This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Good news is that there are alternative ways to download these books from Amazon for backup purposes. It’s not as straightforward but it’s doable.
That said I will be refusing to buy from any storefront that doesn’t offer a way to download my books. Even adobe digital editions is a viable alternative.
Just pirate them at this point instead of giving your money to predatory companies lol
Previously, you could just download the books on the Kindle for PC, use a random decoder software or install a plugin for Calibre, and boop, decoded books, readable in Calibre, can be converted to EPUB.
For ssssssome reasonnns I've been looking at how to do the same thing again, but apparently you need an old version of KfPC because the new one uses new encryption/file format that hasn't been sussed out yet. Weirdly enough, even with the newer app, I've still been able to download a bunch of books that didn't have DRM to begin with, but of course Amazon doesn't exactly advertise if a book is DRM-free anywhere on the store page.
Also weirdly enough this quest of mine actually started last year when one Finnish ebook store was closed down, but that was less of a problem. I just downloaded all of my purchases as unencrypted EPUBs. Guess the local publishers are less dickish, worst thing they asked for was watermarking.
https://github.com/Jedi425/BulkKindleUSBDownloader
Quick script to download all your Kindle ebooks.
If you know any other tools, please reply.
Reposting as a top level comment for visibility. Thanks gitamar.
I am getting prompts from the script for “Your Amazon Oath”
Any idea where I can actually find/download this ?
I'm actually suprised Google never went and made an reader they already have the store and software. Kobo does the job for me anyway though.
Definitely switch to alternatives from Amazon. They treat their authors abhorrently too. I've personally been super happy with libro.fm for Audiobooks (essentially Audible, but you can download the audiobooks DRM-free)
Get an old Kindle. The new ones make it hard for you to connect to your computer. They require you to download a "convenient" piece of software meant to allow you to transfer files. But conveniently it also makes it so you can't transfer files easily without it.
Even just a couple of years back you could plug in your Kindle to your computer through a USB and just drag and drop files. It only reads the proprietary .mobi format but Calibre, an excellent piece of software, will automatically convert .epub files to .mobi for you and it has a great algorithm.
Then all you gotta do is look up whatever you want on libgen and for the price of one kindle you can have a virtually infinite library of books.
I've actually had my first generation Kindle for about ~14 years now and my newer one for about ~3 years. I won't ever buy a new one, but the ones from ~3 years ago are excellent pieces of hardware.
You just have to disconnect it from the internet and never turn on the wifi. If you do, Amazon will fuck with your settings and make your life difficult.
Basically, if you're on a budget a used Kindle from ~3 years ago is a great choice in my opinion. If you want something new, stay far away from Amazon.
I have no need for my Kindle services anymore. I bought books there for how easy it was to put on my electronic devices, and to easily make back up copies for later. If I can't downloaf and reformat the e-book to easily make a physical copy I don't want it.
I found this super helpful... https://github.com/WeLackDiscipline/BulkKindleUSBDownloader/blob/manual-login/end-all-guide.md
The optimist in me says they're doing this to avoid piracy.
The pessimist in me says they're doing this so they can purge books because of the Trump administration.
Either way, I can't say I'm a fan.
Por que no Los dos?
You will own nothing and like it!
The optimist in me says they’re doing this to avoid piracy.
Won’t pirates just buy their source copies on a different platform, so now Amazon loses the original sale as well?
Reminder that piracy is a service issue.
100%. I have always pirated, but the amount of things I pirated went way, way down when Netflix had a decent library of things to watch and was affordably priced.
Absurd. Glad I have a Kobo.
Yep. Not to gloat, but I never touched Amazon's ebook marketplace.
My current e-reader is a second-hand Kindle that has a permanent message asking if I would just please connect to a WiFi network just one time just for a moment PLEEEEEASE.
I get my books from libgen, Gutenberg, or Kobo, and keep them on my computer. They're organized in Calibre, and I transfer them over on a USB cable.
That's why I avoided Kindle and picked a Kobo. Sure you can remove DRMs from the books you've bought. But at some point they could block you from doing that. They can change anything at anytime and there's nothing you can do about it.
That is no different than Kobo. Thus far, Rakuten have been pretty good about not caring more than the bare minimum. But there is nothing stopping them from doing the same bullshit with firmware updates to the kobos and drm updates to the store and apps.
I am finally migrating from kindle to kobo (tried kindle to boox last year and it was bad...) but I am under no illusions that I am just hoping one company is better than another. I mean, the other is Amazon so it is a pretty safe bet. But still.
