Absurd. Glad I have a Kobo.
Amazon’s killing a feature that let you download and backup Kindle books
Submitted 5 days ago by misk@sopuli.xyz to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb
Comments
Yingwu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 days ago
andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 5 days ago
Yep. Not to gloat, but I never touched Amazon’s ebook marketplace.
My current e-reader is a second-hand Kindle that has a permanent message asking if I would just please connect to a WiFi network just one time just for a moment PLEEEEEASE.
I get my books from libgen, Gutenberg, or Kobo, and keep them on my computer. They’re organized in Calibre, and I transfer them over on a USB cable.
afterworkparty@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I know I switched ages ago but I’ve never managed to port my existing library of ebooks off the kindle
End0fLine@midwest.social 4 days ago
I switched to Kobo a few years and couldn’t be happier. I hated supporting Amazon.
CarbonBasedNPU@lemm.ee 4 days ago
My libra 2 breaking just after they were discontinued will forever be an unhappy event. I know the libra colour exists but I can not stand color e-ink screens.
Yingwu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 days ago
Wow, I just bought it last year before they discontinued it then. Interesting that only colour screens are available now. It must mean that they are at least as good though?
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 days ago
The Kobo Clara Color’s screen doesn’t look any different to me with non-color eBooks than their non-color version. The only thing that’s really different is that the book cover you see when it’s powered off is in color. Now I will admit that e-ink color is not very good, but it doesn’t ruin the experience of reading just a regular book.
lepinkainen@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Just swapped to a Libra Colour last month and I’m feeling better about the choice every day
underfreyja@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Do yourself a favour, switch to Kobo or a third party ereader… Especially if you’re not in the US.
sunbytes@lemmy.world 3 days ago
A whole new generation of the Kobo readers just came out too!
I’ve got one of the previous Gen and I was so happy to find they have models with the clicky buttons to turn the page.
underfreyja@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Yeah I got the libra colour and it’s really great for the buttons. Didn’t really care about the colour part but the regular one was out of stock when I got it so I just went with it and I’m finding I enjoy it a lot. Especially when I read picture books for mt kid’s bedtime
fatalicus@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Why “especially if you’re not i the US”?
I’m not in the US, and switched to kobo a couple of years ago, but i’ve had to keep buying books from amazon, sine the kobo store is just realy bad (missing a lot of books, even popular once), and there are few others who offer ebooks here.
The quality of the devices seem not the greatest either.
Bought a kobo libra first and it lasted just long enough for the warranty to expire before it just fully died. Replaced it with a kobo libra colour, and had to replace it three times before I got one that didn’t have pin holes on the screen where light shone through.
Meanwhile my 9 year old kindle oasis works just fine, it has just gotten slow and the battery is worse, which is why I replaced it with kobo.
underfreyja@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Because supporting the US economy from outside of it right now is ludicrous and Amazon is a union busting mega corporation that destroy local economies…
Now, I’m not a Kobo corporate shill, I don’t care which device you get, I did say there are other ereaders you can get, pick whatever you want. You don’t care about thr trade wars, you can get a Nook or Remarkable. You care but don’t like Kobo? You can buy an Onyx or another Chinese brand. You can use your phone, an old tablet whatever you want.
Personally, I’ve never not found a book on kobo but if it happened and it wasn’t at my library, I’d find alternative to buying on amazon, I’d get it physical or find other ways to get it.
You want to continue using amazon products and contribute to the success of Bezos and his billionaire friends, that’s your prerogative but a lot of us are not ready to do that for the sole sake of minor convenience.
wide_eyed_stupid@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Yup, I’ve had my Kobo for quite a while now and I still love it. The push buttons are great, as pointed out by another poster, but also… I’ve just never had any issues with it. None whatsoever. I’m hoping this one will just never brick.
About a month after I got mine, I bought the exact same one for my husband and he says his is still working like a charm as well! Now to be fair, I had never owned any other e-readers so I can’t really compare it to anything, but quality-wise I’d say they’re really good.
qwestjest78@lemmy.ca 4 days ago
This is why you never connect your kindle to the internet. Calibre forever
phx@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
This doesn’t track.
To pull my books into calibre, I need to first download them onto the Kindle, which requires wifi.
qwestjest78@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
My kindle has been on airplane mode for years and I read new books all the time with it, but hey, whatever works for you
EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 4 days ago
I just tried Calibre hoping it would help me get the metadata in my library in order… But maybe I am stupid, but I don’t understand the purpose of this software. It apparently can’t choose the MTP device as your library, only a folder on your computer? And only push the books onto the reader? I don’t get how that’s massively different from just copypasting the files into the reader. Is the main point convenient metadata editing?..
