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New Kindle e-readers no longer appear on computers (goodereader.com)

submitted 4 months ago by floofloof@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[-] atocci@lemmy.world 149 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I like to rag on Amazon as much as the next guy here, but this article seems a tad misleading. They do still show up when you plug them in. The article even says they use MTP now instead of functioning as a direct USB mass storage drive, which means you can still plug them into your PC and transfer files though File Explorer. Android handles USB file transfers the same way, and that works fine.

[-] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 77 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

So, basically the whole article is just a complete nothing-burger.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago

Sounds like a regular internet article to me.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 39 points 4 months ago

Good call out. Clickbait article.

[-] casmael@lemm.ee 8 points 4 months ago

………. So is there any attempt by Amazon here to limit users transferring their ebooks to their computers?

[-] atocci@lemmy.world 25 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

In short, no.

What's changed here is now the Kindle and PC will actively communicate with each other during file transfers with MTP instead of the Kindle "pretending" to be a USB flash drive with USB mass storage. There are some important trade-offs that come with the switch to MTP but nothing that will stop you from transferring ebooks to or from a computer.

[-] casmael@lemm.ee 7 points 4 months ago

Nice one thanks for clarifying. Sounds like a relatively minor change?

[-] atocci@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago

Pretty minor as long as your computer's OS supports MTP, which most do, except for MacOS. If you're a Mac user, you'll need 3rd party software like Calibre or Android File Transfer for it to show up, but if you're the kind of person who's transferring books to and from your Kindle over USB, you're probably already using Calibre anyway.

[-] vxx@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yeah, until they tweak this:

Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) over USB Mapping

The MTP extension defined in this section provides a mapping of WMDRM: Network Devices Protocol messages to the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP). The WMDRM: Network Devices Protocol extension to MTP defines operations that enable DRM-protected content to be securely transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-drmnd/37ad5858-ae05-45ae-bdfa-97538c190576

[-] atocci@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The Kindle doesn't use Windows Media DRM for its DRM protected ebooks, they use Amazon's own DRM. Even if they did use WMDRM though, this is just an extension for MTP that would enable it to be used for streaming WMDRM content. It "provides a mapping of WMDRM: Network Devices Protocol messages to the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP)" and that's necessary because MTP would otherwise not provide the data necessary for for the DRM protected content to play.

There's still nothing here that would prevent you from copying your own "legitimately obtained" epub files or Amazon-encrypted AZW files to or from your PC.

I see this article is the first result when searching "MTP DRM" on Google though 😉

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[-] garretble@lemmy.world 118 points 4 months ago

Reminder: don't buy things from Amazon.

Like, anything.

"But fast shipping!" No. Stop. Most places now have pretty good shipping, often for free if you happen to buy a certain amount. It's OK if the thing comes in 3-5 days and not tomorrow. You will survive.*

*I know there's a couple of niche cases where some people do need things quick and Amazon serves that purpose. But 99.999% of things are not that.

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 21 points 4 months ago

Kobo and Boox are better at making eReaders anyway.

[-] IllNess@infosec.pub 4 points 4 months ago

I never heard of Boox.

I might get the Palma to replace my nearly dead Sony Reader.

Thank you for bringing that brand to my attention.

[-] Dragonfruit 5 points 4 months ago

One thing amazon does that's really useful is shipping to whole foods where you can pick up your item instead of it coming to your door which is really useful if you know someone will try to look through your mail

[-] iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 months ago

Cut Amazon shopping and subscriptions out of my life years ago and haven't regretted it.

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[-] bismuthbob@sopuli.xyz 85 points 4 months ago

Very user-hostile, but very unsurprising.

Kindle hardware can be very nice, but almost every software decision is designed to keep users within their walled garden.

No epub support, no third party app support, no ability to load non-store audio, and now this. What a waste. These things could be so much more useful than they are.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 29 points 4 months ago

Calibre has always been a small price to pay, but if sideloading goes away, I'll certainly never "upgrade" again, and I'll trash my 11th gen Paperwhite if they somehow make it stop working. Usable e-ink ereaders are even doable as DIY projects now, and Kobo will probably stay less closed-off than Amazon for a good while.

That said, reading the comments and the article it seems like as long as your OS (or some app) supports MTP, everything should still work more or less as it has, which is to say kind of annoying and with Amazon pulling little microaggressions like deleting your cover thumbnails, but overall sideloading should still function.

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[-] ptz@dubvee.org 33 points 4 months ago

Glad I got a Kobo then.

[-] mesamunefire@lemmy.world 16 points 4 months ago

Yep. Kobo is much better nowadays.

[-] noahm@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

I've owned two Kindle devices over the years, and the ability to directly load content, without involving a third-party service, was a big part of what made them usable for me. If that feature is gone, these devices will no longer be viable for my needs.

And the enshittification continues...

