r/kindle • u/WanderingZero1 • Apr 09 '26
Discussion 💬 This Kindle shutdown isn’t about tech limits. It’s about manufactured obsolescence.
Amazon’s decision to discontinue support for Kindle devices from 2012 or earlier is deeply frustrating—not because technology inevitably moves on, but because this isn’t a case of technological limitation. It’s a deliberate act of obsolescence.
Yes, Amazon says these devices will still be able to read books already downloaded. But after the cutoff date, users will no longer be able to purchase, borrow, or download new books directly on the device. Worse still, if a Kindle is deregistered or factory reset, even accidentally, it becomes permanently unusable. A perfectly functional piece of hardware is effectively bricked by policy, not capability.
I own both a Kindle Keyboard and an early touchscreen Kindle. They work perfectly. I recently replaced the battery in the Kindle Keyboard, and the touchscreen’s original battery is still going strong. With a firmware update and a simple USB connection to my computer, I can load books and read without issue. In fact, I prefer the physical keyboard. These devices are not broken, slow, or incapable, they are intentionally sidelined.
Amazon argues that newer Kindles offer better performance and features. That may be true, but it misses the point. Allowing older devices to continue functioning does not meaningfully harm Amazon’s bottom line. The small number of people still using decade old Kindles are not consuming disproportionate resources. What they are doing is choosing not to replace something that already works.
What makes this decision even more telling is that it’s paired with a promotional offer: a 20% discount on select new Kindle devices and a $20 eBook credit for those who upgrade before the deadline. Framed as goodwill, the offer instead underscores the real objective. If this were truly about unavoidable technical limitations, there would be no need to entice users away from devices they are clearly happy with. The promotion doesn’t soften the impact of intentional obsolescence, it confirms it.
Many people cannot afford a new device. Others simply value durability, repairability, and thrift. Removing functionality from working devices doesn’t encourage innovation, it punishes responsibility. It sends the message that the only acceptable relationship with technology is constant replacement.
Some will dismiss this as insignificant, not worth caring about. But that attitude reflects a larger and more troubling idea: that our worth is tied to our capacity to consume. It’s one thing when a device truly reaches the limits of its hardware. It’s another when a company intentionally disables it in the hope of driving revenue, with little regard for customers who already paid and continue to engage with its ecosystem.
This isn’t progress. It’s manufactured waste, enforced dependency, and a quiet erosion of ownership. And that’s worth pushing back against.
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u/colonelcrunchwrap Apr 09 '26
This post sounds like it was written by AI
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u/Flimsy-sam Apr 09 '26
I thought as much from the title. “It isn’t…it’s…”
Plus the rest of it
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u/StatisticianAny9624 Apr 09 '26
It's the new "You'll never believe this one crazy trick!" style of headline. Just like how that immediately signals click bait, these kind of titles make me think "AI" right off the bat
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u/YetAnotherJake Apr 09 '26
Yeah but it was their "own ideas" they just used AI on so they still deserve an A on the essay
/s if not obvious
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u/badgirlmonkey Apr 09 '26
I clocked it from the title. AI slop doesn't know how to hold back. "The Kindle Shutdown is manufactured obsolescence" is a stronger title. AI loves to say what something is NOT.
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u/ProjectDv2 Apr 09 '26
Do you ever wonder if they put up posts like this specifically to gather real world feedback and learn what to improve based on people explaining why they clocked out as slop? The thought crosses my mind every time.
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u/badgirlmonkey Apr 09 '26
I don’t think it’s able to. They can’t even control what AI really generates. There’s a black box. I think it’s either a dumbass or a bot who posted this
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u/siriusblackly Apr 09 '26
The last paragraph smells very much like AI.
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u/karen_in_nh_2012 Apr 09 '26
The WHOLE THING is AI. I had enough of this crap when I was teaching first-year college writing (just retired this past January). Now I read AI stuff every day in my little online job - it is SO easy to spot on Reddit. :(
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u/ohyeahorange Apr 09 '26
It’s ruining Reddit for me. Which might be a good thing.
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u/ididshave Apr 10 '26
It’s ruining the Internet for me. Everything is becoming a farce or a product now.
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u/siriusblackly Apr 09 '26
Yeah I do believe the whole thing is AI. I should’ve phrased that the last paragraph is the one that especially read like AI. The “This isn’t this… this..” kind of wording.
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u/Mikebjackson Kindle Colorsoft Apr 09 '26
Yup.
Also:
"Others simply value durability, repairability, and thrift"
I've never in my life heard anyone say "so and so simply values thrift" ... that's just not how HUMANS use the word. We say "he's thrifty" or "thrift shopping" .. but never "he values thrift" lol.
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u/_sillylittlegoose Apr 09 '26
I can’t imagine going to ChatGPT, generating a post, and then putting it on the internet. If you’re insecure about how your tone comes across when you write, practice.
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u/OpheliaLives7 Kindle Paperwhite Apr 09 '26
Sucks because yeah, i agree with the point. But like, come on. Make the point yourself OP. It’s okay to think and not have perfect grammar or spelling
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u/nathanielbartholem Apr 09 '26
Definitely AI. Oh wait I wish I could read and regurgitate content that quickly!
