Amazon is cutting off older Kindles, but enthusiasts have a plan B- Android Authority

One of the big selling points of an e-reader is that it’s supposed to last. It’s not a phone you replace every couple of years, and many Kindle owners have happily stuck with the same device for well over a decade. That’s why Amazon’s latest move is rubbing some readers the wrong way, with support for older Kindles being phased out even while plenty of them are still working just fine.

As TechRadar spotted in a Reddit thread on the r/kindle subreddit, Amazon has told owners of some older Kindle models that support will end on May 20. The change affects devices released in 2012 or earlier. While they’ll still be able to open books already downloaded, owners will lose the ability to buy or download new titles directly on the device.

The mood in the thread is pretty clear — these commenters aren’t complaining because their Kindle has become slow or unreliable. Quite the opposite. Several are annoyed precisely because these old e-readers are still doing the one job they were bought for. As one commenter put it, “Why replace something so simple like this that still works?”

That feeling comes up again and again throughout the discussion. For some people, the whole point of an older Kindle is that it doesn’t need flashy new features or regular upgrades. It just needs to hold a charge and let you read. User Turbulent-Catwhat summed up that view by writing, “It’s a text reader, that’s it, no need to turn it into a brick other than money.”

The thread isn’t all doom and gloom, with some Redditors considering their options. One of the main points raised by commenters is that sideloading books should keep these devices useful for a while yet. Whether that means transferring files by cable or using other workarounds, plenty of owners seem more irritated about losing Amazon’s built-in store access than worried that their Kindle is suddenly useless.

Still, Amazon may struggle to explain to long-time Kindle fans. Perhaps there’s an obscure security-related reason, or something else, but it certainly isn’t apparent. All these Kindle fans currently see is the retail giant pushing them toward an upgrade they never asked for. Will Amazon target the sieloading workaround next? Time will tell.