Amazon's killing a feature that let you download and backup Kindle books(theverge.com)
theverge.com
Amazon's killing a feature that let you download and backup Kindle books
https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb
113 comments
Bookshop.org sells ebooks now. There is DRM based on publisher specifications unfortunately. For DRM free books, I ship physical copies for scanning to get a PDF, which is not great unfortunately.
https://bookshop.org/info/ebooks
https://bookshop.org/info/ebooks
IMO this is worse because the DRM books are limited to their app, and so completely locked away in their control. No possibility of reading on eink devices.
>We are working with Kobo to support Kobo devices later this year.
If that comes together I assume it'll use the standard adobe system and people can free their copies?
If that comes together I assume it'll use the standard adobe system and people can free their copies?
Depends on how hard it is to strip the DRM. It’s a checkbox to give publishers the warm and fuzzy feeling.
> So, it's not possible for me to legally buy books from them
Lol of course it is, you just convinced yourself that stealing was a better option.
Get on with Amazon support and tell them that you’ve been a loyal customer for a decade and have a Kindle that no longer authenticates but want to continue buying books from them.
If they don’t offer you a free Kindle, tell them you want one for free. I’ve done this a few times successfully when a Kindle broke outside of the warranty period.
Lol of course it is, you just convinced yourself that stealing was a better option.
Get on with Amazon support and tell them that you’ve been a loyal customer for a decade and have a Kindle that no longer authenticates but want to continue buying books from them.
If they don’t offer you a free Kindle, tell them you want one for free. I’ve done this a few times successfully when a Kindle broke outside of the warranty period.
This is insane... we should not be throwing away good tech because of planned obsolescence and relying on groveling to customer service to use tech that we bought...
OK, then just buy a new Kindle if you feel groveling is beneath you? I’ll admit that’s an even quicker solution.
Just glossed right over that e-waste part, eh?
yes, just like everyone does lol. people only bring up e-waste when they’ve run out of real points to make.
The save-the-environment ship has sailed. It’s not even a point worth engaging with. You really think that if every kindle ever made would magically last forever that the environment still wouldn’t be fucked beyond belief?
The save-the-environment ship has sailed. It’s not even a point worth engaging with. You really think that if every kindle ever made would magically last forever that the environment still wouldn’t be fucked beyond belief?
Defeatism is gross.
We can all of us individually, and all of us collectively, do better.
You are quite literally the problem.
We can all of us individually, and all of us collectively, do better.
You are quite literally the problem.
We are all quite literally the problem.
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Lol I sleep fine at night.
I don’t eat meat, I live in a small apartment, I don’t drive, I don’t fly, I don’t have kids. I buy crap I don’t need though.
I’ll put myself up against nearly anyone else in the developed world as far as carbon footprint goes.
I don’t eat meat, I live in a small apartment, I don’t drive, I don’t fly, I don’t have kids. I buy crap I don’t need though.
I’ll put myself up against nearly anyone else in the developed world as far as carbon footprint goes.
E-waste, monetary waste (all this work in a good product-- only to be actively destroyed so that you have to buy a new one!), customer rights (it wouldn't be legal for someone to break your item with a hammer, so why with code?), and also just generally monopolistic anti-competitive market manipulation (this wouldn't fly in any competitive sector!)
We, as consumers, have a right to be mad about this stuff... this is why we have the Consumer Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission.
We, as consumers, have a right to be mad about this stuff... this is why we have the Consumer Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission.
>When companies fuck you over you should keep buying from them
Yea this is dumb advice. Are you a stock holder?
Yea this is dumb advice. Are you a stock holder?
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How is it being fucked over if I pay for something and get value from it? I’m not entitled to my Kindle working forever just because I bought it today.
>I’m not entitled to my Kindle working forever just because I bought it today.
Yes you are. This is how it worked for nearly all of history. Its the entire point of the right to repair movement, to prevent companies from this scummy model of demanding a subscription for everything and trying to stop people from owning anything. Buying a Kindle over and over again benefits no one but Amazon and their stock holders. Its even more disgusting that the OP's Kindle broke because Amazon broke it on purpose.
