1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,360 When the clock touches the 12th hour, this Kindle e-reader will transform from Cinderella 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:11,040 into a brick. And this ain't no fairytale. 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:18,640 Amazon is officially killing support for pre-2013 Kindle devices on May 20th, 2026. 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,560 To be fair, 14 years is a pretty good run 5 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,400 for a modern device. But the part that sucks here 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:31,240 is that it doesn't have to be this way. It's not like books are getting any longer. 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,720 It should be able to open the same file formats that it always has. 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,040 And yet, due to the nature of Amazon's locked down ecosystem, 9 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,720 this perfectly functional piece of tech 10 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,280 is counting down its days to the dump. And this isn't the first time 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:52,080 that Kindle services have changed the rules after you've given Amazon your money. 12 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,040 So here's an idea. Let's stop doing that. 13 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:01,320 It's an area that I haven't personally really explored before, but after our recent video on the Kindle ColorSoft, 14 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,720 you guys pointed out that there are plenty of e-reader options out there 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,800 and none of them seem as restrictive as Amazon's Wald Garden. 16 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,280 So let's talk about what Amazon's doing, why its Kindle ecosystem kind of sucks, 17 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,480 and how you can turn the page on the Kindle chapter of your life. 18 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,720 But first, let's turn the page on this segue 19 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:32,000 to our sponsor. Before we get into the alternatives, 20 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,880 I want to cover off some of the finer details of Amazon's upcoming old Yeller here. 21 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,800 First, while it is true that you will no longer be able to purchase, borrow, 22 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,320 or download books from affected devices, you can still read books 23 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:50,960 that you have already downloaded to the device. However, even that saving grace is pretty hollow 24 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:56,480 since Amazon says that deregistering the device, either through your device options or a factory reset, 25 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:01,240 will make it so that you cannot re-register or use it in any way. 26 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:06,200 So, bricked. By comparison, Amazon's biggest competitor, 27 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,760 Kobo, takes an approach that feels downright open. 28 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,040 For instance, Kobo also has DRM protection 29 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,120 for e-books from its store, but they have a first party guide 30 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,400 that tells customers how to read those DRM e-books 31 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,360 on third party devices. And the way that Kobo plays nice with other platforms 32 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,720 makes its own devices way easier to use in the first place. 33 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,840 With a Kobo, if I want to get a DRM free e-book 34 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:37,440 from some other store, I can plug it in, drag and drop my files to it, and that's it. 35 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:42,000 It's good to go. Meanwhile, Amazon does allow a few file types 36 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,640 to be dragged and dropped, but generally relies on the Send to Kindle online tool 37 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:50,760 that only works when your device is registered and online. 38 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,360 And since that's the only official way to add third party e-books to Kindle, 39 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,760 come May, you might be plum out of luck. 40 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:05,840 That is, unless you're willing to open up a pathway to abilities that some might consider to be unnatural. 41 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:11,240 More on that later. First, aside from making your files easy to move around, 42 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,400 Kobos also have native Libby integration, 43 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,520 so you can just download e-books from your local library 44 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,840 directly to your device. Kindles, meanwhile, can use Libby as well, 45 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:26,880 but it's a little convoluted, requiring you to borrow from another device before syncing, 46 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,920 because, I don't know, screw anything that doesn't give Amazon an extra buck, right? 47 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:36,640 Kobo, so far, kind of looking like a no-brainer here. Having its own ecosystem means you keep 48 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,800 all the ease of use benefits of a Kindle, but without giving up the freedom 49 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:45,960 to take your stuff and move on later. And did I mention that the entry-level Kobo Clare AW 50 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,680 costs just $10 more than the cheapest Kindle? 51 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,840 Or at least the cheapest Kindle that doesn't fart ads in your face every time you use it. 52 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:58,960 Of course, there are other options, including one that is even more open. 53 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,320 Books, or as I like to call it, books, with its Android-based e-readers 54 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,600 just does away with ecosystems entirely. 55 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,720 That could make it the easiest possible transition if you want to bring your old libraries with you, 56 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,880 since you can just download Kindle, Kobo, and Libby as apps, 57 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:19,480 and then have access to everything on one device. Then, going forward, you can obtain e-books 58 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,960 however you see fit, and read them in a third-party reader app. 59 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,880 The Books Go 6 would probably be the most basic Kindle-like six-inch reader, 60 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,800 and at $149 is just $20 more than the Kindle. 