this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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In a recent communication, Amazon has alerted Kindle users about significant changes set to take effect from next month. The notification pertains to the phasing out of support for sending MOBI (.mobi, .azw, .prc) files through the “Send to Kindle” feature, starting November 1, 2023. This change, as News18 pointed out, specifically impacts users attempting to send MOBI files via email and Kindle apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What if you bought an ebook in mobi format a long time ago?

It doesn't make sense.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

If you’re technically competent enough to have a mobi locally and send it to a kindle, then you’re technically competent enough to convert it, so it’s not a huge deal. I agree it’s weird though.

Honest question: what non-piracy reasons are there for having a mobi file locally and not already having it attached to your Amazon account ready to download straight to your kindle? Did anyone but Amazon ever even sell mobi files?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Hello checking in here.

Last night I finally got calibre and dedrm working. I have around 400 ebooks that I’ve bought from Amazon over the years,but my trust in Amazon has been eroded to the point I want local, drm-stripped copies in case they take the books back; it has happened, but not to me yet.

The first book I converted: 1984.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

But you do have them attached to your Amazon account. So there’s likely no real usecase for you to want to push a mobi file to a kindle.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago

Amazon has deleted books from peoples' accounts in the past, so I would never trust that as the sole source for any book I owned. I don't buy ebooks often but when I do they immediately get deDRMed and stored in my local archives.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

I do, for now, yep. And yeah you’re probably right, I’ve never down the push to device thing.

I’m going to start buying my books elsewhere though, and suspect they will be epub format.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"what non piracy reasons are there"

"If you have nothing to hide then what's the problem with putting a camera in the bathroom. What non crime reasons could there be?"

Really though, if you're technically proficient enough for torrenting and vpns, you're proficient enough to convert to newer formats, too.

So even then, it's really just not that big a deal. Other than being a once-used format for the platform. And honestly how many devices are still functioning that can only use mobi? Heck I have a 10 year old Kindle somewhere that probably has 4 or 5 different formats from about 10 different sources.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"what non piracy reasons are there"

"If you have nothing to hide then what's the problem with putting a camera in the bathroom. What non crime reasons could there be?"

You’re being silly. This wouldn’t inconvenience any legitimate buyer. And pirated material is in epub format already or can easily be converted to it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

I have a very old Kindle that's still kicking. No reason to replace it if it still works right? I'm concerned that borrowing books from the library uses this delivery system and therefore might not be able to deliver to my Kindle. Ironically, piracy might be the only option to still use my working and not otherwise obsolete device.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And pirated material is in epub format already or can easily be converted to it.

Self-contradict much?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I didn’t contradict anything I wrote. What do you care about books if you can’t even read?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 10 months ago

Wow, and now personal insults. You really got me there, mate.