ads. Are the ads just in the sleep screen? Can you really upgrade for just a tenner?

I am not sure they can change the rule so that they can reclaim what you had previously purchased.

It’s so shit isn’t it?? I have a kindle that was given to me by an ex as a ‘well done’ present when I got a job, that was early 2015, and it’s been the case for quite a long time that I was unable to buy/borrow any new books directly on the kindle but could download ones id bought or borrowed via the app on my phone, annoying but just about tolerable, but this is rubbish!

Mine's a Kindle Touch, registered December 2011. I've not had any email?

Yes, the ads are just on the sleep screen. I can't remember what a non ad sleep screen looks like but I just open the case and swipe to wake the Kindle and read my book. I couldn't tell you what any of the adverts are for, there's no delay and I've never bought anything from the advert. Seems totally pointless, it's never been annoying enough to feel the need to pay to remove it.

But then I don't notice any of the MN adverts that many people complain about being intrusive, they're just at the side of the screen and easily ignored.

This is why I refuse to support Amazon and just go to the library. Like you, I would be so annoyed!

Yes I had the same email. I did go on online chat to see if there was anyway they could give me more than 20% discount but sadly not. It’s a bloody nuisance, she did say that I could still read the books that I have on it, as I’ve already read them I thought oh that’s nice 😉

So send them to your regular email and download them into Files on your iPad.