Hacker News Reader

Comment by danShumway | Hacker News Reader

> which sucks

Note that it doesn't just suck because you're giving up using the Kindle itself. It also sucks because you'll be losing your entire collection of Ebooks, which are DRM-encumbered and can not be ported to other non-Amazon devices/platforms/apps.

This makes it extremely difficult for other privacy-respecting platforms to compete on the market, since using them requires the user to either break the law by stripping DRM from their books, or to abandon their entire purchased library.

Future TOS/EULA/Privacy changes that might not have been in place when a user originally bought their Kindle can thus be forced on them by making it prohibitively expensive for the user to opt out or change ecosystems.

View on HN

I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding - you can turn off analytics on your e-reader without giving up the kindle platform. It's also separate from whispersync (which can also be disabled independently).

Just for clarification -- is this something that actually turns off the collection itself?

I'm seeing conflicting things online that range from "just hit this toggle and you're good", to "you can disable some of it, but not all", to "this only opts out of data processing for ads/analytics".

If there really is an option to disable the collection entirely, then that would mitigate a large number of the problems I have with that practice. Of course I'd love for it to be opt-in, but just giving the option would still be better than many other devices like Smart TVs.

Kindles have airplane mode and allow you to load books onto them using the USB connection. The battery also lasts somewhat longer if you use them that way. Amazon directly offers a "Download & Transfer via USB" option for ebooks you purchase in their store, as well -- this is a relatively well-supported use case.

It does mean that if you want to be absolutely sure your Kindle isn't phoning home, you can't use the Kindle browser, and you need a laptop or similar to download the things you want to transfer over. It's not a perfect solution for everyone, but for the typical HN reader who is concerned about telemetry, it should work.

I've done this. Mine has been in aeroplane mode since the day I got it. I seem to remember having to allow it to connect to Amazon once when I first took it out of the box, but since then, no network connectivity at all, and zero problems as a result. It's been great.

I download the ebooks themselves using the Kindle application on my computer (if I'm using Amazon to get them, which I don't always), and then use Calibre to manage/import/convert/strip DRM from them. I don't need the sync functionality, or to be able to look things up on the internet (not being able to do that is a feature as far as I'm concerned!). I just want text on a page. I like the "e-reader" experience, and I have no desire to read books on a phone or tablet. I have one Kindle, and it comes with me if I think I'm going to have the opportunity to read when I'm out of the house.

Of course, if you're using Amazon to get your books they'll still build a profile of your reading habits, but there's something about tracking the exact parts of a book I'm reading, the bits I might linger on or reread, which feels extra intrusive to me, and which I categorically don't want.

> Mine has been in aeroplane mode since the day I got it. I seem to remember having to allow it to connect to Amazon once when I first took it out of the box, but since then, no network connectivity at all, and zero problems as a result. It's been great.

I also never connect my Kindle to the internet. (The phone app does connect.) You don't have to allow it to connect to Amazon once. Mine has never connected.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com