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[-] Nougat@fedia.io 18 points 4 months ago

Comments on the article say that it's not true, and new Kindles work exactly the way old ones do.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

Seems like they don't work exactly the same as they used to, as they now use MTP instead of USB mass storage, but while annoying, it's generally a pretty trivial fix and your OS may already use MTP devices with no trouble. It seems there may be some other knock-on effects with fonts not sideloading right and needing a Calibre plugin to make pagination work how it used to.

So yeah, it's getting worse, but Amazon hasn't figured out how to bring the hammer down yet.

[-] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Kobo, folks. I've been there through three generations of devices. No regrets. Fairly hackable, sideload friendly, competitively priced.

[-] classic@fedia.io 5 points 4 months ago

Which model?

Anyone have thoughts between Kobo and Boox or ReMarkable?

[-] Grippler@feddit.dk 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'm using a Boox Leaf 2 myself, it's basically just an android tablet with an eink screen. I can load pretty much any eBook format, and you can put regular android apps from play store (or any other app store) on it as well if you want. And they have a microSD card slot available from the outside to expand storage.

All the hacks and mods people do to their kobo are not needed, because it's supported by default on my Leaf 2.

[-] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

Well that does sound pretty cool, I might have to take a closer look when I'm ready for another purchase.

[-] classic@fedia.io 2 points 4 months ago

Yeah that sells well for me too. I like that flexibility

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[-] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I've looked into those other brands but not recently enough to provide any meaningful comparison. (though I have this feeling that "remarkable is overpriced" is something I've heard a lot, but I could be wrong)

I've personally owned the Kobo Glo, Glo HD, and Libra 2.

For most of their devices (I can't speak for current models one way or the other) you can swap out key bits of the software and enhance functionality via various hacks/mods. A lot of that is documented here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=223

You can also open them up and replace a standard SD card to boost storage capacity. (Again, I know this to be true at least through the Libra 2, I do not know about more recent models.)

The thing I got the most use from in the past was being able to swap out the sdcard on my Glo and Glo HD, but some folks really swear by the other various mods. I don't have any complaint with the default reader software on the Kobo, so haven't messed with swapping that out.

I have not messed with the SD card on the Libra 2 for two reasons - apparently doing so will mess up the waterproofing, and also because I've found 32GB to be sufficient for my purposes.

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[-] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Android is a massive value add. I can't tolerate it for my actual phone, but it's just an absolutely huge step up from the other ereader OSes.

[-] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 months ago

I went with a Boox device recently and like it. Since it is just android you can load up all sorts of apps. I use it for various things other than reading books, for example with the Paprika app in the kitchen as a recipe display.

[-] garretble@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Kobo can connect to libraries via apps like Libby (or others), right?

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[-] Bridger@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 months ago

Sounds like time for some 3rd party bios flash...

[-] tutus@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

What are people's go-to for eBook buying stores? Preferably DRM free.

I try to not buy Kindle books but I usually end up back there as it's either much cheaper (not just slightly) or can only be found there.

[-] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I usually just borrow e-books from the library, download as epub and strip the DRM from the file so I can read it, and return the eBook to the library right away for the next person to borrow it.

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[-] tux@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Time to switch to lobo (supposed to be Kobo) when my current oasis dies

[-] CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

I know it's a typo, but the image of Lobo, DC's heavy metal space biker, reading books to someone while they lie in bed is hilarious.

[-] tux@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Well now I have to leave the typo hahaha

[-] panicnow@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Article says you cannot side load books on Apple Books. That is incorrect. You just send an epub to books via the share menu on Mac or iOS and it loads it. Also syncs it via iCloud if you want it to.

Perhaps the author meant you cannot download purchased books off of Apple Books.

[-] atocci@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Article is wrong about many things, seems poorly researched or the topic not fully understood by the author

[-] droopy4096@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 months ago

any time you buy DRM'd content you're subject to revocation of rights to use it. So buying such content along with purchase of devices geared specifically for DRM-only content is doomed from the beginning.

[-] TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org 4 points 4 months ago

YAR HAR FIDDLE-DEE-DEE 🎶 BEING A PIRATE IS ALRIGHT WITH ME 🎶

[-] hperrin@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Another reason to avoid kindle like the plague.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Onyx Boox, Kobo, PocketBook. Did i miss a custom content friendly company?

Btw, PocketBook is my first pick in privacy and battery runtime.

[-] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

Many authors stipulate that their books must be sold on Amazon without DRM, so their readers can back up and use their books outside Amazon’s ecosystem. Does preventing users from accessing their files violate any conditions that were implied when people bought and sold books with that feature?

[-] moseschrute@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

I’ve heard Costco has a better return policy

[-] Bosht@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Of course this comes out after I just purchased 2. Fucking vultures. It's never enough.

[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

You can just send 'em back and buy something else. Amazon will take any damn fool thing back.

[-] Boozilla@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I checked my "content library" and I still have the option to download. Which is good, as I back everything up in Calibre. Maybe there are some regional factors here, or it may depend on which Kindle device(s) you own?

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this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024

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