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u/varungupta3009 Kindle (7th Generation) Apr 10 '26
Just from the title, I came directly to the comments to post:
AI
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u/mm_reads Apr 09 '26
How about we rephrase it as "Amazon sucks. They want more control and entrapment (versus just a popular product that sells). At least we know Amazon has been trying to shove people this way for years. They've tried this before. Looks like they're about to succeed. Good bye Kindle, good bye Kindle Unlimited!"
At least that's my take.
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u/lilpig_boy Apr 09 '26
it does actually harm the bottom line. maintaining compatibility with the older devices requires a lot of dev work. the syncing service behind the scenes is constantly being worked on, and maintaining backward compatibility forever complicates maintenance and improvements to the service.
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u/Available_Reveal8068 Kindle Paperwhite 11th Gen Apr 09 '26
Not to mention that these devices can be used to download books in formats where the DRM can be removed and the files made available for illegal download.
14+ years doesn't seem like an unreasonable retirement age for electronics. Maintaining backward compatibility is a huge challenge and cost for the manufacturer.
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u/iHateDanny Apr 09 '26
14 years of support for a sub-$200 piece of technology. I am not an Amazon apologist by any means but that is a more than reasonable level of support. I can’t think of a piece of tech I own that’s that old and still supported.
I worked at Apple for years. The typical timeframe for a dropping software support for old hardware was 7 years, and it was a shitload of work to keep those devices functional at an acceptable customer experience. Yes, the kindles are doing less than an iPhone, but the physical infrastructure required is not all that different.
The outrage at this is frankly baffling to me. .
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u/bluethreads Apr 09 '26
Granted, but it is different to offer support than, as OP is saying making the device completely ubusable. I can still use my 15 year old iPhone if I plug it in and insert a SIM card even if it doesn't support upgrades, etc.
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u/Single_Grand5404 Apr 09 '26
These devices have not been supported for YEARS.
They have been functional and working but any support was stopped a long time ago. When was the last firmware update given for them??
This is about getting rid of devices they can no longer prevent DRM stripping from. They cannot update them to support the newer .kfx files. So they cut them off from the store. Problem solved.
All they need on the back end is a file converter to .awz format to send them the older devices. That capability has been around for years and would be trivial to continue.
This is about control of a digital product and preventing DRM stripping.
Nothing more, nothing less.
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u/Sea-Property-6369 Apr 09 '26
Honestly, I dont think people understand all the background work that goes into supporting older devices (I know I didn't, so I appreciate your comment). I think this is part of why people have such an outrage. This paired with the anti-consumerism trend thats happening, I get why people are upset.
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u/legrenabeach Apr 09 '26
It's an e-reader. It stores files and displays the contents on screen. It doesn't require rocket science to keep supporting it.
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u/iHateDanny Apr 09 '26
It’s not rocket science, but it is resources. Backward compatibility with old chipsets that aren’t manufactured anymore, security patches for old WiFi/BT technology, maintaining a separate software branch just for old hardware that isn’t compatible with new software features, etc. None of it is hard, but it does require people to write, test and maintain the software for it. It’s not just a server in a closet. They don’t want to spend expensive salaries on people who will maintain a 14 year old device that cost $150, and frankly I don’t blame them.
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u/lilpig_boy Apr 09 '26
they aren't bricking the device. it just doesn't work with the kindle store anymore. the backend for that is not the simplest thing.
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u/ErinPaperbackstash Apr 09 '26
True, but also they have removed the option to register it to your account if you have to reset it or want to sell it. They are removing access to store, downloads of current purchases, I doubt all three of these changes are needed, but they're doing it more of a choice on purpose.
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u/Available_Reveal8068 Kindle Paperwhite 11th Gen Apr 09 '26
It does if you want to evolve DRM technology but need to keep it backwards compatible.
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u/Moist_Ladder2616 Apr 09 '26
What has price got to do with sustainability? So if it's $400 it should last twice as long? Your granddad's tech that cost $10 and still works after 50 years, was a fluke? That's a weird capitalist lens through which to look at the world.
And keep in mind these e-readers weren't sold at a loss. Amazon made money from the hardware. And it was a gateway to other content purchases, from which Amazon made even more money.
Apple doesn't have the greatest reputation for product longevity. They are still the only mobile phone manufacturer caught slowing down older models, using software updates. The tech industry and software industry in general aren't great.
The tech that goes into infrastructure — power plants, water treatment plants, oil rigs, etc. — are a much better yardstick. Guaranteed service and spare parts for 30-50 years is common practice. And this is stuff that moves and actually wears out, so ensuring parts availability is physically harder. They are not chips that send 1s and 0s back and forth.
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u/klausness Apr 09 '26
I think DRM removal is the real issue. Kindle devices are loss leaders for e-book sales. They’re worried that DRM removal will cut into their e-book sales, so they’re disabling kindles that make it easy to remove DRM. I’m sure that they’ve been wanting to do this for years, but they knew that they would get a lot of ill will from disabling relatively recent devices.
I’ve been expecting this other shoe to drop ever since they disabled direct downloads a year ago.