This is why you never connect your kindle to the internet. Calibre forever
Ugh, thanks for the warning. Time for me to download and de-drm all my old kindle books and never again buy anymore.
Try this python script: https://github.com/Jedi425/BulkKindleUSBDownloader
Source: https://social.wildeboer.net/@jwildeboer/114002221924654676
Do yourself a favour, switch to Kobo or a third party ereader... Especially if you're not in the US.
A whole new generation of the Kobo readers just came out too!
I've got one of the previous Gen and I was so happy to find they have models with the clicky buttons to turn the page.
Yeah I got the libra colour and it's really great for the buttons. Didn't really care about the colour part but the regular one was out of stock when I got it so I just went with it and I'm finding I enjoy it a lot. Especially when I read picture books for mt kid's bedtime
Yup, I've had my Kobo for quite a while now and I still love it. The push buttons are great, as pointed out by another poster, but also.. I've just never had any issues with it. None whatsoever. I'm hoping this one will just never brick.
About a month after I got mine, I bought the exact same one for my husband and he says his is still working like a charm as well! Now to be fair, I had never owned any other e-readers so I can't really compare it to anything, but quality-wise I'd say they're really good.
Why "especially if you're not i the US"?
I'm not in the US, and switched to kobo a couple of years ago, but i've had to keep buying books from amazon, sine the kobo store is just realy bad (missing a lot of books, even popular once), and there are few others who offer ebooks here.
The quality of the devices seem not the greatest either.
Bought a kobo libra first and it lasted just long enough for the warranty to expire before it just fully died. Replaced it with a kobo libra colour, and had to replace it three times before I got one that didn't have pin holes on the screen where light shone through.
Meanwhile my 9 year old kindle oasis works just fine, it has just gotten slow and the battery is worse, which is why I replaced it with kobo.
Because supporting the US economy from outside of it right now is ludicrous and Amazon is a union busting mega corporation that destroy local economies...
Now, I'm not a Kobo corporate shill, I don't care which device you get, I did say there are other ereaders you can get, pick whatever you want. You don't care about thr trade wars, you can get a Nook or Remarkable. You care but don't like Kobo? You can buy an Onyx or another Chinese brand. You can use your phone, an old tablet whatever you want.
Personally, I've never not found a book on kobo but if it happened and it wasn't at my library, I'd find alternative to buying on amazon, I'd get it physical or find other ways to get it.
You want to continue using amazon products and contribute to the success of Bezos and his billionaire friends, that's your prerogative but a lot of us are not ready to do that for the sole sake of minor convenience.
I sure am glad I got a Kobo for myself for Xmas and ripped all my books to it. Guess I'll be recycling my Kindle for good.
Its possible to buy DRM free ebooks from itch.io and it is where I get everything that I can.
resist.
Stop buying whatever it is that Amazon/Meta/Google/Etc sell. They will not stand for you. They will not respect you.
At some points, it may seem like they changed and that they are now good. They are not. They will never be. Resist them.
This is what the class war looks like in nuts and bolts...
Most idiots are not even aware of the original tragedy of the commons so they are doomed to be degraded into owning nothing and being happy to pay monthly fee to exist without as much as an objection.
After all, a normie got nothing to hide!
You know I am starting to think going to the library is a better idea than buying their products. You can literally just walk in.
That's why I don't download or purchase ebooks from Amazon, but only get them from places I can download a non-DRM'd copy. I'm not looking to break any laws, but if I pay for it, I want to be able to have it whenever I want even when the Internet is down. Recently a buddy gave me his old blu-ray juke box, and now I'm doing the same thing with my favorite movies as well. And building a home lab. It's finally time I decreased (not completely ended) my reliance on the cloud, given the shit show my nation collectively voted for.
The only surprising thing about this is that the functionality existed in the first place.
Knew this would happen
I'm glad I started converting all my amazon books long ago. When I finally got a Kobo last month, there were no issues since the work was done.
If only there were some way to get books to read in a format where a billionaire's trillion dollar company can't gatekeep them.
Some sort of physical product, perhaps one made out of trees?
If only there was a library for geniuses where I can read in a format that billionaires aren't able to gatekeep what I read on my e-ink device.
Some sort of website, perhaps one on the internet?
I rarely use my Paperwhite Signature since I like my Boox Nova 2 more. The Kindle is mostly just for the serial now to strip DRM via Calibre.
My wife recently joked that it’s my “Kindle Paperweight.” With this announcement it’s no longer a joke. I doubt I’ll buy anymore books from Amazon.
