I like to rag on Amazon as much as the next guy here, but this article seems a tad misleading. They do still show up when you plug them in. The article even says they use MTP now instead of functioning as a direct USB mass storage drive, which means you can still plug them into your PC and transfer files though File Explorer. Android handles USB file transfers the same way, and that works fine.
Good call out. Clickbait article.
So, basically the whole article is just a complete nothing-burger.
Sounds like a regular internet article to me.
Kobo, folks. I’ve been there through three generations of devices. No regrets. Fairly hackable, sideload friendly, competitively priced.
Comments on the article say that it’s not true, and new Kindles work exactly the way old ones do.
Seems like they don’t work exactly the same as they used to, as they now use MTP instead of USB mass storage, but while annoying, it’s generally a pretty trivial fix and your OS may already use MTP devices with no trouble. It seems there may be some other knock-on effects with fonts not sideloading right and needing a Calibre plugin to make pagination work how it used to.
So yeah, it’s getting worse, but Amazon hasn’t figured out how to bring the hammer down yet.
What are people’s go-to for eBook buying stores? Preferably DRM free.
I try to not buy Kindle books but I usually end up back there as it’s either much cheaper (not just slightly) or can only be found there.
I usually just borrow e-books from the library, download as epub and strip the DRM from the file so I can read it, and return the eBook to the library right away for the next person to borrow it.
Very user-hostile, but very unsurprising.
Kindle hardware can be very nice, but almost every software decision is designed to keep users within their walled garden.
No epub support, no third party app support, no ability to load non-store audio, and now this. What a waste. These things could be so much more useful than they are.
Calibre has always been a small price to pay, but if sideloading goes away, I’ll certainly never “upgrade” again, and I’ll trash my 11th gen Paperwhite if they somehow make it stop working. Usable e-ink ereaders are even doable as DIY projects now, and Kobo will probably stay less closed-off than Amazon for a good while.
That said, reading the comments and the article it seems like as long as your OS (or some app) supports MTP, everything should still work more or less as it has, which is to say kind of annoying and with Amazon pulling little microaggressions like deleting your cover thumbnails, but overall sideloading should still function.
Specifically:
When you plug them into USB into your PC or MAC, they no longer appear as external drives.
For anyone else who’s confused at the title
Critically, while they wont appear as drives, they will appear as MTP devices (the same way Android phones do) and will still allow you to transfer files. The communication protocol is different, but “New Kindle e-readers no longer appear on computers” isn’t true unless your OS of choice doesn’t support MTP.
Ok, but can you still transfer your own books through MTP?
Yes, including EPUB files
It must have been a slow day at the news office. Literally nothing special to write about, so this article was slapped together.
