Amazon has announced plans to remove a long-standing feature that will impact Kindle users who prefer to back up their ebooks or convert them to other formats.
The Verge reports that Amazon has revealed that it will be discontinuing a feature that allows users to download purchased Kindle books to their computers and transfer them to their e-readers via USB. The change, set to take effect on February 26, has raised concerns among some Kindle users who rely on the feature.
The download feature, which has been available since the early days of the Kindle, was initially introduced to accommodate users who didn’t have access to Wi-Fi or Amazon’s cellular Whispernet service. It allowed them to download purchased books to their computers and then manually transfer them to their Kindles using a USB cable. Although the process is more cumbersome than sending books directly to devices over Wi-Fi, some users still find it useful for backing up their purchases or converting them to formats compatible with non-Kindle e-readers.
One of the primary concerns surrounding the removal of this feature is the potential loss of access to purchased content. There have been instances in the past where Amazon has removed books from its online store and remotely deleted them from users’ Kindles. In 2009, the company infamously removed copies of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, citing that the books had been mistakenly published. More recently, several of Roald Dahl’s books underwent language modifications on various ebook platforms, with the original versions being replaced by updated copies. These incidents serve as reminders that digital content ownership is often limited, and without the ability to create personal backups, users risk losing access to their purchased ebooks entirely.
Another reason some users may miss this feature is its usefulness in converting Kindle books to other formats, such as EPUB, which can be read on alternative devices like Kobo e-readers. Books downloaded through Amazon’s website are delivered in the older AZW3 format, which allows for relatively easy removal of DRM (digital rights management) using various software tools. However, modern Kindles now use the newer KFX format, introduced in 2015, which features improved font rendering and layout capabilities but also comes with nearly unbreakable DRM.
Despite the impending removal of the download feature, users will still be able to manually copy ebook files and other documents to their Kindles over USB using Amazon’s apps or third-party solutions like Calibre. The change primarily affects the ability to download copies of purchased books directly to a computer.
Read more at the Verge here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