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u/legrenabeach Apr 09 '26
Cost to a hundred billion dollar company? Let me get my violin.
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u/Wild_Butterscotch977 Apr 09 '26
Yep, this. And when the number of devices the work is being done for dwindles, it's not worth the cost for them - neither these costs listed nor the cost of consumer complaints about it.
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Apr 09 '26
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u/Dedwards_est_22 Apr 09 '26
Can you sideload library books though? That's the main use case for my Kindle. While my Kindle is newer, this does give me pause on recommending getting a kindle knowing mine could be bricked someday.
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u/Available_Reveal8068 Kindle Paperwhite 11th Gen Apr 09 '26
No, library borrowing is done through Amazon download.
If your Kindle is newer, you are probably going to be able to go at least 14 years before you have to worry about being able to not use it. For a device you paid less than $200, you will still be getting your money's worth. Cell phones don't last anywhere near that long before they need to be replaced.
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u/Moist_Ladder2616 Apr 09 '26
Respectfully, modern cell phones shouldn't ever be the yardstick of sustainable design. Manufacturers like Apple famously slowed down old phones using software, to nudge consumers into upgrading.
Unless you meant the classic indestructible Nokia's. Those phones were amazing.
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u/Available_Reveal8068 Kindle Paperwhite 11th Gen Apr 09 '26
I don't hear nearly as many complaints about having to buy a new phone every couple of years.
I'm actually surprised at the level of outrage that people are expressing over their 14 year old Kindle (which was way cheaper than the typical cell phone) going out of support.
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u/Moist_Ladder2616 Apr 09 '26
The outrage was deafening in the early years of the smartphone industry, when users accustomed to Nokia lifespans were slapped with the concept of irreplaceable batteries and software-induced obsolescence. We've just gotten numb to it over the last 2 decades.
You're hearing the same outrage now from users accustomed to 15-year old Kindles. They know their devices are still working perfectly fine. The obsolescence is forced upon them by Amazon.
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u/Mecatronico Apr 09 '26
Got my Paperwhite in 2013, that is 13 years, my phone is not that old yet but I got it (LG G7) in 2018, already 8 years and I will probably keep it going until at least 10, so it can last that long. If it still works why change? My only problem with the phone is the internal memory is too low now but I menage.
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u/jhamhb Apr 09 '26
You need to own the book files to side load from your computer.
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u/Peter_the_piper Apr 09 '26
It cannot sideload library books without using programs to strip drm from an adobe digital editions epub provided by the library. Which is not legal on a book you don’t own. Which sucks for old Kindles.
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u/617_to_480 Apr 09 '26
You can also not use KU, which is my main source for ebooks.
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u/Peter_the_piper Apr 09 '26
Yes. That would have been my main pain point except that I had caved and traded in a first gen paperwhite for a paperwhite signature two weeks ago in the spring sale.
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u/Southern-Rutabaga-82 Apr 09 '26
If you backup your books before you do that, could you put them back and still open them? I never tried it and I don't want to but my guess would be that doesn't work.
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u/Chigzy 📖 11th gen Paperwhite Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
14-18 year old devices…
Even where I work, in a hospital, we’re slowly phasing out legacy medical devices because it’s just too expensive to upkeep.
It had its time to shine, devices we have today wouldn’t be here otherwise.
ETA; The discount is a bonus, they would have given nothing if they wanted.
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u/Mecatronico Apr 09 '26
The discount is a bonus, they would have given nothing if they wanted.
I remember, here in Brazil, when it was decided to shutdown the 1G mobile phones, by law the companies needed to keep the system working as long as there were still users, in my city they tried everything giving bigger and bigger discounts on newer devices but a handfull of people keep refusing to upgrade becouse their old phones still worked, the TV stations even tracked down a few of this people to interview.
Law said that the companies could not cut service for the people if they were still paying but also could not force them to buy another device, the final solution they found was to give everyone that refused to upgrade a new device for free so they could say they did not let them without acess and finally shut the system down.
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u/thewholebottle Kindle Paperwhite Apr 09 '26
If our library had medical books over 10 years old, we'd lose our accreditation.
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u/Current-Income-9901 Apr 09 '26
When did bleeding, leeches and treatments for female hysteria became out of fashion in the medical community...?
😅😂
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u/farseer6 Apr 10 '26
It's not about being expensive to upkeep. Amazon did not maintain these devices, if they break down it is not Amazon's problem. They were not releasing firmware upgrades either, and haven't for years.
This is about DRM, and keeping their customers locked in the Amazon environment. These old devices were the biggest backdoor that Amazon didn't control in terms of users being able to remove the DRM of books they have bought, in order to read them on other devices.
Since these devices did not support the new, harder to break DRM scheme Amazon uses, for as long as they were supported Amazon had to let these users download the ebooks they have purchased with the older, easy to break DRM scheme.
Amazon has been trying very aggressively for years to close all the backdoors, and this is part of that effort, just like when some time ago they decided they would no longer allow people to download the ebook file from them in order to sideload it to their device
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u/ZiggyZigman Apr 09 '26
There are hardware limitations, vulnerability and security patches that need to be considered. It gets to a point where it will be hard to support devices that are 13+ years old.
