The wisdom of owning actual books printed on archival paper and bound in leather is once more confirmed, this time by Amazon:
Starting on February 26th, 2025, Amazon is removing a feature from its website allowing you to download purchased books to a computer and then copy them manually to a Kindle over USB. It’s a feature that a lot of Kindle users are probably not aware of, given books can be more easily sent to devices over Wi-Fi, but it’s especially useful for backing up purchases or converting them to other formats compatible with non-Kindle e-readers.
Amazon confirmed the removal of the book download feature in a statement to The Verge. “Customers can continue reading books previously downloaded on their Kindle device, and access new content through the Kindle app, Kindle for web, as well as directly through Kindle devices with WiFi capability,” said Amazon spokesperson Jackie Burke.
Once this feature goes away, you’ll still be able to manually copy ebook files and other documents to Kindles over USB using Amazon’s apps or third-party solutions like Calibre. You just won’t be able to download copies of your purchased books to a computer.
A comment from a former Amazon employee underlines the bitter irony.
I worked for the Kindle team at Amazon 2009-2011 when Kindle was brand new. It’s amazing to think that back in those days we thought we were working on a technology that may eventually replace most physical books and especially ironic to now think that the best way to maintain ownership over books and copies of controversial or “banned” books is to own physical copies.
Never trust the corpocracy. Every new freedom they give you turns out to be an illusion.