upvote
Also gradually phasing out support of formats like mobi, in such subtle ways that if you open a mobi file you cannot go back to the library, but have to cold-reboot your device...

My current kindle is my third one, and is the last. I will never ever pay for a kindle to Amazon, due to its user hostility.

Oh, and also you cannot move ebooks between accounts, even not with a lot of friction, eg. support tickets, which would be a fair way to game piracy and unwanted lending, which was some inconvinience for me in a situation. Not a huge monetary loss for me, rather a reminder that when you pay to Amazon (or Valve, or any other contemporary DRM-burdened vendor) you are only leasing...

reply
My kindle from 2012 used to have ads you needed to pay for to get rid of. It was sold as separate product with or without ads at a time. I had one with ads.

I keep it offline in airplane mode permanently from 2016 and haven't seen a single ad in a long long time.

reply
You'll get a new ad if you take it online again, but they only persist for about a month or so before falling back to the generic 'read books' amazon ad.

I have my 2016 one setup without a password so when I open my cover the device unlocks, so I never really even see the ad unless I try.

reply
I have a similar one and I never bothered to pay to get rid of the ads or keep it in aeroplane mode.

The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable.

If they were in the actual UI and for stuff like cars and perfume I might mind, but they aren't so I never cared.

reply
> The ads are only shown while it's off, they're static black and white images, and 99% of the time they're for books. Totally unobjectionable

Speak for yourself. Aside from the principle, some of us don’t want to be advertised to in the comfort of our own home/bed/while we’re camping or whatever. Ads don’t have to be actively flashing, spaz-inducing insanity to be objectionable.

Not to mention that by definition an ad like this WILL be seen and attended to, even if only momentarily. That in itself is also objectionable.

reply
Customers have proven they'd rather pay less for the option to see ads. As long as you can pay for an ad-less experience, I see no problem with it.
reply
Actually, the old Kindle had physical buttons, which I find more ergonomic when reading in bed
reply
There are newer ones with physical buttons.
reply
That's what your nose is for. (I'm quite skilled at advancing or going back by gently tapping the kindle against my face. It helps that I'm very nearsighted so it's kind of already there)
reply
Same here. I read your comment from two inches away lol
reply
Really wish my 1st gen Paperweight had split forward and back buttons on the right side.

But then I also understand that'd increase the price by 10% and only help right handed people with weak hands so... c'est la vie.

reply