The most recent era, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Scribe 2, Kindle Scribe 1, and Kindle and the upcoming Kindle Colorsoft, all have one thing in widespread. Once you plug them into USB into your PC or MAC, they not seem as exterior drives. This prevents customers from utilizing file managers to again up their books or to sideload new books onto the Kindle. Amazon has additionally eliminated the obtain and switch through USB choice for bought ebooks from the content material web page. This may doubtless stop folks from striping the DRM from the books and sharing them on piracy web sites.
This isn’t the primary time Amazon has eliminated the flexibility to backup books. Final 12 months, they made the method virtually unattainable on the brand new Kindle for PC and MAC. Additionally they eliminated the flexibility to again up books borrowed from the Kindle Limitless subscription service and Prime Studying. Audible continues to permit customers to obtain audiobooks domestically for offline listening. Bought Kindle books will also be learn with out an web connection.
Older Kindle e-readers, such because the ninth era Kindle and older, proceed to have the flexibility to plug them into your pc with the USB cable, and they’ll present up as drives. This enables customers to sideload and again up their books. New Kindles, particularly the twelfth era fashions and the brand new eleventh era Kindle, don’t assist you to do that. It is because these new gadgets have a brand new file system referred to as MTP.
Legacy Kindle e-readers have been all about sideloading ebooks within the early days because the first Kindle got here out in 2007. WIFI was much less prevalent immediately, so customers wanted to load their books. Now, WIFI is in every single place, and there’s no have to load your books when you should buy them from Amazon and have them synced throughout all the different Kindle merchandise, just like the apps for Android or iOS. Customers can proceed to load their books with ship by e mail, which appears to work because it’s executed by means of a completely completely different system.
Amazon shouldn’t be the one firm that has deserted the flexibility to load books. Apple Books has by no means allowed you to do it, and ditto with virtually each distinguished manga, newspaper, and journal platform. All of them need you to remain of their walled backyard. Nonetheless, a couple of important manufacturers nonetheless seem as drives on a PC or MAC, reminiscent of Pocketbook and Kobo e-readers.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the previous fifteen years. Newspapers and web sites such because the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Submit and the New York Occasions have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
