I hadn’t thought about this at first, but now that Amazon has disabled Download and Transfer via USB, Kindle ereaders are pretty much useless paperweights unless you regularly keep them connected to WiFi.
It’s virtually impossible to get ebooks from Amazon onto Kindles now without a WiFi connection, unless you have an older model with cellular service that still works, which Amazon phased out a couple generations ago (the Kindle Oasis 3 from 2019 was the last model to have a cellular option).
Will Amazon put a disclaimer on Kindle product pages now that says WiFi is required to use them?
The funny thing is if you buy your ebooks elsewhere you’ll still be able to load them onto your Kindle just fine without a WiFi connection. But if you buy ebooks from Amazon, even books that are supposed to be DRM-free (which they aren’t), the only way you’ll be able to get them onto a Kindle is to download them via WiFi (or cellular) to the Kindle directly (technically there are still other ways to get Kindle ebooks using an Android emulator or an outdated version of Kindle for PC, but realistically very few people are going to go through the trouble of setting that up, and Amazon will probably break those workarounds eventually).
People might want to consider downloading all of their purchased ebooks to Kindles now in case their router ever decides to go haywire. I know some people only like to have a few books downloaded at one time, but that’s probably not a good strategy moving forward. Routers fail all the time, and it might take a few weeks to get a new one installed and have it up and running again.
There’s also the fact that older Kindles released before 2021 don’t support 5GHz networks or WPA3 encryption, and some public networks require a separate sign-in method that the Kindle’s crappy outdated web browser can’t handle, so not all WiFi networks will work with Kindles.
According to statistics online, 92% of US households have WiFi access. But the number is much lower worldwide, with only 67.9% of households having internet access (and not just specifically WiFi).
Apparently Amazon no longer cares about making Kindles accessible to everyone, especially those in poor, underdeveloped countries. They really should put a note on Kindle product pages that states WiFi access is now a mandatory requirement to use Kindles.
Yes, another reason for Amazon to eliminate download & transfer — ensuring that your Kindle coughs up all your usage data to them at some point.
I am one of the few that store my whole library on device, along with my computer. One reason is to avoid nonsense like Amazon just foisted on us, the other is to be able to quickly search my entire library for specific words or short terms(Kindles are indexed).
Trust No One(company)
And I am someone that only has on my Kindle what I am reading. I never disable WI-FI. I read mostly Kindle Unlimited books, and a few Kindle books that I have gotten free or almost free.
Once I read a novel I don’t revisit it.
Neeto. A large portion of my library is non fiction.
Every single Kindle book I’ve “purchased” is downloaded to my Kindle Oasis 1.
I read on my Kindle Oasis 3.
I’ve done this for years because I simply didn’t and don’t trust Amazon, or any tech company for that matter.
Yes, the world is going to hell in a handbasket.