Yes you are. This is how it worked for nearly all of history. Its the entire point of the right to repair movement, to prevent companies from this scummy model of demanding a subscription for everything and trying to stop people from owning anything. Buying a Kindle over and over again benefits no one but Amazon and their stock holders. Its even more disgusting that the OP's Kindle broke because Amazon broke it on purpose.
> This is how it worked for nearly all of history
I don’t see you saying this about how we used to die if we got an infection.
Times change.
> Buying a Kindle over and over again benefits no one but Amazon and their stock holders.
It benefits me! The kindle I bought last year is many times more enjoyable to use than the one I bought a decade ago.
I don’t see you saying this about how we used to die if we got an infection.
Times change.
> Buying a Kindle over and over again benefits no one but Amazon and their stock holders.
It benefits me! The kindle I bought last year is many times more enjoyable to use than the one I bought a decade ago.
>The kindle I bought last year is many times more enjoyable to use than the one I bought a decade ago.
I know you're trolling, but in what way? Ebooks were always light, the only meaningful innovations have been sort of having color, getting bigger, and a stylus. Those are legitimate reasons to upgrades, everything else is software that could be updated.
>Times change.
People being in abusive relationships and thinking its good for them have existed forever. See how I didn't bring up something completely irrelevant to the conversation to make a point.
I know you're trolling, but in what way? Ebooks were always light, the only meaningful innovations have been sort of having color, getting bigger, and a stylus. Those are legitimate reasons to upgrades, everything else is software that could be updated.
>Times change.
People being in abusive relationships and thinking its good for them have existed forever. See how I didn't bring up something completely irrelevant to the conversation to make a point.
> I know you're trolling, but in what way
No, I am not trolling.
It is faster to turn pages, it has more storage, the screen is better, it has a light. If you want to include the scribe, it has a much bigger screen and I can write/draw on it.
It’s like your computer or phone. Would you really be thrilled to be using the 2015 version of those things today?
No, I am not trolling.
It is faster to turn pages, it has more storage, the screen is better, it has a light. If you want to include the scribe, it has a much bigger screen and I can write/draw on it.
It’s like your computer or phone. Would you really be thrilled to be using the 2015 version of those things today?
No, it's really not possible anymore. Even if you upgrade the firmware as far as possible, which I've done, you still can't log into the Kindle store on the device. For a while there was a trick you could do involving requesting a one-time password, but even that just doesn't work anymore, even on devices newer than mine. They stopped supporting the device, end of story.
The changes to their whatsits are likely certificate expiration related.
For the longest time the rumor was that backward compatibility was mandated (through certificate gymnastics) by Jeff because Mackenzie had a 1st gen Kindle that she adored. I reckon nobody any longer gives a shit about that.
For the longest time the rumor was that backward compatibility was mandated (through certificate gymnastics) by Jeff because Mackenzie had a 1st gen Kindle that she adored. I reckon nobody any longer gives a shit about that.
I am weary of corporations still trying to own everything they already sold me. Additionally sick of them trying to control speech and thought based on whatever ludicrous corporate nanny culture is in vogue.
The people censoring books with “inappropriate language” have no understanding of precedent, history, or art. 1/100th as talented as the authors whose work they “update”. Their life’s greatest accomplishment is making something actually impressive slightly worse.
Coincidentally I was already looking at a Kobo Libra Color or a Supernote Nomad, this just sealed that decision.
The people censoring books with “inappropriate language” have no understanding of precedent, history, or art. 1/100th as talented as the authors whose work they “update”. Their life’s greatest accomplishment is making something actually impressive slightly worse.
Coincidentally I was already looking at a Kobo Libra Color or a Supernote Nomad, this just sealed that decision.
I don't have a problem with changing the language in older works, but I have a massive problem with hiding the change or the previous versions. Sell a perpetual, transferable license to the work and make newer (aka "improved") versions of the document available after the sale. I will appreciate better layout, fixed typos, timestamps to match up with audio books etc, but if you try to whitewash history and erase notes taken on the old versions you deserve to drown in the shitstorm.
