101 fun things to do with a locked Kindle e-reader

Amazon's Kindle e-readers just got a bit less useful, but help is at hand, from jailbreaking to making one of the devices into a monitor. The latest change to the copy-protection measures in the Kindle range, which Amazon made on February 26, has fans of electronic books concerned. Specifically, the retailing giant removed the …

[tyrfing]

This issue hasn't been explained properly in *any* of the articles I've read about it. I had to go to Amazon to find out what's actually happening.

If your account had a record of buying a Kindle e-ink reader, then there was the possibility that you didn't have wi-fi or cellular access. So how do you load books onto the device? They allowed you to download the encrypted book to a computer, so you could then load it onto the device via USB.

The encryption was designed for that specific device, so if you had multiple readers you had to download it multiple times.

IMPORTANT:

****

If You Didn't Have A Record Of Owning A Kindle Device, Amazon NEVER Let You Download The Books.

****

"No compatible device found"

How can you read them without a Kindle device? An app on another device, e.g. phone, tablet or computer. It's what I've always done.

Of course, once you download the file, cracking the encryption is a possibility, though of varying degrees of illegality depending on your specific jurisdiction.

I do wonder what the people shouting about this were actually doing with the files, which they won't be able to do now. I presume they all had a device but no other method to transfer books, which is now useless. This wasn't a campaign to drum up views and clicks via feigned outrage, oh no...

[Anonymous Coward]

I used this feature to download my books and sideload them. This way I could keep my Kindle in airplane mode and stop Amazon tracking every page I read, location, etc.

[AndrueC]

This way I could keep my Kindle in airplane mode and stop Amazon tracking every page I read, location, etc.

You can do that anyway. I've been doing it for years. The only change I've noticed is that I now have to manually tap on a book to trigger the initial download. But I thought everyone operated their Kindle in airplane mode to prolong the battery life.

As for '..tracking every page..'. Get a life. You're not that important. Really, you aren't.

[Phil O'Sophical]

The only change I've noticed is that I now have to manually tap on a book to trigger the initial download.

There is no "initial download" now. The only way to get your books is to have Amazon send them to your Kindle device/app. If the Kindle is in airplane mode you're screwed. They are sent in KFX format now, and not AZW, and removing the DRM from a KFX format book is also less straightforward.

Fortunately you can buy books from other places and still use Calibre to manage them. My local library also has an ebook lending services which works, I can borrow a book & load it via Calibre to my Kindle.

[Ian Johnston]

There is no "initial download" now. The only way to get your books is to have Amazon send them to your Kindle device/app.

I bought two books for my Kindle last week, using the Amazon web site on my laptop. They appeared in my library without me doing anything. Tapping once on each downloaded them. Same as ever.

[Yankee Doodle Doofus]

The change was made last week. Have you tried THIS WEEK?

[Anonymous Coward]

Tapping once on each downloaded them. Same as ever.

Presumably the device where you "tapped" is connected to the internet and so received them from Amazon. The discussion here concerns the ability to download them as plain files to a computer from where you can upload them to a Kindle which is in airplane mode, over USB. That stopped working on Feb 26th.

[Ian Johnston]

Thanks for the clarification. I've never felt a need to the long way round like that.

[sev.monster]

Being open and honest that you don't mind trading your own privacy/ownership of products in return for features, and that you think the subsidy it gives your finances is good, is one thing… But not valuing yourself, your privacy, and your autonomy at all is another.

And just because you don't, doesn't mean others have to do the same. There is no need to be vitriolic about it.

Furthermore, some people don't agree with these practices as they see them leading to a darker place. A place where "you don't own anything" turns into "we own you". Where man becomes fully a slave to the corporation in every way—unable to do a single thing themselves without authorization of the company. To them, it's less about the price of their privacy, and more about being worried of the future if they allow the powers that be to continue gaining more.

[JDX]

Kindle tracks what page you're on so it can sync with other devices, or if you replace your Kindle due to upgrade/failure. Seems a bit like complaining Netflix tracks what episode you last watched so it can find the next one automatically. It's part of the funcionality.

