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Amazon thanks loyal Kindle devotees by bricking their kit
(www.theregister.com)
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this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2026
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Enshittification
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When it comes to open tech, I really think we need to change our way of thinking.
We have a habit or comparing the price of alternatives against the market leader (in this case Kindle) and assessing value on that basis, while at the same time forgetting that Amazon claws back a huge amount of profit after the point of sale on books - specifically because of their closed ecosystem. The monopoly allows them to subsidise the device.
If we are buying open devices which aren't locked down, the companies selling those devices have to actually make all their profit up-front on the device itself, and so it's naturally going to feel comparatively more expensive.
We have to remind ourselves, if we value freedom we need to be prepared to pay a premium for it.
This is sadly not globally universal though. Part of the reason I've usually gotten Kindles in Germany in the past is that while their readers are only marginally cheaper than their biggest competitor here (Tolino), they sell virtually all books in english not just german, and it's cheaper.
If I were into reading in german, sure, library card, etc etc. But that's not what I do, that's not my use case (and I understand that obviously no one is going to optimize for my use case as it's fairly specific). And once I want to buy in english, my options are basically Amazon or overpay-like-crazy at which point their slightly cheaper reaper + 30%-50% cheaper books combine to make it irrelevant whether the reader goes kaputt faster than a Tolino or might lose internet access in 14+ years, I save enough money that I can easily pay for 2+ extra readers in that time.
Those are all valid points, and in your scenario I am sure that's a good choice for you :)
You may have interpreted I was making the argument that in the long-term, being open is a smarter decision financially - but I didn't mean to imply that. As you point out, it's often quite the opposite.
My dislike for closed systems isn't because I was bitten in the ass financially by them; it's because I was bitten in the ass ideologically.
Open may sometimes cost more, but I am fortunately able and willing to pay it for the privilege of knowing that what is mine is mine, forever and always, with no terms attached.