Oh you just wanted to change the deal and turn a book sale into a prepaid rent you can cancel or modify to maximise profits? Get fucked Amazon! Such short sighted greed will drive readers to put in the effort and actively search out pirated content instead of paying exorbitant unearned margins to you. That's how you sustain a pirate community you damn fools.
Oh you just wanted to change the deal and turn a book sale into a prepaid rent you can cancel or modify to maximise profits? Get fucked Amazon! Such short sighted greed will drive readers to put in the effort and actively search out pirated content instead of paying exorbitant unearned margins to you. That's how you sustain a pirate community you damn fools.
I switched to the Kobo store specifically because its DRM is so trivially breakable. They've gotten hundreds of dollars from me, and I switched to independent book sellers for physical copies of things. I order a few, and next time I'm in the suburb with my favorite indie store, I pick them up there.
This renders my kindle gen 2 useless, as its only connectivity is/was via cellular network which doesn’t work anymore (2g or something). I’ve been having to download and then transfer via usb for years.
I recommend complaining to support if this ends up affecting you. It wouldn't surprise me if they can turn it back on for you (idk if it's likely, but I feel like it's worth a try.)
You don’t even own ebooks on Amazon. You own a license that is set to expire and can be revoked at anytime.
I'm a heavy use of this feature so I'm pissed. Can anyone recommend alternatives? I need to be able to load any books I buy into Calibre so I can convert to whatever format I need.
My Kobo Libra Colour combined with Kavita (a much saner organization than the mess that is calibre), Tailscale (OPDS access to Kavita from anywhere) , and KoReader (power user reader for the perfect reading experience that supports every format I have tried) has transformed my reading. I only use Calibre now for initially adding the metadata.
I haven't read and completed so many books since I was a kid with unlimited free time. The color is perfectly fine for books that are mostly text with the occasional image. Sadly I just feel like I'd be missing out if I started putting color manga, books with a focus on photography, etc. Those still go to my iPad pro but I find it a lot less convenient to read on there.
I haven't read and completed so many books since I was a kid with unlimited free time. The color is perfectly fine for books that are mostly text with the occasional image. Sadly I just feel like I'd be missing out if I started putting color manga, books with a focus on photography, etc. Those still go to my iPad pro but I find it a lot less convenient to read on there.
Kobo is pretty great. Good quality hardware and works well with Calibre.
It works - amazing - with Calibre actually. I set up Calibre-Web-Automated last week and setup my Kobo Libra 2 to sync with my Calibre server (swapping one url in a config file), and now my Kobo acts like my self hosted Calibre server is the actual Kobo Store, meaning I can browse and download all of my books. I think it syncs reading progress too.
Hey, this look neat. I'm not familiar with kobos, are they good (compared to kindles)? Does this require some sort of jailbreaking or are they quite open by default?
In my experience they're more open than Kindles by default and there's no need for jailbreaking. I can read PDFs, project Gutenberg epubs, library books, sideload via Calibre and so on -- but maybe someone else has other needs that require a jailbreak? Not sure.
The hardware is good. I have a Libra Colour, which works great. Good screen, waterproof, nice hardware buttons to page-scroll one-handed, a good bezel to hold onto. No complaints from me about it.
The hardware is good. I have a Libra Colour, which works great. Good screen, waterproof, nice hardware buttons to page-scroll one-handed, a good bezel to hold onto. No complaints from me about it.
You literally just change an URL in a config file. The config file is available by just connecting your Kobo by USB to your computer. Super simple and quite surprising.
Would you be willing to post a short blurb about how you did it. I spent the last two days trying to do this. Just listing the software you used would be helpful.
I put together a quick write-up on how I did my setup, for you :) If anything is unclear, feel free to reach out.
https://medioker.utveckla.re/stuff/calibre-web-automated/?hn
A seed box and Calibre? scnr
Just switch to Kobo. Download the books from their site in ACSM, then remove the Adobe DRM. It the same process if using Calibre.
https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/169djct/kobo_bookstor...
https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/169djct/kobo_bookstor...
I have a couple hundred books. Has anyone managed to use puppeteer or selenium or something to automate it? This will take hours.
