- Amazon deletes the option Download and transfer via USB on Kindles
- The functionality had not appeared on the latest models
- It is likely that this decision is to fight against the hacking of electronic books
I have owned and liked some of the best Kindles in the series since Amazon introduced the reader, but the use of these devices can be somewhat restrictive – in particular Amazon kills a useful USB file transfer function.
As indicated by The Verge, the download and transfer option via USB disappears on February 26.
The functionality is not really available on the latest generation of Kindles, repelled last year, but all other models will be affected. Amazon does not give a reason in the move, but it is almost certainly to repress the hacking of the electronic book.
Using fairly simple tools available online, users can download electronic books purchased on Amazon, break DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection and send them to other devices or distribute them widely on the web. It will no longer be possible.
Less flexibility
As is often the case, efforts to combat digital pirates mean that users respecting rules lose. This means that electronic books can no longer be saved on computers as backups, or move without Wi-Fi connection, which has given Kindle owners a certain flexibility.
It is worth keeping in mind that Amazon occasionally removes electronic books from its catalog or replaces them with modified versions. More than ever, users will be to the whims of what Amazon decides to make available.
You can always move electronic books via Wi-Fi of course, as well as transfer files to your Kindle via USB and software such as caliber. This is specifically the possibility of downloading purchases from the Amazon website to a computer that disappears.
This is also close to fully killing the older AZW3 format for Amazon electronic books: it has been replaced by the more recent KFX format, which is much more difficult to break in terms of DRM, and which is now used in most Situations (except downloads on a computer).
