SAN FRANCISCO, California: Amazon is ending support for Kindle e-readers released in 2012 and earlier, prompting frustration among longtime users who say they are being forced to retire devices that still work well. Beginning May 20, owners of older Kindles will no longer be able to download new books directly to their devices or receive software updates. Amazon announced the change last month. The company is offering affected users a 20 percent discount on newer Kindle models and $20 in e-book credits. Current Kindle devices
range in price from $110 to $680. For many users, however, the older devices remain deeply valued. “I’ve never felt the desire to have another device,” said Claudia Buonocore, a 39-year-old Kindle owner from the Pittsburgh area. “It’s a part of me, a lifesaver, I fall asleep with it almost every night.” Buonocore called Amazon’s decision “a complete betrayal of customers.” Brian Oelberg, a 64-year-old Chicago resident, said he has loaded about 250 books onto his 2010-era Kindle Keyboard since learning of the change. He
plans to switch off the device’s Wi-Fi to preserve it. “There’s no reason for Amazon to be doing this,” Oelberg said. He said newer models lack physical page-turn buttons, a feature he values because it lets him read outdoors in cold weather without removing his gloves. Many longtime Kindle users say the older devices are more durable and offer longer battery life than newer backlit models. Amazon said it had supported the affected devices for at least 14 years and could not continue doing so
indefinitely. “Technology has come a long way in that time,” an Amazon spokesperson said. Amazon introduced the first Kindle in 2007 and helped bring e-readers into the mainstream. Today, the company holds about 72 percent of the global e-reader market, according to Business Research Insights. Some users are turning to workarounds such as sideloading books onto computers via USB or “jailbreaking” their devices to install alternative software. Cathy Ryan, a 59-year-old Vermont resident who repairs and resells older Kindles on eBay, said the move could
hurt her hobby business. “I suppose nothing lasts forever, but I am just really annoyed,” Ryan said. Cathy DeMail, 69, of The Villages, Florida, said she has been downloading books to her aging Kindle before support ends. “It’s a shame I am getting railroaded into this,” DeMail said. “I hate it, it’s the principle of the thing that bothers me.”
Amazon, Kindle, e-readers, software updates, May 20, Kindle owners, Kindle Keyboard, sideloading, jailbreaking