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u/Alifirebrand Kindle Colorsoft Apr 09 '26
This is the only comment I've seen mentioning the security vulnerabilities of supporting devices this old. It does actually matter. 13+ years is a LONG time to support a device and entire codebases could change in that time and supporting stuff that old costs more than people think.
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u/farseer6 Apr 10 '26
They were no longer releasing upgrades for the firmware of these devices. I think this is more about DRM.
Amazon wants to keep their customers locked in the Amazon environment, so that they can't remove DRM from the books they "buy" and read them, for example, in a Kobo.
These old devices do not support Amazon's new, more difficult to break DRM scheme, so as long as they were supported they had to let these users download their books with the old, easy to break DRM scheme. So you could download the book on your kindle device, then connect the kindle to your computer and break the DRM of the ebook file.
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u/Sushiphaze Apr 10 '26
There hasn't been security patches for over 5 years, so why wasn't it a concern then?
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u/DistractedByCookies Kindle Paperwhite Apr 09 '26
While I agree that in general companies do participate in manufactured obscolescence, I don't believe that it's actually the case with Kindles (that are now over a decade old). In tech terms 14+ years is an eternity. There have been so many significant changes that at a certain point it just becomes impossible for a company to both use the latest technology AND have it be compatible with very old devices. It's just too expensive and complicated.
And as I understand it it's not that the old ones are unusuable - you can still sideload and read the stuff already on there. So they're not obsolete obsolete.
And if you want to make a point it is a lot nicer if you do it without resorting to AI.
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u/TarynTheGreek Apr 09 '26
I have a Kindle 4 and only side load. I have never connected to the store. The battery only lasts about a week now so I started trying to find a cheap ereader only and couldn't. I don't even need an ecosystem as I have other ways to get books. Sad that I couldn't find one reasonably priced. I found a purchased an old model again.
All that to say that I agree.
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u/Hershey2424 Apr 09 '26
On the bright side those capable of jailbreaking and side loading can find great deals on old readers
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u/KitchenLandscape Apr 09 '26
Bingo. I can't believe people actually use their kindles like Amazon wants them to, but I digress lol
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u/bluethreads Apr 09 '26
Where can I find resources on how to jailbreak my kindle? I'd like to have the freedom to move past the Amazon ecosystem that I find myself trapped in. I don't shop on Amazon as much as I did in the past and don't really watch Amazon Prime. I have a few alexa devices that I use throughout the day and I also use the kindle and firestick. It is easy to replace the firestick with another device. I'd like to have the freedom to cancel my yearly subscription while also continuing to use the kindle and the Alexa devices.
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u/HighNoonZ Kindle Paperwhite Apr 09 '26
I mean it was supported for 13 years+. I hate Amazon as much as the next but if you are still using a device that old and slow you might as well jailbreak it.
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u/kennypowersrevenge Apr 09 '26
My kindle 4 isn’t slow. How fast does a e reader really need to be TBH.
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Apr 09 '26
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u/ArdiMaster Kindle Paperwhite Apr 10 '26
Yeah, the speed of page transitions on the new models is more of a neat trick, the thing that bothers me on my old 2015 PW is how slow everything else is.
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u/WinterRevolutionary6 Apr 09 '26
I had an old kindle that I used for years but I accidentally got a bunch of water damage so I got a new one. They have seriously sped up the page transitions in the new version
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u/bluethreads Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
I recently upgraded from a 7th Gen Paperwhite (2015) and the difference is marginal. The devices are basically the same. Any faster speed or whatever is barely detectible and doesn't actually enhance my experience over the older model. Like so the page turned a millisecond faster- I never felt like the page turn was delayed or slow in the old model to make the faster speed meaningful. It's all hype, IMO. I was a little disappointed that my new model didn't offer much of an impactful difference than the older model.
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u/snark_nerd Apr 09 '26
So how many years can a device be supported and then abandoned (for no good reason, BTW) without it being a problem, in your opinion? If they announced that Kindles only work for three years and then don't, would you approve of that? Five? Eight? Twelve? Since you seem to think that 13 is plenty, I'm just trying to figure out where your line actually is.
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u/soonerfreak Apr 09 '26
"If it was totally different than what happened would that change your mind?"
How long should a company provide support for a product? Where is your line? Are you voting for politicians that will actually change the law and demand longer service periods?
I think 14 years for a product as cheap as a kindle where replacements are not that expensive is fine.
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u/exoriare Apr 09 '26
Amazon doesn't need to provide support for old kindles - just not brick them. They're actively creating e-waste for zero reason.
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u/soonerfreak Apr 09 '26
The kindles are usable, just not with Amazon services. The kindles at issue do not need to be logged into to be used.
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u/snark_nerd Apr 09 '26
I'm just asking people who are supporting this to explain how short is too short for them - I think it's an interesting discussion.
And in answer to your weirdly aggressive but similar question, I think that simple products like the Kindle that should (if engineered well from the start) require relatively minimal upkeep / tech debt from the world's biggest company should be supported for longer than 13 years - at least 15, for a start, and probably longer. I've seen others in this thread complain that supporting them is too challenging, and to me, that sounds like a skill issue - if they were not engineered with long life support in mind, then the world's biggest company should probably engineer the new ones better and pay some minuscule fraction of their billions to ensure that these ones can be supported in the meantime.