If you buy books from Amazon, it tracks what books you own and when you download them which is far more useful. Of all the privacy concerns to be getting irate about, this seems very low down the list. When you connect to the internet to use the store/update the software/download a new book, it will simply upload your stats anyway. There are far more important issues.

If you don't want "them" to know then you shouldn't be using a Kindle, or at least you certainly shouldn't be buying e-books from Amazon.

[sev.monster]

I don't use a Kindle, I was just commenting on the latter part of their post. We exist in a paradigm where it is often beneficial to trade privacy for features, but that doesn't mean one has to like it, or try their best to maintain what autonomy they do still have. I don't think desiring that is bad, if a little paradoxical. I do agree with you though.

[teknopaul]

Amazon already has a history of burning e-books.

I have copies of every ebook I have backed up on and off site like all my other data.

It is important now, and will become more so given US book burning policy.

Having your own copy is equivalent to keeping books in print for future generations.

[captain veg]

Get a life. You're not that important. Really, you aren't.

That's reassuring, thanks.

It doesn't explain why endless ad brokers and other online ne'er do wells attempt to do exactly that (tracking everything) all the fucking time.

-A.

[pradeepvasudev]

If I'm not that important, why are they tracking me anyway? Also, if I'm not that important, why did they delete that copy of 1984 from my Kindle?

The thing is: I may not be important to them, but I'm supremely important to me! And I don't like that they sold me a device, sold me a book, and then tell me I can't back up that book. I am OK with a restriction on SHARING books, but not with them telling me what I can do with my devices and content that I bought.

[Anonymous Coward]

> As for '..tracking every page..'. Get a life. You're not that important. Really, you aren't.

I agree we are not, but then... can you explain *why* Amazon wants to track us on every page then?

(And it does, you can see in the wifi traffic, each page)

[teknopaul]

I am that important

Old Bill have phoned me up to say my private phone conversations will be used in court for a crime I was nothing to do with

[Mage]

Downloading

Some people don't have WiFi, or never figured how to use it, or are not allowed to use it.

There are also some models of Cell/Mobile only Kindles, and in US particularly they have no service now. Some places outside USA still have EDGE (2G) which works with "International" models.

Also it's reasonable to have a backup. You can't trust Amazon to be their for ever, or always produce replacement kindles and copyright expires eventually.

DRM on bought content is evil and about control, not anti-piracy.

[JDX]

Re: Downloading

"Some people don't have WiFi, or never figured how to use it, or are not allowed to use it."

Come on now, this is just looking for data to support the conclusion you already made. This is akin to people on my village FB group "what about if a fire engine needs to get through" when somebody parks outside their back gate.. they're just pissed about the inconvenience, the emergency services are entirely used to dealing with it.

[sev.monster]

Re: Downloading

Kindle was marketed as a "take it anywhere" sort of device, back in the day. Even I had one, and it was pretty cool to take your books with you, all in one device. This was well before the popularization of the smartphone mind you, so the first gen Kindle was pretty revolutionary. Keep in mind the first Kindle released the same year as the first iPhone! Even if you wanted to read ebooks on a smartphone, PDA, or other device, the market and technology not there, and the screens were tiny and awful even if you could somehow get it to work even somewhat decently.

So Amazon starting to lock the Kindle down like this does not inspire consumer confidence that they can continue to use it for its original purpose. What happens when John Amazon decides it doesn't like a book you downloaded and deletes it before an extended stint without Internet, like on a flight or long roadtrip? What happens when your previously offline-capable ebook reader now requires an Internet connection so you can't read anything at all without paying exorbitant rates for Internet access where you'd otherwise not have it? What happens to people living in places where actually having Internet is the exception, not the norm? Starving kids in Africa could have eaten that radio wave, god damn it.

