By Greg Bensinger
SAN FRANCISCO, May 19 (Reuters) – For Claudia Buonocore, the thought of parting ways with her 15-year-old Kindle Touch e-reader is painful.
“I’ve never felt the desire to have another device,” said the 39-year-old Pittsburgh area resident. “It’s a part of me, a lifesaver, I fall asleep with it almost every night.”
Buonocore and other Kindle users face an unwelcome change. Amazon last month said it would end support for e-readers released in 2012 and earlier, preventing users from downloading new books or receiving software updates after May 20.
“It’s just a complete betrayal of customers,” said Buonocore.
Amazon will support newer devices and has offered a 20% discount on recent models, priced from $110 to $680, with $20 in e-book credits. But many Kindle loyalists are not ready to turn the page on their beloved gadgets.
Brian Oelberg has been loading up his 2010-era Kindle Keyboard with e-books since learning of Amazon’s plans, and estimates he now has about 250 titles. He plans to switch off the device’s WiFi starting Wednesday to keep it safe from any software updates that wipe it clean.
Oelberg, 64, said he recently tried newer models at a Best Buy store but was unimpressed, noting they lack physical page-turn buttons. “There’s no reason for Amazon to be doing this,” said the Chicago resident, adding the buttons allow him to read outdoors in cold weather without removing gloves.
Fans of older Kindles say the devices’ durability and physical buttons are unmatched by newer versions such as the $180 Kindle Paperwhite, which they say drains battery life more quickly with its backlit screen.
Many technology firms phase out older devices due to security, cost and other factors, prompting users to upgrade. It was not possible to determine how many devices are affected by Amazon’s move.
Amazon said it had supported the devices for 14 years or more and could not keep doing so indefinitely. “Technology has come a long way in that time,” said a spokesperson.
While Amazon was not the first company to produce e-readers, it pushed them into the mainstream with the introduction of the first Kindle in 2007. In a near-instant, users could download e-books onto the device over cellular networks and gain access to Amazon’s vast catalogue of titles.
Today, Amazon commands 72% of the e-reader market, according to research firm Business Research Insights. Amazon itself has never disclosed Kindle sales.
Commentators on social media sites offer plenty of solutions to keeping the devices useful for years to come. That includes so-called jailbreaking, meaning removing software restrictions to allow other software to be installed; and sideloading, a means of adding books to the device from a computer, typically through a USB cord.
Others are turning to open-source software like e-book manager Calibre, which does not rely on Amazon’s systems.
Cathy Ryan, who repairs older Kindles for resale on eBay as a hobby, expects the change to hurt her business. The 59-year-old Vermont resident owns five Kindles and still uses a second-generation device bought in 2009.
“I suppose nothing lasts forever, but I am just really annoyed,” said Ryan.
Cathy DeMail, 69, from The Villages, Florida, said she sees an ulterior motive and has been trying to load her device with books. “It’s a shame I am getting railroaded into this,” she said, adding she will likely have to buy a newer touchscreen model.
“I hate it, it’s the principle of the thing that bothers me.”
(Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and David Gregorio)
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