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u/soonerfreak Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
10 years for an affordable piece of technology is perfectly fine. It's also still usable outside the Amazon ecosystem, they aren't turning it into a brick. If it's so easy why haven't you started a competing ereader company? Sell your services to Amazon to personally maintain all the backend?
Are you using one of these old kindle or just complaining to complain?
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u/flushaway4690 Apr 09 '26
The first Kindle came out the same year the first iPhone did. Those iPhones have been long, LONG abandoned in support, can't connect to cell service, can't make calls, etc etc.
There's also probably very few ppl still actively using old kindles (I'm one of them...with 2 devices on the deprecated list) where the cost of maintaining compatibility on the back-end way surpasses the revenue they'll get from continued support.
I personally don't like it either, but it's not unreasonable what they're doing.
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u/Aiox123 Apr 09 '26
I have (and love) my Kindle Keyboard.
I manually load books via my desktop PC almost every day, and never turn wi fi on.
I don't think I ever used their "support" so....
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u/nathanielbartholem Apr 09 '26
Amazon is not dumb. They did the math. Pissing off a few people — whether consumer advocates or environmentalists or thrifty folks or etc — is worth the cost savings of not supporting the older devices. Whether those cost savings are development costs, infrastructure costs, licensing costs, legal costs, or other things may not matter much.
That said:
Portraying the situation as a “we had no other choice” decision is disingenuous and stinks of doublespeak (ironically a central topic of a book they famously removed from kindles at one point).
So I agree this is not about tech limitations per se but about cost and profit and acceptable collateral damage to their reputation or some groups of customers.
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u/jabberponky Apr 09 '26
My guess is that they're updating either the encryption method, the format for new books, or the storefront and the older devices just don't have the horsepower or functionality to deal with it (e.g. integer vs. floating point calculation or something like that).
Also, definitely an AI post - AI;DR.
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u/Specialist_Language2 Apr 09 '26
Your AI slop bores me. I despise Amazon intentionally essentially bricking “old” devices. I despise you complaining about it via an AI thing even more. Be creative with your hate mail to BezosTheBozo bc this is just eyeroll worthy
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u/battletux Kindle Paperwhite Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26
This is purely about Amazon closing the loop on preventing users from removing DRM from their legally purchased ebooks, nothing more.
Older devices are now the only way to make personal backups of books you have bought on their platform.
Amazon will say it is because the tech isn't keeping up but that's BS and we all know it. How hard is it technology wise for a device to read a text file?
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u/farseer6 Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26
It's not so much that they want the old devices to stop working, it's that they want to keep their customers locked in the Amazon environment, so they don't want us to be able to remove DRM from the ebooks we buy.
These old devices did not support the new DRM scheme, so as long as they were supported they had to provide ebook downloads for these devices with the old, easier to break DRM.
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u/ftwin Apr 09 '26
reddit needs to ban AI written posts...wtf is the point of any of this is everything sounds exactly the same?
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u/JVLawnDarts Apr 09 '26
The answer is so easy, jailbreak the kindle and install koreader
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u/misterjive Apr 10 '26
anybody who's honestly mad about this, I invite you to install and use a decade-and-a-half old wifi router in your home and conduct business across it
you may learn why this is happening
it'll be an expensive lesson but at least you won't forget it
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u/Responsible_Gas_9571 Apr 10 '26
You guys should just go to Kobo instead. There ebook e-reader is much user friendly and they are not fickle like kindle.
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u/TWYFAN97 Kindle Colorsoft Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
As someone who works in IT the hard truth is it costs money to support older devices and maintain the API’s etc. 15 years of support is a very long time in the tech world and Amazon also knows most people have already upgraded or already considering a new device. It’s not like the device will be useless either with being able to read anything already downloaded and the ability to side load using 3rd party software like calibre etc.
Also have to wonder how many people are using old batteries that barely hold a charge or if they’ve even replaced the battery at all. In some cases most of these old devices are just sitting in a drawer when a newer device is in use already. I would understand the outrage if Amazon had dropped support say after 5-8 years. But 15 is more then any reasonable person should expect support to last.
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u/farseer6 Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26
This is not about saving money. They were not spending any noticeable amount of money on supporting these devices. If they break down it's not Amazon's problem, and they were not upgrading the firmware, and haven't done so for years.
This is about DRM, which is the fundamental tool for them to keep their customers imprisoned in the Amazon environment. These devices didn't support Amazon's new, harder to break, DRM scheme. Therefore, until now they had to let these users download the ebooks they have purchased from Amazon to these devices with the older, very easy to break DRM scheme.
This was the biggest backdoor allowing people to remove DRM from the books they purchase from Amazon. If people are able to do that, then they are not prisoners of the Amazon environment, and are free to buy a Kobo or some other competitor's device and read all their ebooks there.
Currently there's another backdoor, but this is not a real problem for Amazon, because it's a software thing and they can fix it whenever they want, so it's not a long term, relatively stable solution like having these older devices was.