61 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,400 Though, again, this is compared to the one that doesn't belch ads in your face. 62 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,280 Both Kobo and books have alternatives to higher-end Kindles as well, 63 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:44,480 like the Scribe, which has a touchscreen and stylus, and the Kindle ColorSoft, which is in color. 64 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:49,600 If neither of those sound right for you, though, Pocketbook, Bigney, and Nook are also around, 65 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,600 but while each of them does have their die-hard fans, 66 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,280 none of them seem to have reached the same critical mass as Kobo or books. 67 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:04,120 Of course, none of what I've talked about so far helps the folks whose devices are being bricked. 68 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,360 Amazon said, ha-ha, too bad, go buy a new one, 69 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,560 and so far, we've offered just more of the same. 70 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,960 Is there an alternative to spending more money right now? Actually, yes. 71 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,800 Even if it's been deregistered, you can side load eBooks to your Kindle 72 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,960 with the third-party tool, Caliber. We're gonna link a detailed guide 73 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:27,560 in the description down below, but pretty much all you need to do is connect your Kindle via USB 74 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,880 and click Send to Device in the application. It will automatically convert eBooks 75 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,400 to a file that your Kindle can read, and you should be good to go. 76 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,480 It is worth noting. We don't know for sure that this is going to continue to work 77 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,000 after Amazon's sunset date. That's for the asterisk 78 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,720 that you might have noticed before it comes in, but we think that it should still be okay. 79 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,520 We bought this old Kindle touch on Marketplace. We left it unregistered 80 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,080 and we tried Caliber side loading on it. There wasn't a problem. 81 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,240 Then we tried the same process on an unregistered Kindle scribe 82 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,280 and our file opened just fine. So Amazon surely knows 83 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:04,480 about all of this unregistered side loading tomfoolery 84 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:10,400 and hopefully doesn't intend to block it, but probably just didn't want to acknowledge it publicly. 85 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:15,320 So it may be then, ironically, that the only eBooks that you can't read 86 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:20,160 on your pre-2013 Kindle will be Kindle eBooks. 87 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:25,200 If you're the daring type, you do have other options. You could just jailbreak your Kindle. 88 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,440 I actually didn't know this was a thing, but depending on your firmware version, 89 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,160 it may be possible. Amazon is constantly playing whack-a-mole 90 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,080 with the Kindle modding community. So jailbreaking guides become obsolete very quickly, 91 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,520 but it looks like Kindle firmware below 5.18.6 92 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,840 can be jailbroken, which expands your device compatibility. 93 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:47,600 So you don't need a special app to side load anything. You can just drag and drop files 94 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,560 and it can even let you do things like remove ads for free. Of course, as far as we can tell, 95 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,840 none of this will help you read, purchase Amazon books on your device 96 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,580 if it's been deregistered, but hey, there you go. 97 00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:03,820 Now we're not going to go into detail about how to do a jailbreak today, but there is a healthy community around modding Kindles 98 00:07:03,820 --> 00:07:07,380 that includes a dedicated wiki and ZDNet has a great walkthrough 99 00:07:07,380 --> 00:07:12,420 where they jailbroke a pre-2013 Kindle DX. We're going to link to both of those in the video description. 100 00:07:12,420 --> 00:07:15,980 Now at this point, I want to reiterate that I don't blame Amazon 101 00:07:15,980 --> 00:07:18,980 for wanting to shed some weight for their development team. 102 00:07:18,980 --> 00:07:24,180 As I said before, 14 years is a long time to support a device 103 00:07:24,180 --> 00:07:29,780 and some of the alternative manufacturers we highlighted today have also ended support 104 00:07:29,780 --> 00:07:33,540 for older products. Including Kobo. 105 00:07:33,540 --> 00:07:38,460 No, not Kobo. But the difference as far as we can tell 106 00:07:38,460 --> 00:07:42,080 is that those devices retained their core functionality 107 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:48,700 by accepting files over USB or manufacturers have made moves to make them more open. 108 00:07:48,700 --> 00:07:53,860 But because Amazon seems hell bent on locking their users into their ecosystem, 109 00:07:53,860 --> 00:07:58,140 they've created this problem for themselves. They are the exception in the industry now 110 00:07:58,140 --> 00:08:03,340 for thinking that it is okay to render devices unusable in any way. 111 00:08:03,340 --> 00:08:08,100 Now granted, Amazon does sometimes inch towards good things. 112 00:08:08,100 --> 00:08:11,620 They added an option for DRM-free eBooks in the store 113 00:08:11,620 --> 00:08:14,980 just this year, but just last year, 114 00:08:14,980 --> 00:08:18,780 they removed the option to download DRM protected eBooks 115 00:08:18,780 --> 00:08:24,700 to your computer. So, it does still remain to be seen 116 00:08:24,700 --> 00:08:28,380 exactly what Amazon's bricking is going to look like here. 117 00:08:28,380 --> 00:08:32,260 And they could still do a better job of this and be a good guy. 118 00:08:32,260 --> 00:08:37,180 We want that. That's actually why we're making this video before they pull the plug. 119 00:08:37,180 --> 00:08:39,180 But as it looks at the moment, 120 00:08:40,300 --> 00:08:43,420 seems like Amazon is not going to give up 121 00:08:43,420 --> 00:08:46,980 on controlling their users with an iron fist, 122 00:08:46,980 --> 00:08:52,660 which is unfortunate. And this is an unfortunate segue to our sponsor. 123 00:08:53,780 --> 00:08:58,180 If you guys enjoyed this video, my son did his first review for the channel recently. 124 00:08:58,220 --> 00:09:01,820 He was actually on the Kindle ColorSoft. He liked the device, 125 00:09:01,820 --> 00:09:06,860 but didn't like the way that Amazon treats customers that are locked into their ecosystem. 126 00:09:06,860 --> 00:09:07,780 That's my boy.