This is... terrible news. This is primarily how I get books from the library. I found that if you keep the Kindle on Airplane mode and download + transfer them, they never expire.
Nothing malicious. I just can't read books arbitrarily in a 21 day period.
Nothing malicious. I just can't read books arbitrarily in a 21 day period.
This will not affect you at all. They're not stopping allowing you to transfer books to your kindle over USB. They're stopping letting you download book files from Amazon.
From what the article says, that's doesn't appear to be true.
In order to download and transfer Kindle books from the Library, I have to first add them to "My Content" on Amazon, then from the Amazon interface click "Download & Transfer via USB". That's the only way to access the AZW3 files that get moved over to the Kindle.
In order to download and transfer Kindle books from the Library, I have to first add them to "My Content" on Amazon, then from the Amazon interface click "Download & Transfer via USB". That's the only way to access the AZW3 files that get moved over to the Kindle.
Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize you meant your kindle library. I thought you were talking about borrowing ebooks from your public library.
I was! Responded in a comment below. The public library serves the digital books directly through Amazon.
Either I'm missing something more obvious or the system I've seen libraries use for digital books over the past 10 years is more uncommon than I realized.
Either I'm missing something more obvious or the system I've seen libraries use for digital books over the past 10 years is more uncommon than I realized.
Oh. That’s bizarre. Never heard of that. Certainly not how any library I’ve used does it.
This has nothing to do what your use case since you get the books from the library.
From what the article says, that's doesn't appear to be true.
In order to download and transfer Kindle books from the Library, I have to first add them to "My Content" on Amazon, then from the Amazon interface click "Download & Transfer via USB". That's the only way to access the AZW3 files that get moved over to the Kindle.
In order to download and transfer Kindle books from the Library, I have to first add them to "My Content" on Amazon, then from the Amazon interface click "Download & Transfer via USB". That's the only way to access the AZW3 files that get moved over to the Kindle.
Are you talking about the amazon library or an actual library that lends you ebooks? I'm assuming the latter, in which case you just plug in and transfer.
Actual library that lends me ebooks (Austin). The library uses Overdrive (Libby) and anything provided in the Kindle format can't be downloaded directly from the Library's interface. You have to click a "Read now with Kindle" button which redirects you to Amazon, where you have to click "Get Library Book" directly from Amazon.com.
Epub can be downloaded directly from the library, but these have to be converted into a Kindle compatible format. I'm also unsure if every digital book copy has Epub as a format, since there are some digital copies that don't have Kindle format.
This has been true of all public digital libraries I've used in the past 10 years (Houston, Arlington, Fort Worth)
Epub can be downloaded directly from the library, but these have to be converted into a Kindle compatible format. I'm also unsure if every digital book copy has Epub as a format, since there are some digital copies that don't have Kindle format.
This has been true of all public digital libraries I've used in the past 10 years (Houston, Arlington, Fort Worth)
I got a Kindle when I lived in Italy and it was so amazing being able to instantly get books in English with no shipping or import fees or any of that.
Now I regret how much control Amazon has over a substantial number of books I paid for, though.
Now I regret how much control Amazon has over a substantial number of books I paid for, though.
What are some stores that sell DRM free books? If it's easy enough to rip that's fine too.
I wonder what percentage of kindle users even knew about this or used it.
AFAIK this was pretty integral to the Calibre + DRM cracking plugin workflow that everyone used to buy Kindle books and then use them on non-Kindle platforms. In other words, it's Amazon welding shut another unauthorized fire exit.
I've purchased hundreds of books through the Kindle store specifically because of that functionality, and I've just moved my business over to Kobo. I doubt that I'm the only person to shrug and bail on Amazon based on this move.
I don't know if that matters to them, or if it even registers tbh, but I think I'm like most people in that regard: I'm not going to struggle to send feedback to a megacorp, I'm just gone.
I don't know if that matters to them, or if it even registers tbh, but I think I'm like most people in that regard: I'm not going to struggle to send feedback to a megacorp, I'm just gone.
once there's a monopoly, this is what happens
Kobo makes great e-readers.