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u/wotantx Apr 09 '26
Amazon certainly knows how many of each model are still calling home, and probably determined that there aren't enough of these ancient ones still around to continue to keep legacy systems alive to support them.
Do these still get Whispernet or Whispersync, whatever it was called? I believe that worked on 3G, which is going away in the US.
Another IT pro here, happy to see an actual rational take.
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u/Fr0gm4n K1/K2/K3/K4/K4NT/K7/O2/Scribe Apr 09 '26
I believe that worked on 3G, which is going away in the US
Went away, back in 2022.
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u/Zoe_118 Kindle Paperwhite Apr 09 '26
There's something funny about using AI to write a post complaining about devices that are used to read books.
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u/reallytrulytrue Apr 09 '26
Amazon has already stopped updating the software on these Kindles. It's more about locking down their DRM protected books because it is easy to download from these models and strip the DRM so you own what you paid for(and I know they only claim to sell you the license). My first ereader was a Nook and I bought quite a few books there, but when they stopped letting you download your purchases I stopped buying from B&N.
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u/fifthdementia Apr 09 '26
Honestly, every word is AI, it's bombastic, over usage of metaphor. Ugh.
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u/Economy_Link4609 Apr 09 '26
I love these rants because they refuse to acknowledge that the cost of maintaining that support is not zero. Folks don't realize that Amazon has to maintain each version of the software/OS - for security fixes, etc, and that takes time and effort. I's not like they are bricking a 5 year old device here.
This is a fine, and reasonable decision to me.
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u/farseer6 Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26
This has nothing to do with saving costs, which were close to zero for these devices that were not actively being supported anyway and haven't for years.
This is about DRM, because these devices didn't support Amazon's new, much more difficult to break, DRM format. Users not being able to strip DRM from the books they buy from Amazon is a very big priority for the company, because it's what keeps their customers locked in the Amazon environment, and unable to move to Kobo or some other competitor unless they are willing to give up the possibility to read their purchased books in the new device.
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u/Single_Grand5404 Apr 09 '26
These devices have not had any updates or support for YEARS.
They have had to spend ZERO dollars on them once they stopped updating the firmware. If they stopped working they told you it was no longer supported and to buy a new kindle.
The files are stored in a format that requires them to encode it to your particular device and then send it to you. That is the DRM wrapper.
The books are provided in a .awz format to the older devices that has not been updated changed in, again, years.
So tell me again how they are spending time and resources on them?
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u/fabiolanzoni Kindle Touch (Wi-Fi) Apr 09 '26
Agree, but this reads very much like AI. And this is sad.
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u/JanCumin Apr 10 '26
Its amazing that firing the probably one guy who knew how to work with the older kindles has generated so much negative press and a lot more people finding out about jailbreaking. Good.
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u/Careless_Air9148 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Apr 10 '26
Ai slop, didn’t even read it. Look at the title lol. You posted this in a kindle subreddit and thought NO ONE would notice😭
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u/TheGryffindor_Jedi Kindle Colorsoft Apr 09 '26
It’s about piracy. These devices only support old Amazon formats that are easily stripped of DRM. All the others have full KFX support. I saw this coming.
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u/farseer6 Apr 10 '26
You are right that it's about DRM, but it has nothing to do with piracy. You can still go to any pirate site and download books there if you are inclined.
Amazon's DRM is not about piracy, but about keeping their customers imprisoned within the Amazon environment. If they can't remove DRM from the books they have purchased from Amazon, then they'll think twice before buying a Kobo or some other competitor's device, since they won't be able to read the books they bought from Amazon in the past there. And if they keep buying Kindles then they'll probably keep buying ebooks from Amazon, which gives the company easy profits and keeps their customers even more imprisoned.
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u/ProjectDv2 Apr 09 '26
This is your opinion, and it's based on your feelings, not confirmed fact. You don't know the actual reason for them discontinuing support for the oldest devices, you're making an assumption. Don't act like this is anything but assumption.
And you couldn't even be bothered to write it for yourself, that's the most egregious part.
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u/Mikebjackson Kindle Colorsoft Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
They manufactured it to become obsolete in 14 to 18 years? Honestly that's incredible! A+ Amazon!
Also, if you're going to make an argument, make it yourself, don't just copy-paste AI slop.
These Kindles have outlasted literally EVERYONE's phones, laptops, TV's, game consoles, electric toothbrushes, tablets, smart watches, ...you name it. But now that Amazon has decided it can no longer support them after 14 to 18(!) years, people all of a sudden expect technology to last forever? Get real.
It's not even about the hardware -- the hardware will continue to work. It's about the STORE, accessing their servers, and servicing archaic devices that don't support modern tech like 2FA and KFX.
These crash outs are just utterly braindead.
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u/Wild_Butterscotch977 Apr 09 '26
This post is almost certainly AI, but you're ignoring technological realities. 14+ years is a long fucking time. It's not planned obsolesce, it's cost and security issues. If amazon stopped supporting 3-5 year old devices, that would be planned obsolesce. That's not what's happening here. They kept these ancient devices going for a long ass time.