Look, I get you do not see any of these situations as marginally important when compared to how you use technology, but there are plenty of people, statistically, that have to deal with problems like this on a regular basis. If not for privacy reasons, have some sympathy for them at the very least. Yes, you can argue it's their fault for choosing to business with Amazon, but the company did not signal to anyone they would suddenly remove one of the very reasons that people might have used their product at all in the first place: reading their books anywhere, without Internet.

[tiggity]

Re: Downloading

@Mage

Partner got me a very early Kindle as a gift many, many years ago.

Supposedly free mobile connection forever...long since failed to connect on mobile (never bothered investigating if Amazon nobbled mobile connectivity or it was due to older mobile protocols no longer available in my area of UK).

WIFi fails too (very limited protocol support, only way I could use it would be to set up a separate router for Kindle use and configure it to use old super insecure protocols on it. I could do that but really no point*.)

I only really noticed connection issues as kindle had a (very limited) browser on it & did occasionally use it when out and about to check status of a work related server (back when I had a dumb mobile phone & so would get a text or call about a possible issue but no phone based browser)

* No point as

1) I try to avoid Amazon if possible

2) I prefer physical books

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Downloading

"Supposedly free mobile connection forever...long since failed to connect on mobile"

I'm sure it was defined as "lifetime" not "forever" and that "lifetime" was defined with a number of legal terms making it mean something other than what you assumed it meant :-)

[david bates]

I buy my books from Amazon, carck them and put them on my Kobo, because the Kobo store is an unusable abomination. It doesn't even handle changes of resolution gracefully.

So far I've been able to continue downloading and cracking Kindle books, even though I have no Kindle device. We shall see how this proceeds.

Amazon have already lost me as a Prime member due to changes to Music and Video. When my Alexa devices start to fail they'll be replaced with something else.

[Charlie Clark]

The Kobo store is pretty poor but there are lots of alternatives. The devices themselves are great, as are the additions to the file format they use.

[Bebu sa Ware]

"I buy my books from Amazon, carck them"

Carck? In some Englishes can mean destroy or kill. ;)

Presumably a typo for crack but humourous nonetheless.

Only ever bothered with Kobo devices and used Calibre to convert DRM free books† and public domain texts - epub pretty decent, pdf were a bit of a trial though.

_{† Packt and SitePoint titles were/are.}

[LybsterRoy]

-- When my Alexa devices start to fail they'll be replaced with something else. --

Good, may I suggest nothing?

[Chet Mannly]

You also could not download from the website if you had one of their new 2024 Kindles before they dropped the hammer on everyone else.

[Anonymous Coward]

Since I transitioned to ebooks, I wanted to future proof my library *in the event* I decided to switch from kindle to another ebook reader, which I feel is my right as a consumer. So from very early on I researched how to strip drm and use calibre to manage my library. With each kindle firmware upgrade, I'd redownload a book to check the dedrm process worked before buying a new ebook. If that ever stopped working, I was prepared to stop buying from Amazon.

Thankfully, unlike many who now find them out of luck and unable to download their ebooks (and those a week ago quickly trying to download their ebooks before Amazon disabled the download the function), this means I already had all 300+ of my Amazon purchased ebooks downloaded and stripped of drm and in my calibre library before I had any inkling that Amazon was going to disable the download function.

I used to check Kindle deals regularly for ebooks to add to my library, but have now completely stopped and will be looking into using kobo and ebooks.com for future purchases.

[Is It Me]

I believe that they still let you download to your computer with the Kindle programs on the computers, and this probably continues to allow you to remove DRM from your purchased books.

What has stopped is the download from the Amazon webiste in the bit to manage your device and content,

[Jason Bloomberg]

"This technology's glory days may be yet to come"

Perhaps. The current problem for anyone wanting to use e-paper themselves is that anything but the smallest of displays are quite expensive.

It's usually cheaper to jailbreak and hack a working second-hand e-reader to take advantage of their economies of scale and hardware being subsidised through content purchase. But that's not always easy.

E-paper is also a rather niche market beyond e-readers. With most makers choosing or using LCD there is little sign of prices falling so far.