I'm interpreting this as the final straw for cancelling Prime.
Very small vote with my wallet, but something.
Very small vote with my wallet, but something.
The simple solution is to stop buying eBooks from Amazon. Pirate all of your epubs and PDFs so you will always have an offline backup.
If you enjoyed the book buy a hard copy for a friend, relative, book club, etc from a local book store. Amazon doesn't need your money anymore.
If you enjoyed the book buy a hard copy for a friend, relative, book club, etc from a local book store. Amazon doesn't need your money anymore.
Your solution hurts authors more than Amazon. Just buy ebooks from somewhere else! Don’t be cheap and pretend it’s principled. I know you say buy a copy if you enjoyed it but that’s not really how commerce works and none of these authors agreed to offer you donationware.
> Just buy ebooks from somewhere else!
Where can I buy ebooks (epub) that give me access to download the file so that I can copy it to my other devices and keep it on my own backups and organize it in my digital library the way I want to? I want a good selection of anime / manga / sci-fi, and a little bit of the typical best seller stuff.
Where can I buy ebooks (epub) that give me access to download the file so that I can copy it to my other devices and keep it on my own backups and organize it in my digital library the way I want to? I want a good selection of anime / manga / sci-fi, and a little bit of the typical best seller stuff.
If you want to go down the route offered by GP, buy it anywhere and then pirate the epub. The author is compensated, you get the freedom of an unconstrained ebook file, everyone wins.
I've switched from Amazon to Kobo (in terms of a store, I don't use either's devices). I tested last night and I was able to copy epubs purchased from Kobo wherever I wanted. They have all of what you just described.
Like you, I insist on having the ability to archive and backup my media, and the second I learned that Amazon was removing that ability I was done with them.
Also just to echo what others have said, I'm of the belief that once you pay for a book/game/etc... as long as you're the only one using it, the rest is free game. Pirate away after you buy a copy and I don't think there's an ethical problem there.
Like you, I insist on having the ability to archive and backup my media, and the second I learned that Amazon was removing that ability I was done with them.
Also just to echo what others have said, I'm of the belief that once you pay for a book/game/etc... as long as you're the only one using it, the rest is free game. Pirate away after you buy a copy and I don't think there's an ethical problem there.
For books from small and specialty presses, I like to buy the ebook from the publisher because they'll often sell you a copy without DRM. Mind you, this has been true for tech presses and small companies but not for university presses and imprints attached to big publishing houses.
Humble Bundles (if you get lucky and find a good one) are also usually just DRM-free files in a zip archive. I've seen more sci-fi bundles lately (e.g., they had bundles of the complete works of John Scalzi, V.E. Schwab, and Ursula K LeGuin last year), and I think they usually have some anime bundle on offer.
Kobo is also a pretty complete bookstore, and they tend to match a lot of the "1.99 ebook today only!" sales that Amazon runs. I do most of my reading on one of their devices becaus you can sync PDFs/ePubs (via a USB cable or Dropbox) and log in directly to Pocket (for web pages) and OverDrive (for library books).
I saw Bookshop.org also sells ebooks, but their marketing copy ("read right in your web browser, or download our iPhone or Android apps for the full reading experience") makes it sound like they built a closed platform and don't sell files.
Humble Bundles (if you get lucky and find a good one) are also usually just DRM-free files in a zip archive. I've seen more sci-fi bundles lately (e.g., they had bundles of the complete works of John Scalzi, V.E. Schwab, and Ursula K LeGuin last year), and I think they usually have some anime bundle on offer.
Kobo is also a pretty complete bookstore, and they tend to match a lot of the "1.99 ebook today only!" sales that Amazon runs. I do most of my reading on one of their devices becaus you can sync PDFs/ePubs (via a USB cable or Dropbox) and log in directly to Pocket (for web pages) and OverDrive (for library books).
I saw Bookshop.org also sells ebooks, but their marketing copy ("read right in your web browser, or download our iPhone or Android apps for the full reading experience") makes it sound like they built a closed platform and don't sell files.