Chee_Koala@lemmy.world 3 days ago
It’s a library manager, like iTunes, or Plex for movies, Google Photos/Picasa for photos/images . You pick a spot for you library locally, and then your local lib is a jump off point to load in on to any reader device you want. It will understand what device you are pushing it to, and automagically convert it to supported file-types.
The big difference with just copy-pasting is that you have a full library somewhere locally, and you can pick and choose what you load up on your reader. For me and maybe you, those lists are pretty close to identical, but what if you have a very large collection? And what if i just had to RMA my Libra? One click and a couple minutes after i receive my replacement, all of my books and reading progress will be synced back. If you had put your lib on the device itself, you would have had to rebuild it from scratch.
GoumLeChat@jlai.lu 5 days ago
That’s why I avoided Kindle and picked a Kobo. Sure you can remove DRMs from the books you’ve bought. But at some point they could block you from doing that. They can change anything at anytime and there’s nothing you can do about it.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
That is no different than Kobo. Thus far, Rakuten have been pretty good about not caring more than the bare minimum. But there is nothing stopping them from doing the same bullshit with firmware updates to the kobos and drm updates to the store and apps.
I am finally migrating from kindle to kobo (tried kindle to boox last year and it was bad…) but I am under no illusions that I am just hoping one company is better than another. I mean, the other is Amazon so it is a pretty safe bet. But still.
GoumLeChat@jlai.lu 4 days ago
Well there’s a key difference, Kobo allows epub. I don’t think they could legally remove it from devices already on the market?
zecg@lemmy.world 4 days ago
there is nothing stopping them from doing the same bullshit with firmware updates to the kobos and drm updates to the store and apps.
I never connect the Libra to any network, how can they do anything? I did actually install some updates since there were a few annoying bugs, but I just downloaded the firmware on the pc from pgaskin.net/KoboStuff/kobofirmware.html and updated it offline. Now all those bugs seem fixed and poor Kobo still hasn’t seen the interwebs
cheese_greater@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Just dont update and keep it off the internet I guess
Anivia@feddit.org 4 days ago
It’s pretty easy to jailbreak a Kindle and block firmware updates. But the fact that it is necessary in the first place sucks
turtle@lemm.ee 5 days ago
Ugh, thanks for the warning. Time for me to download and de-drm all my old kindle books and never again buy anymore.
gitamar@feddit.org 4 days ago
Try this python script: github.com/Jedi425/BulkKindleUSBDownloader
turtle@lemm.ee 4 days ago
Awesome, thank you!
polysics@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I sure am glad I got a Kobo for myself for Xmas and ripped all my books to it. Guess I’ll be recycling my Kindle for good.
sunshine@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
I just got a Kobo color (don’t recommend the color feature; no book is ever going to use it except the red-letter Bible and House of Leaves) and gifted the old Kindle to a friend. I e-reader is an awesome gift actually because for a lot of people it’s something they would never evenly in years take a chance on, but that they would love it if they tried.
lepinkainen@lemmy.world 4 days ago
It’s semi-decent for comics if you massage them a bit
amos@mander.xyz 4 days ago
Interesting that you don’t recommend Kobo Color. I was thinking of gifting my mother a kobo but I might just go for a BW version.
phx@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
The color might make more sense if you’re into manga or graphical novels as opposed to just ebooks
ChapulinColorado@lemmy.world 4 days ago
If your model accepts a custom OS, some of them make decent e-ink displays for weather, family photos, etc.
polysics@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Yeah I’ve actually thought about doing that and making it an office desk calendar or something. Thanks for reminding me!
Guidy@lemmy.world 3 days ago
That’s why I don’t download or purchase ebooks from Amazon, but only get them from places I can download a non-DRM’d copy. I’m not looking to break any laws, but if I pay for it, I want to be able to have it whenever I want even when the Internet is down. Recently a buddy gave me his old blu-ray juke box, and now I’m doing the same thing with my favorite movies as well. And building a home lab. It’s finally time I decreased (not completely ended) my reliance on the cloud, given the shit show my nation collectively voted for.
dnick@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
I think it’s worth noting that the bigger issue here might not be the drm, but the access Amazon has into your device. Regardless if you can download ‘another’ version of the book or not (that is something you can find out for yourself relatively quickly) there is no reason it should be considered ok for the company to insist that it can connect to a device you own and modify the contents of it. Even with ownership of the books being a topic, certainly there should be little questions of whether you own the device, and along with that being able to control access to it.