[Ian Johnston]

Re: "This technology's glory days may be yet to come"

I'd love a nice big e-ink display for (sheet) music but the only ones I can find are hellishly expensive, as in "starting at a thousand quid".

[Bebu sa Ware]

Re: "This technology's glory days may be yet to come"

"starting at a thousand quid."

If a 340mm (13.3") screen were large enough these ONYX BOOX Note Max 13.3" go for AUD1099 (in AU obviously) which is about GBP540. (That includes 10% GST ~ VAT.)

I was always intending to get a 300mm (10") or 330mm (11") version but after retirement I wouldn't have used it enough to really justify the purchase.

[Ian Johnston]

Re: "This technology's glory days may be yet to come"

Not big enough, alas.

[Richard 12]

Re: "This technology's glory days may be yet to come"

It probably is big enough - it's about 10mm shorter than A4, and sheet music doesn't go all the way to the top and bottom edges.

That said, I guess you'd likely want two screens which would be £1000.

[Charlie Clark]

Re: "This technology's glory days may be yet to come"

PocketBook had a device that they picked specifically for this. But there are others. How big would you want it to be?

[Charlie Clark]

Re: "This technology's glory days may be yet to come"

I've been using my readers for over a decade and I think they're great. Many devices aren't subsidised by content and continue to get software updates.

If days of battery and usability in bright sunlight is niche, then I'm niche!

But I also know people with devices like the ReMarkable that they much prefer over tablets of similar size.

[AndrueC]

Meh, I've subscribed to Kindle Unlimited for over a year now. Download, read, release. Much like TV series I've never encountered a book that I want to experience more than once. I currently get through two or three books a week.

[Neil Barnes]

Meh. I've never kept a book I didn't want to read again - which is why both the shelves in my cellar and my kobo are bursting at the sides.

I will not tolerate being a member of the 'you don't own anything, you just rent it for as long as we let you' club.

[Number 39]

Re: Never kept

Both use cases are valid, (I tend to go for the latter). But dismissing either use case is not.

[LybsterRoy]

-- I've never kept a book I didn't want to read again --

I have encountered those - I call them R.O.A.D. books (read once and dump). I still had to convert half my garage to hold the books I've kept and will read again!

[LybsterRoy]

-- I've never encountered a book that I want to experience more than once --

I know some people like that - they have my sympathy

[John Brown (no body)]

I suspect the sort of book that one "experiences" rather than reads, is probably the more forgettable type of literature.

All of the many, many books I have, have been read at ;eat twice, often more times, usually with a gap of years between reads.

Non-fiction books are another matter. Some are so dated they are little more than historical reference now while others are still frequently used as references decades after I bought them. I shouod probably try to sell or donate some of my old IT related books to the retro computing crowd. I don't really care much for developing for DBase II/II/II+ any more, or 101 things to do with your TRS-80 :-)

I've still not finished my copy of Andy Saunders' "Apollo Remastered". I keep that one for "special treats" and limit it to a few pages or a section at a time. And when I do eventually get to the end, I'll start all over again :-)

[Long John Silver]

Overzealous protection of 'content' is counterproductive

Amazon's attempt to further lockdown books its subscribers believe they have bought entitlement to store and read by any means they find convenient, may damage Amazon's reputation and e-book sales.

Amazon is not alone in deluded thinking about the degree to which it is able to control customer behaviour and to protect what it deems as its property or its 'right' to vend on behalf of somebody else. Film streaming services like Netflix, HBO, and others, not only guard their walled gardens, but also fragment them according to geographical regions; the latter ploy arising because they acquiesce to the demands of publishers/makers for geographical division of 'rights'; collectively the streaming outlets could put an end to that nonsense by refusing to display 'content' restricted in said manner.

Anyway, restrictions irksome to paying customers encourage workarounds. In the absence of these barriers, some of Amazon's magically replenishable e-book stock may evaporate copies, which further reproduce beyond Amazon's control. Given that some evaporation is inevitable for digital products, the matter boils down to comparing Amazon's income with and without particular barriers: pragmatism in the face of reality.