Honestly in most genres you're hosed, but if you're into Japanese nerd stuff, j-novel club sells light novels (and a few manga) with no DRM.
Wait WHAT?! I’ve been buying ebooks off BookWalker and it’s so annoying. Their reader app sucks and they have these faux-protective constraints like not permitting a “copy” function on any highlighted text and limiting a book to no more than 50 highlights. It’s so silly…
Edit: damn, had assumed you meant maximum nerd mode and that these books were available in Japanese… looks like it’s all English translations. So it goes.
I buy from Ebooks.com it comes with the adobe drm but it is super easy to strip using a calibre plugin
This! I did this when an relatively new but obscure book was needed for work.
Read it on my kindle after removing the DRM and sent it via amazon.com/sendtokindle
Read it on my kindle after removing the DRM and sent it via amazon.com/sendtokindle
bookshop.org is very nice alternative!
I'm happy to spend more money on that than using Amazon or any other big corp. They are heavily subsidized and in the long rung destroy people community and the world in general.
I'm happy to spend more money on that than using Amazon or any other big corp. They are heavily subsidized and in the long rung destroy people community and the world in general.
It has DRM and there is no way to read books from there except on their iOS and android apps and maybe the website (ereaders are excluded entirely at least for now - i think they’re hoping to add Kobo support eventually)
Authors still write books in a world where digital copying is so commonplace that people talk and trade openly with zero fear of repercussion. Trading material helps it to live longer and get it into more hands, giving it more significance, meaning that it has a chance of reaching an audience that has a portion of people who will seek out a means of paying for it, directly or otherwise (eg supporting some other work from the author, or even paying for it directly like when Radiohead leaked Hail to the Thief for free but fans still clamored to pay for it which also help to underline the fact that one copy does not equal one lost sale)
Digital piracy has been around for decades, naturally. The primary thing that computers do is copy data (you download a book, that's a copy on your hard drive. You read it, you've now copied it to RAM and to your graphical display. You sync it to another device, that's another several copies, etc). It will never be stopped
Digital piracy has been around for decades, naturally. The primary thing that computers do is copy data (you download a book, that's a copy on your hard drive. You read it, you've now copied it to RAM and to your graphical display. You sync it to another device, that's another several copies, etc). It will never be stopped
> I know you say buy a copy if you enjoyed it but that’s not really how commerce works
when I was younger I pirated all my OS X software because I couldn't afford it. That machine broke some years back (2021-ish) and I was on Windows for a while, but after I got a job I bought a Mac again and dropped probably over $500 on copies of all the software that I had once pirated.
I don't know how you think commerce works, but without piracy, a lot of this software I wouldn't even know exists, and certainly wouldn't have gotten my money, because I wouldn't have known at all which of it was worth buying to me. Sorry though for hurting all those authors by (eventually) giving them money.
when I was younger I pirated all my OS X software because I couldn't afford it. That machine broke some years back (2021-ish) and I was on Windows for a while, but after I got a job I bought a Mac again and dropped probably over $500 on copies of all the software that I had once pirated.
I don't know how you think commerce works, but without piracy, a lot of this software I wouldn't even know exists, and certainly wouldn't have gotten my money, because I wouldn't have known at all which of it was worth buying to me. Sorry though for hurting all those authors by (eventually) giving them money.
You’re describing something different, which is just paying later. I was objecting to someone proposing reading books and then paying only if they thought it was good. That’s the part that isn’t commerce, because one side is making use of a good and isn’t compensating the other side.
I mean, I also didn't pay for stuff I tried and didn't think was good. (Which reminds me, one day I should actually buy the Warriors series of books since I only read them from a library once...)
I throw money around a lot more now though, I tend to just buy something and try it and only ask for a refund if it's really useless (like was a macOS app called Vivid that ruined video playback; Lunar works much better).
I personally don't think there's anything wrong with not compensating for a good that you can't use. Then you're not using the good without compensation because you're just not using the good. Books are a funny concept because people consider reading it to be using the good.
