Very soon, millions upon millions of Kindle e-readers with 3G internet will no longer be able to connect through the Whispernet network. Luckily, almost every Kindle in circulation still has the ability to connect up to wireless internet access to buy audiobooks and ebooks. WIFi is utterly plentiful in North America and most other developed countries, but what about places like rural Vietnam, Indonesia or India?
Is Amazon going to offer compensation to 3G users? So far, the company has been completely silent about this issue. Michael Kozlowski Editor in Chief Michael Kozlowski has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past twelve years. Michael Kozlowski Editor in Chief. Michael Kozlowski has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past twelve years. Share Tweet Vote 1.
The beauty of a 3G Kindle is that it always works. Maybe it should be that the Kindle ecosystem is. And you should do what you can to embrace it. For me, that means never buying a non-3G Kindle again. The above article may contain affiliate links, which help support Review Geek. After all, Amazon rakes in tons of cash from Kindle ebook sales, and folks that are still actively using these older models are probably still buying books by the boatload.
Amazon could offer these long-standing brand-loyal customers a good deal — or, at least, a discount. Cliff Maldonado, principal analyst at BayStreet Research, also thinks it's likely Amazon will send replacement devices with more modern connectivity if customers complain enough as a one-off.
Extend out these numbers for an order-of-magnitude estimate assuming lots of things, like the ratio of reviews between cellular vs. This will help free up spectrum to better accommodate next generation technologies and services. These plans are not new and we have been working with our customers and business clients during this transition.
There are Kindle alternatives if Amazon's silence leaves you thinking about changing ecosystems. Customers using Amazon's Kindle devices and store likely have plenty of brand loyalty — given the store built into their hardware if nothing else. But if Amazon's failure to explain your Kindle's future leaves a sour taste in your mouth, there are other options. Kobo also persists under Rakuten ownership, with both an ebook store and its own devices.
The change is due to mobile carriers transitioning from older 2G and 3G networking technology to newer 4G and 5G networks. For older Kindles without Wi-Fi, this change could mean not connecting to the internet at all. As Good e-Reader first noted in June , newer Kindle devices with 4G support should be fine, but for older devices that shipped with support for 3G and Wi-Fi like the Kindle Keyboard 3rd generation , Kindle Touch 4th generation , Kindle Paperwhite 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th generation , Kindle Voyage 7th generation , and Kindle Oasis 8th generation , users will be stuck with Wi-Fi only.
Since those devices relied solely on 2G or 3G internet connectivity, once the networks are shut down, the only way to get new content onto your device will be through an old-fashioned micro-USB cable. Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week.
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