May 20 hits this week. And with it, the death of older Kindles.
If you’ve clung to an e-reader for the last decade and a half, Amazon has some bad news. Support is ending. Not tomorrow, but very soon.
What actually breaks?
Let’s look at the victims.
– Kindle 1
– Kindle 2
– Kindle DX
– Kindle DX Graphite
– Kindle Keyboard
– Kindle 4
– Kindle Touch
– Kindle 5
– Paperwhite (Gen 1)
– Kindle Fire (Gen 1 & 2)
– Fire HD 7 & 8.9
Basically? If you bought it before 2013, it’s toast. Or close to it.
The device isn’t turning into a paperweight. Technically.
You can still power it on. You can still read the books already stuck inside that silicon brain. But the door is shutting.
No new purchases.
No downloads.
No borrowing from the library.
Amazon says these models will lose access to the Kindle Store. Completely.
The scramble
So what now?
Download everything. Fast. Do it before Wednesday. Stockpile those texts while the pipes are still open. Those books are yours to keep on that specific screen forever. Or at least until the battery finally dies.
Some people get creative.
There’s talk of jailbreaking. Sideloading files via USB. It’s possible. PCMag says you can do it.
Should you do it? Probably not. It violates Amazon’s terms. It’s messy. It invites security risks nobody asked for.
“It almost certainly violates Amazon’s terms of services.”
If the tech-hack route makes you sweat, there’s only one other path.
Buy a new one.
Check the best e-readers of this year. Spend the money. It’s not fun. Amazon kind of boxed old users in, leaving only two real choices: cling to a static archive of text, or pay for access again.
Which will it be for you?
