I ordered this Kindle 1 in November, 2007, the first day Amazon released it, and it’s still going strong. I still remember doing ordering it because I was a huge ereader at the time and following the news of it. I was at work, and I was late to a staff meeting, because I wanted to buy it that morning. Good thing too, cuz they were sold out a few hours later.
Interesting tidbit: This Kindle 1 series is the only E Ink Kindle version ever made with expandable card storage. Standard SD card slot in the back under panel.
I recently had to replace the battery, but I can’t complain because the original lasted nearly 19 years!! The screen is still sharp, the page turns are quick, and everything works about as well as it did when it was new.
When it came out, it was before ebooks were well-known. So believe it or not, it caused quite a stir. So much excitement AND shit talking.
Most were saying, “I prefer paper books, no one will buy these!” lol
Also, amazon sells more ebooks than paper books now.
When I took it to work, everyone was asking to look at it. There weren’t ebook nerds, so they had never heard or seen e-ink before. I had a Sony Reader (still have that one too!), but I’d never taken it to work. Fun times.
And man, lots of people called this original Kindle design ugly, but I’ve always liked the design. With all the angled buttons, odd shapes, and chunky plastic.
It’s not my main reader anymore since it has no built-in light, but I still read on it. I use Calibre to convert my DRM-free books and short stories to MOBI, then transfer them over directly.
Every once in a while, I pull it off the shelf and will read an entire book or story on it just for fun. Like I’m doing today.
The plastic is doing what plastic does, so it’s not as white as it used to be. The entire case is getting a little more faded over time, but I don’t know how to stop that from happening yet.
EDIT: So I am still looking for how to clean the plastic to make it brighter I did just find wipes on amazon that are supposed to help, so I’ll update if it works!
Sure I can. I just did today. Ya can’t buy anymore books on Amazon for it anymore, but I never bought them on amazon anyway. Even when I first got it! :)
As long as you avoid buying the books on Amazon you’re golden. Amazon just doesn’t let you buy their books and download them to transfer via USB anymore.
I’ve always gotten my books DRM-Free from other places, and they transfer over fine. Today I just transferred over the “The Testing” trilogy of books, and “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir to this reader. :)
I can’t believe I’m asking this but I don’t understand. You’re basically sideloading from what I understand but how and what format? I’m ignorant and apparently getting older
No worries! Basically sideloading in this example is just me copying books from my computer directly onto the Kindle with a USB cable instead of downloading them or buying them from Amazon.
I use a free program called Calibre. I add my DRM-free ebooks to Calibre, convert them to MOBI format, plug the Kindle into my computer, and click “Send to device.”
Calibre copies the book over, then it shows up on my Kindle. No Amazon account or internet connection is needed.
The key catch here is that I do NOT buy my ebooks from Amazon. Never have. I get my books from other places and make sure they are DRM-Free so that I can put them on whatever device I want.
This is the way. I got a Paperwhite kids edition for a stupid cheap price. I never attached it to wifi and side loaded every book. I eventually rooted it, added Kobo reader and use Calibre. Best money I’ve spent in years.
Good for you. Def the way to go these days!