If I read a book and there's absolutely nothing I can gleam from it and I just hate it, why should I pay for it? Is it the experience of having those words thrown at me that I'm paying for? If yes, did you know some movie theater tickets are refundable if you didn't like the movie after watching it? I think mostly in Canada. Look it up, it's a real thing. Are those theaters implementing commerce incorrectly?
I throw money around a lot more now though, I tend to just buy something and try it and only ask for a refund if it's really useless (like was a macOS app called Vivid that ruined video playback; Lunar works much better).
I personally don't think there's anything wrong with not compensating for a good that you can't use. Then you're not using the good without compensation because you're just not using the good. Books are a funny concept because people consider reading it to be using the good.
If I read a book and there's absolutely nothing I can gleam from it and I just hate it, why should I pay for it? Is it the experience of having those words thrown at me that I'm paying for? If yes, did you know some movie theater tickets are refundable if you didn't like the movie after watching it? I think mostly in Canada. Look it up, it's a real thing. Are those theaters implementing commerce incorrectly?
Yes, interesting case. I'd say the difference is that those theatres are agreeing to those terms. With books, I think it's fair to read chapter or two in a bookshop and decide if you want more. But if you read the whole book, you can't then just say "That wasn't great, I won't pay". Nobody agreed to those terms, and you're getting the product of someone's labour and just declining to pay for it.
Too many ebooks are Amazon exclusive for that to be viable. Within the fantasy genre, at least. I agree with you generally but this was a valid way to support authors while still reading on non-Kindle eReaders. Amazon just shut that door.
> Within the fantasy genre, at least.
Also true of smut! Chuck Tingle recently signed with Tor, but I believe all of his earlier books (including classics like Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt) are Kindle-only. Same for niche favorites like C.M. Nascosta
Also true of smut! Chuck Tingle recently signed with Tor, but I believe all of his earlier books (including classics like Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt) are Kindle-only. Same for niche favorites like C.M. Nascosta
If it's OK for Meta, the society accepts it.
Personally I'm glad to pay for a book later if author provides alternate method for payment. But to pay for the book just to flip trough it and decide it's not for me is not worth it.
Personally I'm glad to pay for a book later if author provides alternate method for payment. But to pay for the book just to flip trough it and decide it's not for me is not worth it.
Do you also go out for lunch and decide whether to pay for the meal after you’re done if it tastes well enough? Pay for games if you enjoyed the story? Go to a concert and pay for the tickets if it was a good show?
That isn’t fair, and also not how economic transactions work. If everyone did this, we would not have the majority of enjoyable things.
That isn’t fair, and also not how economic transactions work. If everyone did this, we would not have the majority of enjoyable things.
> I know you say buy a copy if you enjoyed it but that’s not really how commerce works and none of these authors agreed to offer you donationware.
I'm all for also buying books, but my local library has all the books too, so it is sort of how the commerce of books works (at least where I live).
Also if people are still buying ebooks or kindles from Amazon after the whole 1984 fiasco I doubt they're going to care about downloads.
I'm all for also buying books, but my local library has all the books too, so it is sort of how the commerce of books works (at least where I live).
Also if people are still buying ebooks or kindles from Amazon after the whole 1984 fiasco I doubt they're going to care about downloads.
Libraries are great! And authors get paid for that too. Win-win.
Would be worth spending some community time to see what are the costs of improving non gafam or making a new distribution platform.
Go to a library if that's such a problem
Nowadays nobody writes books for money so yes, it hurts only Amazon.
That's not true. Just like in every other time, many authors rely on multiple income streams, but book sales are an important part of that. Amazon would love for your assertion to be true, but we're not there yet.
Sorry...it is: "The median author income for full-time authors from their books was $10,000 in 2022" - https://authorsguild.org/news/key-takeaways-from-2023-author...
"Nobody makes money from books" - https://malwarwick-98471.medium.com/nobody-makes-money-from-...
Exceptions and wildly successful authors are just the exceptions that confirm the status quo.
"Nobody makes money from books" - https://malwarwick-98471.medium.com/nobody-makes-money-from-...
Exceptions and wildly successful authors are just the exceptions that confirm the status quo.
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A wild, unsupported claim. And even if any particular author doesn’t make a full living out of writing, that doesn’t mean you’re hurting them by not paying.
