Kindle owners are furious over Amazon’s plan to end support for older devices

Amazon is facing backlash from Kindle owners after informing users this week that support for Kindle devices released in 2012 or earlier will end on May 20.

The email immediately sparked panic online, with many readers initially fearing that their beloved e-readers were about to stop working altogether — and others expressing frustration that devices they’ve used for more than a decade were effectively being pushed toward obsolescence.

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Much of the frustration seems to have less to do with the devices themselves than with what they represent. Kindle owners have repeatedly pointed out that their 2010 or 2011 devices still do the one thing they need them to do: read books.

On Reddit, many users presented Amazon’s decision as another example of planned obsolescence and unnecessary e-waste, especially because these devices are otherwise fully functional. Some commenters on X and Threads said they were considering switching to Kobo rather than buying another Kindle, while others called the switch a “nightmare” and “a hostile act of predatory capitalism.”

On social media, readers described the decision as a financial drain. Some users said that being incentivized to buy a new device, even though Amazon offers trade-in discounts, seems particularly out of touch with people who can’t easily justify replacing something that still works.

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There’s also a very specific type of outrage from longtime Kindle loyalists who love the quirks of older models, particularly devices with physical buttons for turning pages. For some readers, older Kindles are more comfortable, more durable, and easier to use than newer touchscreen models. Losing access to the Kindle Store on these devices feels less like an inevitable software update and more like losing a favorite item that has been part of their daily routine for years.

For others, however, the news was less about outrage and more about astonishment that some 15-year-old Kindles still work well enough that replacing them seems unnecessary. This is an unusually long lifespan in consumer technology.

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At the same time, some users online were quick to point out that this isn’t exactly the end of the road. Many are already sharing workarounds involving jailbreaking, USB transfers, sideloading, and programs like Caliber, which allow readers to manually move books onto their devices.

As Mashable’s resident e-reader expert Samantha Mangino noted: “Affected Kindles are not necessarily disabled; the service will simply be limited. You can still read the books you’ve already downloaded to your Kindle as usual… What’s really losing out is Libby users, who benefited from the Send to Kindle feature.

For some longtime Kindle fans, this change might be enough to completely annoy them at Amazon — and wonder if maybe it’s finally time to try another e-reader.