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Amazon thanks loyal Kindle devotees by bricking their kit
(www.theregister.com)
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this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2026
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Enshittification
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The article has a different title* which doesn't mention bricking, because that's not what they're doing. I happily moved off Amazon onto Kobo and Koreader, but this post's title is a lie:
Bricking would mean they'd been completely sabotaged so that they wouldn't even boot, and would now only be useful as a paperweight or building brick. Again, not true.
* I've noticed the page title (as opposed to the visible heading) is the same as here, I thought that OP had made up this title.
If you factory reset it, it becomes a brick. They specifically warn of that.
You mean this bit:
I'd be interested to know what actually happens in that case - I suppose they could have sent an update that fully locks out an old device but factory-reset Kindles are usable offline (necessary to set up WiFi).
You have to register Kindle devices on first boot after a factory reset with Amazon's servers. They cut that off, so it's effectively a brick that cannot be activated, so it's stuck on a loop forever.
Thats... weird. I have Kindle Paperwhite 1st gen. It never kissed a Wifi. It was factory reset at least twice.
I live in EU though. Maybe that's a difference?
Could very well be, I also don't know what the person you reply to mention, we never had to do that with our first gen Kindles either.
The oldest Kindle I had was a WiFi one, so maybe the process is different for the older ones.