All the whiners in the thread. Now, as a lawyer I technically can't recommend this, but:
Consider someone who goes to the library, reads books, and then only buys them if they like them.
There is no meaningful moral difference between this and so called "piracy" + buying later.
Please, buy books and support authors. But also, don't pooh-pooh the entire point of the existence of libraries.
Consider someone who goes to the library, reads books, and then only buys them if they like them.
There is no meaningful moral difference between this and so called "piracy" + buying later.
Please, buy books and support authors. But also, don't pooh-pooh the entire point of the existence of libraries.
Libraries purchase the copies they loan out. In the US, libraries can typically only loan out an ebook a fixed number of times, and in other jurisdictions (like the UK), authors are paid per check out.
Please check out a book from a library instead of pirating it; it's much better for the author and your community!
Please check out a book from a library instead of pirating it; it's much better for the author and your community!
I agree that you should do this
but I also completely get why people don't
It's just SUCH AN ARTIFICIALLY STUPID process, basically actively engineering the technology to work worse than "by default." As in, it's literally more difficult to do this lending thing than to just dump the books on the device and have them all there forever with their essentially infinite storage space.
but I also completely get why people don't
It's just SUCH AN ARTIFICIALLY STUPID process, basically actively engineering the technology to work worse than "by default." As in, it's literally more difficult to do this lending thing than to just dump the books on the device and have them all there forever with their essentially infinite storage space.
> it's literally more difficult to do this lending thing than to just dump the books on the device and have them all there forever with their essentially infinite storage space
True, but you could say the same of music streaming platforms, but we're still experimenting with ways to make that work. In both cases, the platform is trying to replicate via policy what was previously an inherent limitation of physical media, and different offerings have made competing choices about what limitations are critical to the business model and which can be let go of.
I personally see a lot more promise in the model where libraries use a policy to enforce a loan period but pay per-checkout royalties instead of trying to recreate wear and tear like Libby/OverDrive does. It makes it more feasible for small libraries to have an "infinite catalog" of ebooks, and authors seem to like it better: https://bsky.app/profile/premeemohamed.com/post/3liafq4gsoc2...
True, but you could say the same of music streaming platforms, but we're still experimenting with ways to make that work. In both cases, the platform is trying to replicate via policy what was previously an inherent limitation of physical media, and different offerings have made competing choices about what limitations are critical to the business model and which can be let go of.
I personally see a lot more promise in the model where libraries use a policy to enforce a loan period but pay per-checkout royalties instead of trying to recreate wear and tear like Libby/OverDrive does. It makes it more feasible for small libraries to have an "infinite catalog" of ebooks, and authors seem to like it better: https://bsky.app/profile/premeemohamed.com/post/3liafq4gsoc2...
Local libraries often provide free digital access which works on kindle.
Isn’t the simpler solution to not care?
I’d rather just pay to read books from Amazon right on my Kindle than go through the rigamarole of pirating all my epubs and PDFs.
In 16 years of Kindle ownership I’ve never once been like dang I wish I had an offline backup of that.
I’d rather just pay to read books from Amazon right on my Kindle than go through the rigamarole of pirating all my epubs and PDFs.
In 16 years of Kindle ownership I’ve never once been like dang I wish I had an offline backup of that.
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> Amazon has occasionally [1] removed books from its online store and remotely deleted them from Kindles or [2] edited titles and re-uploaded new copies to its e-readers.
1. Not remotely ok but we understand that contracts expire somehow and "purchase" is not a legal term any more.
2. Wait, what? When would this be useful to the corporation? Is Jeff gearing up for more censorship like he does at WaPo?
1. Not remotely ok but we understand that contracts expire somehow and "purchase" is not a legal term any more.
2. Wait, what? When would this be useful to the corporation? Is Jeff gearing up for more censorship like he does at WaPo?
> Is Jeff gearing up for more censorship like he does at WaPo?
He already tried in the past:
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18am...
He already tried in the past:
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18am...
I bring this up to mention how incredibly easy it is to sideload books into a Kindle (an old one at least; can't speak to the new ones).