Setting aside the faux market value for digital books, the core of the business reduces to providing added value to ephemeral purchases: convenience, a broad and well constructed catalogue, thoughtful reviews, early availability of new digital products, etc. Competing e-content sellers should bear in mind that 'added value' is the key competitive element of their businesses.

[Alan Brown]

Re: Overzealous protection of 'content' is counterproductive

> the latter ploy arising because they acquiesce to the demands of publishers/makers for geographical division of 'rights'

It's worth noting that the Copyright Cartels (all based out of London) are one of the few Empire entities which haven't been stomped on by modern global trading rules

I say "empire" because most of the regional carveups are based on 19th century European empire territories. It leads to such inanity as American magazines (which are printed with a cover date 3 months out) arriving in Australia/NZ via London, 3 months AFTER the cover date at 8-10 times the American cover price and with very spotty quantities (some months simply fail to show up at all)

There are similar attitudes and restrictions in EMEA supply agreements which bear zero relation to modern shipping patterns and invariably the common factor of EMEA agencies is "let's gouge the clients for as much as they can bear" - prior to Internet distribution it wasn't unusual for software to cost 20 times the USA figure in Au/NZ and one could take a first class flight from Auckland to LA, stay in a five-star hotel for a week and purchase a top end Apple Mac, then return to Kiwiland with said Mac and STILL save 25% over the local purchase price

Copyright cartels have managed to control lawmakers for a long time, which is both bad for consumers and in the long term, bad for them. Piracy is rampant mostly BECAUSE of their shady practices, not despite it

[Gene Cash]

Don't forget

"If buying isn't owning, then piracy isn't stealing"

[Bebu sa Ware]

Re: Don't forget

Capt Pugwash: "Lolloping landlubbers! Piracy isn't stealing."

Master Mate†: "Aye, aye Cap'n."

I imagine considering Amazon and Bezos together it's more privateering or at worst buccaneering.

_{† careful here as John Ryan sicked the lawyers on The Guardian columnist who suggested Master Bates, Seaman Stains and Roger the Cabin Boy were part of the Black Pig's company. They were in the crew of the Flying Dustman of course.}

[Mage]

jailbreak

A locked, i.e. Blacklisted* Kindle is crippled and can never be registered. You need to register a Kindle to jailbreak, and if you don't have a Kindle, then buy a Kobo. Doesn't need a jailbreak.

[* Due to reported stolen, lost, or reported faulty and Amazon didn't want it back. They never re-enable them.]

[Stratman]

I still use my Nook out of preference, I find it far better than my dust-gathering Kindle. Yes the store and support for it stopped years ago but it still does everything it did on the day I bought it. Finding books and loading them isn't a problem either.

[AJ MacLeod]

Until last year I did the same - Nook Simple Touch, bought ridiculously cheap when they were dumping their stock here. It started to literally fall apart last year though, the rubberised plastic over the "buttons" has started to crack and fall out so I bought a Pocketbook Era to replace it. The Era is lovely, but the Nook is still entertaining my daughter who reads books faster than I can download them!

Amazon have lost my e-book business for good - I fairly often bought books on Amazon to download and read on my Nook / Era, but no chance now. I never trusted them enough to buy a Kindle and I suppose they've just proved me right.

[captain veg]

onto

Interesting article, Liam, as per normal. But really?

"you are free to put your files onto the device, but not to copy those files off the device and onto your computer."

Onto. Pff.

"I have found by experience that no one persistently using onto writes anything much worth reading" (Kingsley Amis)

On to. Two words.

-A.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: onto

I always thought that onto was short for ontologically, as in the near-expletive: "And ontologically your computer!" -- which I gather is a philosophical way of saying: "Up yours computer!", or somesuch ... Much the same as unto is short for untowardly, and into for intorted.

The commonly used expression: "Get that dang file into, unto, and onto, your doggone computer, right, now!" intones that one is squarely and homophonically fscked iiuc (hence the fusage in TFA afaik -- or not!). ;)

[jgarbo]

Re: onto

"...found 'by' experience..."? I'd prefer 'from' but perhaps I never write anything worth reading...

