What does Jeff Bezos think is going to happen? | The Reinvigorated Programmer
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What does Jeff Bezos think is going to happen?
Posted on July 5, 2026 | 13 Comments
I bought a book on my Kindle — a thing I have done many times before. I exchanged money for goods, as one is supposed to do in a capitalist society. Then this happened.
"While you can continue reading books previously downloaded, you can no longer download Kindle books to this device. You can, of course, continue to read purchased books using Kindle for Web, iOS, Mac and PCs well as supported Kindle devices."
I wonder what response Jeff Bezos expects me to do. Does he think I will buy a new Kindle? I can’t think of any other explanation for crippling a perfectly functional device.
But of course I won’t buy a new Kindle, when this one is perfectly functional. I’ll just pirate the book that I have already paid for. I will find somewhere that I can download a non-DRM-crippled copy of the book, and put it on my device that I have also already paid for.
And as for buying more books from Amazon? What will happen now? From a quick survey of my ordering history, it seems I bought 25 Kindle ebooks in the first half of 2026, so the buying rate is about 50 a year, or one a week. Will I keep doing this?
Well, from now on the workflow will be:
Find the book I want on Amazon.
Buy it.
Find the same book on a torrent site.
Download it.
Physically copy it onto the Kindle via a USB cable.
And it can hardly escape anyone’s notice that I would achieve exactly the same end-state — the book on my Kindle — if I just skipped the first two stages. In other words, under the new regimen, the first two steps consist of me investing my precious time into giving Jeff Bezos my in exchange for absolutely no benefit whatsoever.
So it looks as though this move — both mean-spirited and commercially incompetent — will result in the loss of about 50 book sales per year. And I cannot be the only person who has had this reaction to the semi-bricking of my perfectly functional device
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← Doctor Who series 13, part 6: The Vanquishers
13 responses to “What does Jeff Bezos think is going to happen?”
Jim Grey
July 5, 2026 at 10:36 pm
I should get out my ancient Kindle and see if it is similarly bricked.
Michael Kohne
July 5, 2026 at 11:03 pm
May I suggest bookshop.org? They have SOME ebooks for purchase DRM-free. Far from everything, but with checking.
Also, when considering going full mode on things you didn’t buy, do remember that Authors also need to eat.
Pedro
July 5, 2026 at 11:05 pm
Well, from now on the workflow will be:
Find the book I want on Amazon.
Buy it.
This is called "voting with your wallet", and you should stop and think what you’re voting for.
Mark
July 5, 2026 at 11:13 pm
As another said, I would rather purchase from bookshop.org. They also deal in crippled formats but at least give back a % to local shops.
unstory
July 6, 2026 at 1:43 am
He does not give a shit about you. He has no idea you exist. It’s a business. Based on his wealth he probably knows how to manage it ;/ You already bought a kindle and other crap from Amazon. You already paid him more then majority of the population.
Mike Taylor
July 6, 2026 at 1:54 am
unstory, you’re not wrong that I have already spent money on my Kindle. But until now, I was also buying a book a week. That revenue stream has now stopped dead. It’s hard for me to see how this was a smart move on their part.
To everyone saying I should have been buying from someone other than Amazon in the first place: I know these arguments and I am not unsympathetic to them. But Amazon’s USP has always been their convenience. Now they have removed the convenience, and … I don’t see what they think their USP is now.
Andrew Molyneux
July 6, 2026 at 3:36 am
Thankfully my elderly Kindle is still “supported” (for now) but I wouldn’t be surprised if it outlived Amazon’s desire to support it. I’ve already decided my next reader will be something Android-based like one of the devices from https://www.boox.com/ – I can install the Kindle app on something like that and keep access to my existing books but perhaps make different choices regarding any future purchases 🤣
mathiastck
July 6, 2026 at 7:28 am
Yeah all my recent book and adiobook purchases have been from HumbleBundle. I was disappointed to see that some of the purchases were for keys for books on other platforms, and...