Amazon to cut off old Kindles in May

Amazon is to discontinue support for old Kindles, including the first and second generations and the Kindle DX. They're not going to be bricked, but they will be cut loose: "you will not be able to purchase, borrow or download addtional books" after May 20. And if you reset them or deregister them, they will be bricked. Users are displeased; the BBC estimates up to two million devices will be affected.

"I have a Kindle Touch that I've had since 2013, it works great, I bought a book on it a few months ago, and suddenly it's obsolete," one X user wrote in a post tagging Amazon.

Another frustrated user described the Kindle as "probably one of the most low-tech devices ever made" and queried why Amazon was discontinuing its support for it.

"A Kindle is a text device! There is no need for updates."

A sad example of modern technology living at the commercial convenience of the manufacturer. Thankfully, these old Kindles are well-owned; ZDNet's David Gewirtz explains how it's done.

The process of doing this is kind of like finding pieces of a treasure map. You start with one clue and follow it for a while, then branch off following a different clue. In our case, the clues are message board posts. The bits of treasure are the files linked to on those boards.

And, yes, this is a bit of a risky process. You will be downloading unverified files from random forums on the internet. Anything could be attached as a payload. The only saving grace is that these are very well-populated and regularly updated pinned posts, so hopefully, the jailbreak community would find and expose any unsavory payloads.

Previously:
• I removed the DRM from my Amazon Kindle ebooks
• I jailbroke my Kindle so you don't have to