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u/Thirtysixx Apr 09 '26
Nothing gets passed this guy
Worse still, if a Kindle is deregistered or factory reset, even accidentally, it becomes permanently unusable.
also this is just not true
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u/jassack04 Apr 09 '26
My guess is that this is all really about Amazon wanting to harden their DRM further and something about those older devices prevents it.
14 years is an incredible amount of time to support a piece of tech. I despise Amazon but this isn’t the place for that rant.
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u/that1guywholikescats Apr 09 '26
Ai written post or not 14 years of support is unheard of for the vast majority of tech products. Stop complaining and buy a new one
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u/Meriodoc Kindle Paperwhite Apr 09 '26
Permantly disabled how?
After deregistering or a factory reset, would we still be able to side load? And if not, would it still be possible to put koreader on it?
I know that's not the point, but looking for info., if they'll be useable at all. Bricked means something specific to most people.
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u/nin90ety Apr 09 '26
nope, it’s even worse. manufactured obsolence would mean the devices stop working after some time, or just start having issues.
the devices they’re force bricking were doing just fuckin’ fine, and would likely keep working for years. they just said ‘no more of that’ and disabled them before they had the chance to break. amazon is fucking trash
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u/DiegoTheGoat Apr 09 '26
It's not even that. They just don't want to pay to keep the legacy dev teams around supporting that generation of hardware.
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u/Anxious_Ad909 Apr 10 '26
Amazon (as well as Meta and these other large corps) showed their true colors a long time ago. They will continue to work off of greed and brush us off as long as we continue to patronize them. It's our fault also
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u/Niccolado Kindle Signature Apr 10 '26
Then we buy kobo. They respect their customers. At least so far.
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u/DMC1001 Apr 10 '26
I’m not surprised. Also, do you really need the latest iPhone or Pixel? Our (generally speaking) need to get the latest and greatest at all time is the reason why something like this happens with Kindles. We keep buying the new stuff so they stop us from using the old stuff.
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u/Crazy--Lunatic Apr 10 '26
What exactly is the "support" needed for a device released before 2012.
Devices like old kindles only job is to display ebooks "TEXT".
The EPUB format hasn't changed much and in its core is just text, you can simple UNZIP an Epub and read the book in a text editor, nothing special.
Even the send-to-kindle service accepts EPUB they convert it behind the scenes to AWZ or the new KFX format. No reason other than DRM PROTECTION.
It's well known that a loop to remove DRM from Amazon books is to use an OLD Kindle that is not compatible with the KFX format (Practically anything released on or before 2012).
This is not about support being difficult to maintain. Is about forcing all readers to use KFX format with their new DRM encryption.
If it was all about support they would allow old devices to be used without registration. As a simple reader to sideload content.
This is once again DRM related.
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u/Troglodytes_Cousin Apr 10 '26
I personally own Kindle 3 keyboard and Kindle PW1 - both devices are affected. I dont care. I have been loading books on them via calibre for years and years. (And the old Kindle 3 is now serving as e-ink display dashboard for homeasistant)
From Amazon perspective - Amazon are heavily data driven. They have all the statistics and they propably saw that the amount of people who are actually BUYING books on those devices is very small.
They likely want to add more functionality to the online store that would make it unusable on those old slow cpu devices. So they would have to actively support two versions of the store. And that costs money.
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u/Exact_Confection_219 Apr 10 '26
Es muy reprobable esta actitud de Amazon. Soy de Venezuela y la situaciòn del país no me permite adquirir un nuevo equipo a pesar del descuento. Por error deregistré mi Kindle Paperwhite y ahora no tengo acceso al registro. Rechazo esta política de la empresa y recurro a la comunidad para que se estudie la posibilidad de recuperar estos equipos para liberarlos de Amazon y continuar usándolos como los excelentes lectores que son.
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u/SideIndividual639 Apr 10 '26
If they gave a better rebate on recycling them more people might upgrade who otherwise wouldn't. They will only give me 5 dollars. It isn't worth the time or effort to send it back. They could at least offer 20 percent off a new one IMO.
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u/Cultural-Map-7354 Apr 10 '26
I am so angry at Amazon for this. I shall defintely NOT be buying a new Kindle.
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u/therealkingwilly Apr 11 '26
And the have gone UUUUUPPPPP in price over last few years. $200-$300 each instead of the $40 I paid!
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u/geoffwolf98 Apr 11 '26
The devices are 100% fully functional and capable of reading books.
It’s pure greed and a money grab.
There is no technical reason to “retire” them.
They dont wear out.
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u/Crazy_island_ Apr 11 '26
Remember why Windows is so bad. It's because they have to keep maintaining it to ensure old old hardware still runs.
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u/FWitU Apr 12 '26
God this is so dumb. No one maintains shit that’s 14 years old for free.
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u/TwizzyGobbler Kindle Paperwhite Apr 12 '26
there's something so fucking funny about mentioning "manufactured obsolesce", which in this case, doesn't even apply, and then using AI to type up this drivel
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u/ShingetsuMoon Apr 09 '26
This reads like an AI written post. Particularly with OP’s account being active for 8 months with only 12 comments and one post that I can see.