Surely there is something in the user agreement that states accessing the download functionality also grants Amazon permission to go in and claw back things they’ve uploaded to the device, but i think that should be at least half the argument. Restrict whatever they want up front, I’ve downloaded it to my device and they consider that a fair exchange for my money, but to then say they screwed up on their end so they’re taking it back (assumedly without giving up the money they made as part of the agreement) is where things should be breaking.
IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 3 days ago
My wife borrows a lot of ebooks from our library, which are delivered to a kindle through Amazon. I’ve used this USB download option to remove the DRM from some of those borrowed books. Guess I’ll have to figure out a new approach now…
Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 days ago
Holy cow i just looked up a blue ray “jukebox” used the sony 400 disc one is like $900. That’s fucking crazy.
keyez@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Where do you usually go to find the DRM free books? Sometimes for new books I am unable to purchase a copy without any sort of DRM
Fungah@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I pirate everything. Because fuck you that’s why.
amos@mander.xyz 4 days ago
resist.
Stop buying whatever it is that Amazon/Meta/Google/Etc sell. They will not stand for you. They will not respect you.
At some points, it may seem like they changed and that they are now good. They are not. They will never be. Resist them.
Yppm@lemy.lol 4 days ago
I bought a Kindle so I can pirate all my books. Am I resisting?
amos@mander.xyz 4 days ago
You could have made a better choice, I suppose. And some authors/editors do deserve the money.
Pirating is not necessarily resisting. Are you taking money from authors who really really need it? Or are you taking money from rich CEOs who are worsening the environment, future generations, etc?
PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 4 days ago
At least install KoReader before they find a way to firmware-lock the device.
the16bitgamer@programming.dev 3 days ago
Good news is that there are alternative ways to download these books from Amazon for backup purposes. It’s not as straightforward but it’s doable.
That said I will be refusing to buy from any storefront that doesn’t offer a way to download my books. Even adobe digital editions is a viable alternative.
hsakaa@lemm.ee 3 days ago
Just pirate them at this point instead of giving your money to predatory companies lol
umbraroze@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Previously, you could just download the books on the Kindle for PC, use a random decoder software or install a plugin for Calibre, and boop, decoded books, readable in Calibre, can be converted to EPUB.
For ssssssome reasonnns I’ve been looking at how to do the same thing again, but apparently you need an old version of KfPC because the new one uses new encryption/file format that hasn’t been sussed out yet. Weirdly enough, even with the newer app, I’ve still been able to download a bunch of books that didn’t have DRM to begin with, but of course Amazon doesn’t exactly advertise if a book is DRM-free anywhere on the store page.
Also weirdly enough this quest of mine actually started last year when one Finnish ebook store was closed down, but that was less of a problem. I just downloaded all of my purchases as unencrypted EPUBs. Guess the local publishers are less dickish, worst thing they asked for was watermarking.
StarlightDust@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 days ago
Its possible to buy DRM free ebooks from itch.io and it is where I get everything that I can.
roofuskit@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Adding on to this that Barnes and Noble sells DRMed ePUB files that are relatively easy to strip DRM from using Calibre.
So if you can’t find a book anywhere else, at least they don’t use a proprietary format and still allow you to download your books using their PC software.
I was a semi-early adopter in the ebook space and I have refused to get onboard with the kindle ecosystem from the start. There’s no reason for their proprietary format other than complete control over things they pretend to sell you. Amazon is also the Walmart of books and uses their position to browbeat publishers and authors into taking smaller cuts of sales.
JustTesting@lemmy.hogru.ch 4 days ago
EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 4 days ago
I hate Amazon’s proprietary format too because one time it was the only download available and my reader just can’t display it!!
Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 4 days ago
Do the non-kindle e-readers link to Libby? I may eventually try to get my wife and I off our kindles and she uses that when she can.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 4 days ago
You know I am starting to think going to the library is a better idea than buying their products. You can literally just walk in.
Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 4 days ago
You can also get ebooks from the library
friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Some libraries offer large sections of the O’reilly Safari Bookshelf, a collection of educational tech books.
PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 4 days ago
My library only offers ebooks via CloudLibrary, which doesn’t support e-readers. You have to read everything in their mobile app which scrolls instead of turning pages. It’s like someone custom built an app to be horrible for reading books in bed.
JOMusic@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
Definitely switch to alternatives from Amazon. They treat their authors abhorrently too. I’ve personally been super happy with libro.fm for Audiobooks (essentially Audible, but you can download the audiobooks DRM-free)
Junkernaught@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 days ago
The only surprising thing about this is that the functionality existed in the first place.
adarza@lemmy.ca 5 days ago
early models didn’t have wifi, only usb or cellular from one provider or another–and those models’ 3g connectivity was killed off years ago.
this will obsolete all the non-wifi kindles still in use.
