According to an email issued to customers on Wednesday, Amazon’s Kindle e-readers with built-in 3G will begin to lose the capacity to connect to the internet on their own in the United States in December.
The shift is a result of mobile operators upgrading their networks from 2G and 3G to 4G and 5G. If you have an older Kindle that doesn’t have Wi-Fi, you may not be able to access the internet at all.
Good eReader first reported in June that newer Kindle devices with 4G support should be fine, but older devices like the Kindle Keyboard (3rd generation), Kindle Touch (4th generation), Kindle Paperwhite (4th, 5th, and 6th generation), Kindle Voyage (7th generation), and Kindle Oasis (8th generation) will only be able to access the Internet via the Wi-Fi connection.
There will be no way to download new books from the Kindle Store without using Wi-Fi, as Amazon emphasizes in its email release. Customers can, however, continue to use and enjoy the content they already own and have downloaded on these devices. The email Amazon sent to customers is shown here:
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In the case of the Kindle 1st and 2nd generation
As well as the Kindle DX, things grow more complicated (2nd generation). A micro-USB cable will be the only means to get new content onto those devices when 2G or 3G networks are no longer operational.
A spokesperson for Amazon told The Verge in an email that the business has a variety of solutions for active customers with compromised devices, including trade-in choices. To qualify for the following credits and deals, you must have read on one of these older Kindle devices between January 1st and June 30th of 2021. Please check your email for a promo code.
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Amazon is giving away a free Kindle Oasis (10th Generation) device and cover to anybody who already owns a Kindle (1st Generation).
In addition to the $70 discount on a new Kindle Paperwhite or Oasis, customers with Kindle (1st and 2nd Generation), Kindle DX (2nd Generation), and the Kindle Keyboard (3rd Generation) can get $25 in ebook credits for free.
With a new Kindle Oasis or Paperwhite, customers who already own a fourth-generation Kindle Touch, fifth-generation Kindle Paperwhite, sixth-generation Kindle Voyage, or eighth-generation Kindle Oasis can save $50 off the purchase price and earn a $15 credit toward an e-reader purchase.
However, in a perfect world, Amazon would replace all of the devices that are still disconnected from the internet. AT&T has set a February 22nd, 2022 deadline for the demise of 2G and 3G networks, while T-Mobile has apparently set an April 2022 deadline, and Verizon has set a December 31st, 2022 deadline.
For these reasons, the December target set by Amazon is premature, but it’s better to be prepared now rather than risk being left with an ineffective leader later on.