Good gravy, Chicken little, you try reinstalling the (free) app before you decided Amazon stole your books from you? It was probably an old version. I assure you that kindle reader programs continue to be free and available on a variety of formats (PC, iphone, etc).
I find it interesting when people complain about the price of books, when the price was one of the things that made me buy a kindle. Clearly books are much much cheaper in the states than chile… someone mentioned the ‘a song of ice and fire’ collection for like 12 bucks… here you can find 1 of those books for like 50, I think the most expensive book I’ve bought in the kindle is about the same price as the cheapest physical book I’ve bought
Yeah, paperbacks are usually around $7.99 (vs. the “standard” 9.99 kindle ebook price point) and when you buy them in a set they’re cheaper, and if they’re bestsellers they’re cheaper again, and when you buy them used they’re only a couple of dollars. If something was so popular you find it at yard sales you might pay 50 cents. I’m guessing English-language used bookstores are not really a “thing” in Chile though.
Kindle ebooks are more the expensive option for me rather often, and certainly not generally cheaper – for example “A Dance With Dragons” is $14.99 kindle, $9.99 paperback – but it’s more convenient for bulky doorstop novels.
If you own a DX maps and diagrams work just fine. 
Hmm, this may explain why the Kindle software on my PC was unresponsive when I tried to open it today. I’m a little pissed off at Amazon for “expiring” it without any sort of warning or notification of what was going on, but now that I know that’s what happened, it was easy enough to update.
Yes, the expiration is a notice requiring an update. But it is an expiration. It’s not like the old version still functions while you decide whether or not to get the update. The program is shut down and won’t work until you get the update.
Yes, it’s exactly like that. Except for the way it’s completely different.
I didn’t say the problem was that I needed other technology. The problem is that the system is subject to outside control.
I essentially asked these same questions when I was considering trying out the Kindle for PC’s program. And I was assured then that there was no way Amazon could reach into my computer and turn off the program. But that’s exactly what they did. So assurances that they can’t or won’t do the same thing with a Kindle seem a little hollow.
Look, unless Amazon installs some kind of virus on your machine, they PHYSICALLY cannot reach in and erase those files. It is impossible.
And you don’t have to have Kindle for PC to read those files. There are lots of other programs on the market that can do that. For example, Calibre.
I didn’t say they erased the files, so why are you belaboring this point?
I said the program was shut down, which it was.
Yes, but if you update the program you can still read the books. I agree that it sucks that they are making it so you can’t use the program without updating it, but it’s not the end of the world you seem to be making it out to be. It’s free, and just requires an update to a piece of software.
I think Amazon updated their file format recently. This is probably why the Kindle PC software needed to be updated.
Yes, Amazon updates the Kindle occasionally, as well. But, if you are against this process for some reason you can just choose to always be disconnected from the internet. That way Amazon can never get in there.
And, more importantly if you hate Amazon (or any of the other booksellers) you can use a program like Calibre to keep track of your book collection and to remove the DRM from your book files, so you never need to worry about the company turning off their software or removing the books from your device.
I’m considering getting rid of all my cds AND books and just keeping my iPod and Kindle.
I’m a TOTAL sell-out!
I do all of my reading on my Kindle now. I’ve mentioned it before in other threads, but my favorite thing the way the Kindle makes it easier to read when I’m eating in a restaurant. I was always frustrated with trying to keep a paperback open when my eating required both hands. Now I can just prop my Kindle in it’s easel-case and I only have to touch it to turn the “page”.
You’re missing the whole point. Amazon has demonstrated they have the ability to turn the program on or off, without my permission, even though it’s inside my computer. This is now a proven fact because they did it.
Everything else is trivial details. This time it might have just been because they wanted me to accept a free update (which I’ve done). But at some future point, Amazon might decide to turn it off because they decided people should pay for the program. Or maybe they’ll decide the cancel the program and turn it off. Or maybe they’ll go out of business. The point, as I’ve said, is that they have the power to turn off the program whenever they want for whatever reason they want.
And people can tell me that I shouldn’t worry about what happens to the Kindle reader I got from Amazon because I can always just use the Kindle e-books I got from Amazon on a different reader. And my question is why I should believe the problem that exists in the Kindle reader doesn’t also exist in those Kindle books? They both came from Amazon. As far as I know, Amazon has the ability to delete my e-books and just hasn’t chosen to use that ability yet.
As far as I know, Amazon has the ability to invade my refrigerator and drink my beer, and just hasn’t chosen to use that ability yet.
I’m not at all worried about Amazon deleting my e-books. Partly because I don’t think they legally have the right to, but mostly because they have literally millions of customers who would raise such. a. stink if they ever tried to do something like that. (There was an infamous incident a few years ago where they deleted an e-book where the person/company who put it up for sale didn’t have the rights to it, and after they took a lot of flak for that they admitted that they had handled the incident badly.)
I, perhaps a bit foolishly, am trusting Amazon to hold onto all the MP3 music I’ve purchased from them on my cloud drive, instead of downloading it all to my computer. If I trust them that much, I’m not going to worry about them sneaking onto my devices.
They really don’t. Once the files are on your computer Amazon does not have a way to delete the files. You can download the files to your hard drive without the Kindle application, and Amazon has no access to the files at all.
They do have the ability to delete things off of people’s Kindles. But, they already went through the backlash from deleting illegally sold books off of people’s devices without notice, so I doubt that will happen again.
And? There are dozens of other programs you can use to read Kindle files.
Once again, it is impossible for them to delete the e-books that reside on your computer, unless they installed a virus on your computer.
And once again, you keep talking about deletion when nobody else is.
Little Nemo:
Don’t you mention deletion in your previous post?
I was responding to your post:
“As far as I know, Amazon has the ability to delete my e-books and just hasn’t chosen to use that ability yet.”
Okay, my mistake. I should have said “As far as I know, Amazon has the ability to turn off my e-books and just hasn’t chosen to use that ability yet.” Although as pricciar pointed out, Amazon can delete books off a Kindle and has done so in the past (a cite for this).
Personally, I don’t see the point of arguing over this distinction. What difference does it really make if Amazon turns off the program or erases it completely? Either way, I can’t use it.