CidVicious@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
You can still use calibre to sideload onto them. Where you get the books is another issue.
jonathan@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
It’s the old bait and switch, they had to have this feature to build initial trust in ebooks.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
… a 17 year bait and switch (or however long Kindles have been around for)?
FlyingLoon@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I mean, I agree with this. I have a kindle and had no idea you could directly connect it to download books. Guess I learned my new thing for the day.
ouch@lemmy.world 2 days ago
github.com/Jedi425/BulkKindleUSBDownloader
Quick script to download all your Kindle ebooks.
If you know any other tools, please reply.
Reposting as a top level comment for visibility. Thanks gitamar.
KeefChief13@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Knew this would happen
Anegro_Montoya@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
Makes it harder to pirate or share, so more profit with the benefit of censorship. They could make updates to material on the fly if they wanted. Assuming you need an Internet connection, no privacy and limits where you can read. It’s hard because you can’t avoid things like AWS but you can stop paying them directly. Sadly, even now, it’s hard to convince people to give up on Amazon and similar corps.
ghashul@feddit.dk 5 days ago
I’m glad I started converting all my amazon books long ago. When I finally got a Kobo last month, there were no issues since the work was done.
ThirdConsul@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
The article literally says you will still be able to push books via Calibre etc, but won’t be able to download books into Kindle from PC.
Example: If you don’t have a WiFi at home, there is an option to connect Kindle via USB to your ethernet connected PC and download books from Amazon that way.
And this option is going away, as most people have WiFi.
Anywho, fuck Amazon (for other things, but not this one).
Siegfried@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I read somwhere how to solve this
1 - factory reset 2 - deactivate wifi for life 3 - upload books with calibre
This will wipe out any content you have, as i understand
Teknikal@eviltoast.org 3 days ago
I’m actually suprised Google never went and made an reader they already have the store and software. Kobo does the job for me anyway though.
tamal3@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Can I root my 10 year old Kindle Paperwhite?
kava@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Get an old Kindle. The news ones make it hard for you to connect to your computer. But even just a couple of years back you could plug in your Kindle to your computer through a USB and just drag and drop files. It only reads the proprietary .mobi format but Calibre, an excellent piece of software, will automatically convert .epub files to .mobi for you and it has a great algorithm.
Then all you gotta do is look up whatever you want on libgen and for the price of one kindle you can have a virtually infinite library of books.
I’ve actually had my first generation Kindle for about ~14 years now and my newer one for about ~3 years. I won’t ever buy a new one, but the ones from ~3 years ago are excellent pieces of hardware.
You just have to disconnect it from the internet and never turn on the wifi. If you do, Amazon will fuck with your settings and make your life difficult.
tomkatt@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I rarely use my Paperwhite Signature since I like my Boox Nova 2 more. The Kindle is mostly just for the serial note to strip DRM now via Calibre.
My wife recently joked that it’s my “Kindle Paperweight.” With this announcement I doubt I’ll buy anymore books from Amazon.
ilinamorato@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Thanks for the heads-up. I’m downloading all of mine and finally making a Calibre library.
almost1337@lemm.ee 4 days ago
I’m quite glad that I never bought fully into Kindle/Nook/Kobo and instead went with an eInk Android tablet.
grahamja@reddthat.com 3 days ago
I have no need for my Kindle services anymore. I bought books there for how easy it was to put on my electronic devices, and to easily make back up copies for later. If I can’t downloaf and reformat the e-book to easily make a physical copy I don’t want it.
Throwaway131447@lemmynsfw.com 4 days ago
This is why I almost never get any Digital Book. The only digital books I have are books that were free either originally or through a giveaway, or that were severely discounted and I already owned physically. That’s also why I don’t buy movies or TV series digitally. You’re just renting these things, and you’re only renting them when you have an internet connection.
billwashere@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I’m guessing audible will follow soon after.
TommySoda@lemmy.world 5 days ago
The optimist in me says they’re doing this to avoid piracy.
The pessimist in me says they’re doing this so they can purge books because of the Trump administration.
Either way, I can’t say I’m a fan.
empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 days ago
Por que no Los dos?
You will own nothing and like it!
AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Won’t pirates just buy their source copies on a different platform, so now Amazon loses the original sale as well?
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
The “original sale” in that case is not even pennies. So… not sure why amazon would care?
Also: Many smaller authors basically depend on kindle because of the ease of use of the web portal and incentives to do larger discounts for their audiences. One of my favorite guilty pleasures has talked about exactly this (although he IS investigating alternatives).
And, much like with video games: The Sandersons of the world will be pirated. MAYBE a Dalglish will be too. But nobody cares enough to go after a Samphire or Shel.
umbrella@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
both seem just as terrible to me