[Yankee Doodle Doofus]

Re: onto

"through" experience?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: onto

'By Experience' is a perfectly valid expression.

'From' or 'Through' may be a preference BUT it does not invalidate 'By Experience'.

If you query this form in modern dictionaries it does not state that it is considered an 'invalid' or 'bad' or 'Archaic' language construct.

:)

[Felonmarmer]

Worth of onto?

onto - 4 bytes

on to - 5 bytes

Back when Amis was writing, there was no saving in ink, but these days "onto" is 20% more efficient. I could argue that ASCII #20 is not worth reading, but I won't because it will not be worth reading.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Worth of onto?

The problem with omitting spaces is that meanings can become vague and or variable, relying on the eye of the beholder. As Pen Island found with their web site "penisland.com"

[Bebu sa Ware]

Re: onto

"no one persistently using onto writes anything much worth reading" (Kingsley Amis)

Having once attempted Jake's Thing perhaps also vice versa. ;)

Mathematics uses onto as a economical synonym for surjective which probably accounts for some its misuse by those more broadly educated than Mr Amis. ;)

[Liam Proven]

Re: onto

> On to. Two words.

No, I dispute this. "On to" and "onto" are separate and different things, just as "in to" and "into". It would be an error to _always_ split this single preposition.

In British English according to the Cambridge dictionary:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/onto

In American English according to Merriam-Webster:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/onto

[captain veg]

Re: onto

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/onto

They clearly consider there to be no difference in meaning.

-A.

[captain veg]

Re: onto

The big dictionary too.

https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=onto

Just redirects to "on to" with no further comment.

-A.

[captain veg]

Re: onto

So you lose.

Moving on, into.

Nah. In to. Two words.

-A.

[TReko]

Slow decline

I have a Kindle 3 and a Kindle 11.

The Kindle 11 has a much better screen. That is the only thing that is better. The reading experience stutters every few pages, downloaded books can't be found in the list, and you need to search for them, there is no longer folder support. The list goes on.

It's like Amazon decided to remove most of the software features of the Kindle 3, and replace them with advertising and online shopping on the Kindle.

Luckily, there's KOReader and Jailbreaking.

[john.jones.name]

If only someone actually did a A4 device

having something that actually is useful for the majority of publications would be nice

where is the A4 sized screen

first device that has A4 sized screen gets a truckload of money

[Bebu sa Ware]

Re: If only someone actually did a A4 device

first device that has A4 sized screen gets a truckload of money

But then the L.Pondians (specifically Trumpisstanis) will be complaining about its not supporting us letter or legal. and delusional faredgian R.Pondians ("Reform"), [foolscap] quarto and foolscap [folio]. Probably serendipitous that the latter were named fools+cap but A6 would suffice to fashion a Reform dunces cap.

Unfortunately A4 works out to 364mm or 14.35 inches diagonally (aspect ratio 1:√2 ) which is still larger than the largest BOOX I know of viz ONYX BOOX Note Max 13.3" (aspect ration 3:4) so might be a while still.

Reading A4 documents in their PDF form scaled to a 330mm (11") screen isn't too shabby an experience.

[Liam Proven]

Re: If only someone actually did a A4 device

> where is the A4 sized screen

The Boox Note mentioned in my article?

Personally I bought a 2nd hand Kindle DX on eBay when I emigrated.

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2009/06/15/the-kindle-dx-first-impressions/

These days you could buy a Kindle Scribe, if you wanted.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-scribe/dp/B09BSQ365J

[John PM Chappell]

Re: If only someone actually did a A4 device

Aye, I have both of those actually. Kindle DX gets used a lot for technical e-books (usually PDF) because the large screen makes it readable, the lack of lit screen is not an issue (I'm rarely wanting to read them in the dark) and it's not much good for anything else anyway (it never had WiFi access and "Whispernet" went bye-bye). In fact, I am one of those people a certain commentard (emphasis on last syllable) thought did not exist - there is no way to get recent purchases onto this otherwise functional device without working around Amazon's current position.

