Companies ending software support for devices is a regular occurrence that can brick products, force customers to buy new stuff, and inevitably add to the ever-growing piles of e-waste across the world. The latest offender? Amazon.
On May 20, Amazon will stop supporting any of its Kindle devices released in 2012 or earlier. That means these devices—even if they’re perfectly functional—won’t be able to connect to the Kindle Store to download new ebooks. Amazon says affected devices include the first- and second-generation Kindles, the Kindle DX and DX Graphite, the Kindle Keyboard, the Kindle 4, the Kindle Touch, the Kindle 5, and the first-generation Kindle Paperwhite. According to The Verge, Kindle Fire devices will also be affected on the ebook front, though other apps will still work on the device.
The move doesn’t completely turn your ebook reader into e-waste. On the older devices, you can still read the books you have downloaded. You can also manually download documents via USB cable. It's unclear whether services like Libby will work, which uses the Kindle Store to deliver downloads. (Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
Other recent examples of companies killing parts of the software on older devices include Spotify ending support for its Car Thing in 2024 and Google discontinuing its older Nest thermostats in 2025. In February, Netflix ended support for nearly 87 million older devices.
Should you want to keep your digital library in Bezos-land, you can access your collection via the Kindle app or on a browser at Amazon’s Kindle Cloud reader. Or, as Amazon so helpfully points out in an email sent to customers, you can buy a new Kindle. (The company is offering a 20 percent discount and a $20 ebook credit on a new device if you use the code sent in the email.)
If you’re uninterested in staying a part of the Amazon empire, there are other very good e-readers out there. You can also find ebooks on Bookshop.org, which last year started selling ebooks in partnership with local booksellers. Buying books there sends part of the proceeds to brick-and-mortar shops, which is probably good karma for you.
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