r/kindle

Morning friendos.

So as far as I can tell from here and other subreddits, Amazon have basically stopped support for some of their much older devices. To my understanding, this means you guys with these cannot download new books from the kindle store. This sounds irritating if you’re into that ecosystem, because you can’t get new books via Amazon any more without getting a new kindle.

Now this has happened, I see a bunch of posts here and in other ereader subreddits about it, and they’re not positive. People saying they’re leaving Amazon, getting e-readers from other companies etc.

As far as I can tell, these other companies have other ways to get books. Be it their own downloady thing, or just using other methods online (project gutenberg, other vendors, or just loading their own books onto the device).

What I don’t get is (and this is where I need some clarification) is why are people getting new devices (like Kobo) for this? These devices can’t download books from Amazon either (as far as I know) so surely in practice it’s the same as having an unsupported kindle device? Can these older kindles not be used the same way? Can they not receive any books at all using calibre and things like that?

With such a big outcry I know I’m just missing something, so thought I’d ask the people in the know!

Just seems backwards to me to buy a whole new ereader, just to do the same things on it that the unsupported kindle can do?

Cheers in advance.

I have ADHD and I really want to like reading, but I struggle as my eyes will read a page, but my brain will not have taken anything in, so I have to read about three times before anything sticks. I also have the problem I then can't remember what I have previously read, or who the characters are or how they relate to each other, so I generally have no idea what is going on. This means it takes me forever to finish a book, and I only have a vague idea of what it was about when it is over.

Really wish my Kindle had an option for adding a summary at the end of each chapter reminding me what has happened, and a page showing all the characters and how they relate to each other. Surely there must be a way to add that?

I have both a Kindle device and also Kindle apps on my iPad and iPhone. Last night, I opened up the app on my iPad to search for a book to discover that it had updated since I last opened it. So far, I’m more frustrated by it than impressed. I noticed that the collections function had been removed entirely — that or I haven’t been able to locate it yet. I have 3,700+ books and use the collections function frequently in search. This morning I compared the app with my actual Kindle and found that the collections function was still available on the device. Is anyone else having similar issues with the app?

I’m considering buying a Kindle but I’ve never really been a reader. I spend way too much time doomscrolling on TikTok and I want to replace that habit with something better.
I tried reading on the Kindle app the other night and ended up reading 3 chapters in one sitting and was completely hooked, which surprised me because I’ve never been able to get into physical books.
For people who were not readers before getting a Kindle, did it actually help you read more or did the excitement wear off?

I had a few spare minutes and complained about how inaccurate the categories are, with fiction all over nonfiction, porn all over art and photography, and so on, pointing out that it wastes user time and makes them give up searching for books. (To clarify, I don't have anything against porn, I just want to be the one who chooses if/when to see it.)

I asked them when they were going to solve the problem and they said "Soon" (yeah, right), but without my asking, they gave me a $10 credit. That made me think that if a lot of people who are frustrated by this complain, they might end up paying attention and actually fixing the problem.

I've also been flagging indvidual titles with "Report a problem," saying that the information is inaccurate. If even just a few hundred of us keep flagging content, that takes up enough time for them to process and generates enough reports that it might get fixed.

The solutions would be so easy -- don't allow more than three or so topics per title, don't allow a book to be listed under both fiction and nonfiction, and set up a filter for erotica so that folks can choose whether or not to see it. That would probably take care of 80% of the trouble.

Just bought my first kindle, super excited. I bought the paper white version. Any recommendations on how to make the most of it? Just graduated as elder 30’s mama and wanted to treat myself. super excited. 😬