If you personal one of many following Kindles, you gained’t find a way to obtain new books after May 20: Kindle 1st Generation (2007), Kindle DX (2009), Kindle DX Graphite (2010), Kindle Keyboard (2010), Kindle 4 (2011), Kindle Touch (2011), Kindle 5 (2012), and the Kindle Paperwhite 1st Generation (2012). The Fire tablets that may now not be supported are: Kindle Fire 1st Generation (2011), Kindle Fire 2nd Generation (2012), Kindle Fire HD 7 (2012), and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (2012).
To verify which mannequin you might have, go to Settings > Device choices > Device information in your Kindle or Fire pill.
Amazon’s resolution to finish help for gadgets relationship again to 2007 was a shock to many Kindle customers, leaving them with more questions than answers. In a press release to prospects, Amazon mentioned that the now-obsolete fashions “have been supported for at least 14 years — some as long as 18 years — but technology has come a long way in that time.”
But the corporate stays tight-lipped on precisely why the know-how is now not supported and the rationale behind the chosen fashions. According to safety consultants, it seemingly comes down to engineering overhead and ongoing upkeep.
“From a security perspective, there may be hardware-specific security vulnerabilities that cannot be patched with software. Rather than recalling a bunch of devices to fix them, it’s easier to issue credits and get people into newer devices than try to figure that out,” mentioned Mark Beare, a cybersecurity professional at Malwarebytes.
There’s much less of a safety threat for older Kindles and Fire tablets, given their restricted options. But Beare factors out that gadgets designed years in the past didn’t account for future safety vulnerabilities and are tough to patch after the very fact.
“The longer they sit out in the wild, the harder they are to maintain through software updates, and that becomes a significant burden on engineering teams and a broad security risk,” he mentioned.
Amazon says it will affect lower than 3% of its Kindle e-reader and Kindle Fire prospects worldwide. It’s unclear precisely what number of Kindles are within the wild, however market analysis agency Market Growth Reports estimated that 72 million complete Kindle gadgets had been offered as of 2024. So it’s secure to say that this transfer will brick a not-insignificant variety of e-readers.
“Companies cutting support for devices is a giant and massive, increasing problem,” mentioned Nathan Proctor, senior director of the Right to Repair Campaign with the nonprofit Public Interest Research Group.
“Electronic waste is the fastest-growing global waste stream, so when companies make these decisions, they have huge consequences for the ecosystem, and for the owners of those products,” he mentioned.
Amazon presents a trade-in program to its prospects: If you ship in your outdated gadget, you’ll obtain a rebate that you should utilize to buy one other eligible Amazon gadget. (The trade-in quantity varies relying on the gadget.) The firm says that it “takes unused devices and restores them, making them suitable for resale, or recycles them.” If your gadget isn’t eligible for a trade-in (and is now not in adequate situation to resell), the corporate will enable you ship it to a recycler that’s “Amazon-approved.”
Devices which can be shedding help are older, which implies the trade-in worth will seemingly be low. The Kindle Keyboard from 2011, for instance, may be traded in for up to $5. Keeping it as a memento (or giving it to a relative who’d benefit from the library of books on the gadget) may be higher for the surroundings. You’ll additionally nonetheless find a way to make the most of the promo code that Amazon is providing if you happen to resolve to purchase a brand new Kindle.