The Scribe is great for being very nice to read from, and making a decent scratchpad in a pinch. It also has quite a lot of technical stuff on it, but it's my currently preferred device for recreational reading.

I also have several other Kindle / Fire devices and had more before trading a couple in and giving one away. I won't be buying any more, as it stands though. The latest move is just too far enough to push me into finding e-books elsewhere.

[chololennon]

Re: Slow decline

> I have a Kindle 3 and a Kindle 11.

> The Kindle 11 has a much better screen. That is the only thing that is better. The reading experience stutters every few pages, downloaded books can't be found in the list, and you need to search for them, there is no longer folder support. The list goes on.

Agreed.

I also have a Kindle 3 and a Kindle PW (7th gen.). The latter has light, but it is awful: no sound and no page buttons on both sides of the screen. Buttons are always useful, specially when you have only one hand available (like in crowded subways). Also the touch screen is flawed when links are in the text, a lot times a page change is instead a slow travel to the browser or to another section of the book.

[vekkq]

102. a locked Kindle also makes a good doorstopper

[Conundrum1885]

Hacking 101

In a similar situation with my PRS600 which also has a bad charging circuit and touch screen in addition to the borked E-ink.

Unfortunately replacing the glass panel though feasible (hello hot wire cutter) results in more ghosts than Ray Stantz's basement.

The only way to fix this is to go through the 'highly' complicated process of reading back the screen .CAL file and modding

it using a hex editor at a range of temperatures, to get as close as possible then rewriting it with the factory tool(s).

I got most of the way there by simply fine tuning the voltage pot with a 'scope back in the day.

The other fix is to 'remember' what results in the best picture if displaying a slideshow and tweak the actual photos being sent

to the screen.

This incidentally is basically how the video 'monitors' work, the clever software and screen heating helps.

Being able to play 'DooM' on an E-reader is hilarious!

[xyz]

If only they lasted that long....

My gf is on kindle n. Dropped on the floor, dropped in the bath... The list of Kindle deaths is huge and spectacular.

[Conundrum1885]

Re: If only they lasted that long....

Hi, incidentally did you dispose of them? I have found a potential source for the E-ink panels.

It isn't that hard, need to know the Vp data and ideally panel revision.

thanks!

[CorwinX]

Why do these things still exist?

I've got 2514 books in 323 folders on my phone's SD card.

Just did a folder Properties count and yes I have read every single one.

Just downloaded my next book an hour ago.

Why would I want to carry around a doorstop with a crap screen?

[AJ MacLeod]

Re: Why do these things still exist?

They exist for the same reason that nobody really prints books as small as a normal phone screen. Also, they exist because most people who read books don't like their batteries running out every second chapter. Also they exist because staring at a bright backlit screen is very uncomfortable after a while.

[Anonymous Coward]

Amazon et al

Part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Best avoided.

[Gala]

Regularly buy ebooks from Amazon for my Kindle, admittedly mostly at the cheap end of the range, either something I want to re-read for the first time in years or something that looks like it might be worth a look for 99p

Everything I buy gets backed up to a separate HD, just in case.

So yes, I was rather miffed to discover last week that I can't download directly any more and have to send the file to my (completely legit and un-jailbroken) device and then plug it in to a laptop to back it up.

Obviously, once it's there I also break the DRM, if I've bought something it's mine and I don't trust proprietary file formats. If Amazon make it impossible to do that there will be a rethink about where I source my ebooks from....

[Groo The Wanderer - A Canuck]

Or you could just install an e-Reader on your phone and say "Hell, No!" to Amazon's lockin instead of spending coin on one of their readers. It isn't like they're the only provider of e-books out there...

[call-me-mark]

Have you ever tried to read a book on a phone? Personally I like a battery life measured in days rather than hours, a screen that doesn't murder your eyes after an hour with its backlight, and being able to fit more than about 20 words on screen at once at a comfortable reading text-size.