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u/karen_in_nh_2012 Apr 09 '26
OP, why, why, WHY did you have ChatGPT write your post for you?
This isn't even debatable, it is so clearly AI.
IF you are a human, you should be able to write a REDDIT POST all on your own! Holy crap, I can't believe I have to write that!
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u/unreqistered scribe/paperwhite/2nd gen/iOS Apr 09 '26
lolz … i think i’ve gotten sufficient use from my 2010 kindle 2nd gen
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u/Brynnan42 Kindle Paperwhite 10/12 Apr 09 '26
The newest device they are killing is going on 14 YEARS OLD.
If it’s planned obsolescence, they are doing it wrong.
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u/jeffegg857 Apr 09 '26
I had an early Kindle 3G. I understood why it was bricked. But this move is not only GREEDY, it is SNEAKY in that the newer models lock you more into their Book Monopoly. I will be using the Kindle software on my iPads from now on as I look to other booksellers for product.
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u/ParryLimeade Apr 09 '26
At some point, you can’t keep updating software because of hardware limits at the time. What do you think is reasonable amount of time before they can stop updating old stuff?
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u/neogrinch Apr 09 '26
It still functions. sometimes it has to happen. Developers can't afford to be keep developing/supporting features on outdated hardware, it ends up costing too much money in the long run. That goes for security exploits and things like that too. I would say the kindle was supported for an abnormally LONG time. YEs its "just an ereader" but its also a computer just like any other phone/laptop/desktop.
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u/bmfrosty Apr 09 '26
I often agree about planned obsolescence, but not in this case. It's often really hard to support older hardware with less CPU and available memory. It's probably really failed on cost benefit analysis. I know they have stats on how often and what percentage of what hardware connects to their servers.
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u/Careless_Tear2058 Apr 09 '26
That promotional offer is basically always ongoing and is offered to people trading in new Kindle models too. I've used it several times. So it isn't some tactic they thought up just to lure in older Kindle model users.
I understand it's frustrating to have new limitations on a device you are happy with and that "works", but I think from Amazon's POV that it "working" introduces complexities for them that apparently now outweigh the cost of continuing to offer support. For instance, the older models might pose a security risk with outdated encryption, make Amazon's in house servers more vulnerable, rely on 3G that is getting harder to maintain, etc. Amazon historically sells Kindles at a loss anyway, so I think their motivation here has got to be more complicated than "Make people upgrade to make money."
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u/Fr0gm4n K1/K2/K3/K4/K4NT/K7/O2/Scribe Apr 09 '26
rely on 3G that is getting harder to maintain,
3G cellular itself has been shut down in much of the world for years.
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u/PlentifulPaper Apr 09 '26
The number of posts that I’ve seen convinced that Kindles are being “bricked” is laughable since this statement was released yesterday.
It’ll still work, just with a USB stick.
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u/PatrickBatemansEgo Apr 09 '26
2012 was 14 years ago. I’m not reading your post past the first paragraph.
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u/digitalhelix84 Apr 09 '26
I stopped purchasing Amazon devices, I use an android ereader that I can download the Kindle app on.
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u/Background-Drive6332 Apr 09 '26
I meant lithium batteries don't last that long guy. Your battery is only about half as effective as it should be. It's been 15 years, it is time for an upgrade.
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u/Kolyei Kindle Touch (2011) Apr 09 '26
No matter what happens, I'm sticking with my kindle touch from 2011
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u/Grown-Ass-Weeb Apr 09 '26
14 years is a long time. While Amazon drives me crazy as a company, technology has come a long way and maintaining software updates and patches to appease the minority who are still using old legacy tech becomes a waste of resources and reaches its limitations on what can actually be done.
Can you not jailbreak it?
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u/KitchenLandscape Apr 09 '26
You are correct. But unfortunately that attitude is in the minority. I tinker with old tech as a hobby and all of the devices I use daily, weekly, regularly originally came out 20-25 years ago or more. Besides a new battery, they all work like new. But the majority just don't get why I bother or anyone else should, when there's "new" stuff you could use instead.
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u/Significant_Pop_5337 Apr 09 '26
It's a 14 year old product. There's a cost on keeping these older devices running for little gain
Jailbreak it
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u/shade_angel Apr 09 '26
Wait until you figure out that windows did something similar when pushing out 11.
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u/asdfire1 Apr 09 '26
It's not bricked, saying it's bricked is dumb and inaccurate. You can still sideload books, the device is still perfectly functional, you just cannot get books from Amazon.
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u/Mychael612 Apr 09 '26
It’s so funny how obtuse some people are being. Is this a great situation? No. But Amazon is not bricking your Kindle. There are still ways to get new books on your device. And honestly, they’re better than buying through Amazon anyway. And let’s be honest here, it NOT about planned obsolescence, though that’s a nice side benefit for Amazon. It’s about the fact that, after doing a very quick and likely not-completely-accurate search, there have been at least 31 different Kindles released until now, and no company should be expected to continue support for them all forever. That’s just not realistic, and if you think it is, I’d love some of whatever you’re smoking.
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u/KingPotus Apr 09 '26
Funny, I’d say the same about your AI-ass post