So I can't use the kindle I bought without wifi or an Amazon account?

I just bought a kindle touch 6" and opened it but I think I have made a big mistake.

I bought it because it was the only ereader at a local shop but I didn't realise I couldn't use it without wifi or an Amazon account.

Is there a way to use it without one by reflashing it?

I just want to read out of copyright public domain and free wikibooks ebooks.

I don't use amazon and will never use it because they won't accept paypal.

I guess I just wasted $100. on a wifi enabled paper weight.

It's the first ebook reader I ever bought now it's too late to take it back because I opened the seal, so is there nothing I can do? I should have researched it better.

I just assumed it was a general product and not a tied to a specific online store (that I don't use) single use type product, I guess it's my mistake though but I'm extremely disappointed.

I can't see that it says on the box, "warning requires wifi and amazon account to use" so maybe I can take it back to the shop but I hate going back to a shop to argue about a return.

Why is there all this account garbage with every product these days, even pc operating systems.
Is it so if anyone reads an ebook that is not licensed properly it contacts amazon automatically via wifi, is that the reason for forced accounts and forced wifi connections just to read a book?



All I wanted to do was download some books from wikibooks and project gutenberg in pdf and copy them to a usb stick and read them.

Calibre is what you are looking for. Open an Amazon account and you can email the .pdf's to the kindle or transfer via the USB charging cable and a laptop/desktop. You don't need to buy your ebooks from Amazon to use it.

If you don't have wifi, I guess I don't understand why you would buy a wifi device and expect it to work.

I loaded up my small kindle with books I downloaded from the net. I think I just copied them to the device using the charge cable.

Well, I only bought it because it was the only brand at a local store. I will know better for the future. I already avoid any Apple products because I know they are tied to apple services.
It's my fault, I realise now it was a mistake to buy but I never bought an ebook reader before and I didn't quite realise that having wifi meant, it required wifi.

I didn't quite realise having wifi meant that you can't even turn it on without a wifi connection.

Since it was sold at a general store that also sells blenders, tvs, tshirts etc, and it was the only ebook reader they had I sort of just assumed it was a general product and not tied to a certain online service.

For example I have an old notebook computer that has wifi but you can still use it without wifi.

Assuming you have one that has already connected with wifi and you can find a way to use it to read books from files offline, can you even turn the wifi off permanently? Or will it keep turning itself back on (eg. on every startup) and wasting battery power?

you shouldn't need a wifi connection to turn it, that makes no sense at all.

I opened the box and when you turn it on it only shows a screen to connect to wifi, there seems to be no way around it.
That led me to reading on the forums and apparently it also requires an amazon account to even use it.

Is there a way I can flash it with a generic operating system ie. could there be a linux ereader distro or something else?? or is it locked internally somehow?

(It's the first ereader I've ever tried to use)

It's very disappointing that they don't put a warning on the box that you can't use it without wifi and amazon accounts.

oh, just make a free amazon account and activate the unit.
that is all you need to do, then you can use it as you want, by copying the files to the kindle

It's ok I took it back and the store was very good about refunding since it didn't say anywhere on the box that it needed to connect to wifi or through amazon accounts to use it.

This time I'll properly research or ask on the forums before buying another ebook reader.
I really want one without wifi.

I just want to browse wikibooks or project gutenberg (for example) on my pc then copy a book to an ereader (that supports all formats) via usb and read it.
I don't need any wireless connectivity at any time.

Hmmm that doesn't make much sense. The wifi on the paperwhite *can* be turned off. You could simply take it to any local coffeeshop or web cafe to register it first (takes all of 30 seconds) and then turn off the wifi on the device and never use that feature again. Just use Calibre as mentioned to feed it via USB.

If you are really that paranoid about registering it, you could always just jailbreak/re-flash it. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2169819 This is [H] after all...

Honestly Limp, this makes no sense. I have a Kindle that I Love to use. I have even taken it while fighting wildfires because it lasts for literally a month or more with heavy use and is back-lit. I was able to use mine without even setting up WI-Fi until I had an Amazon account.

I use Calibre (One of the best apps I can think of for anything of the sort, superbly written app).

So if you could rebuy it, I would recommend it. If it absolutely forces you to setup an Amazon account I would just use a junker email and setup a fake account (I have several for white hat purposes).

I really would recommend a Kindle Paperwhite if you can get one. Like I said I use it for entertainment when I am in the field on wildfire assignments. Often times there is no cell or WiFi for weeks on fires. The backlight also makes it great for when you don't have a flashlight or a spouse that will wake up!

Why wouldn't you just connect to Wifi so you could set it up and download the newest firmware?

I was annoyed by that too, but you can just set up a free Amazon account to use it. I wish though that it worked like a flash drive and could just be used without having to have a membership somewhere.

If it could have worked through usb I would have just kept it but since it required wifi which I don't have setup. I think I'll look for another one that doesn't need registering either.

I just wish with these 'features' they made them optional. I would never complain that can you can register it with an amazon account and wifi if you want, but I avoid any product that forces you to use things like this. Same sort of reason I would never buy an ipod.

But thanks to everyone for the comments/advice.

[U]ber|Noob;1041625566 said:

If it could have worked through usb I would have just kept it but since it required wifi which I don't have setup. I think I'll look for another one that doesn't need registering either.

I just wish with these 'features' they made them optional. I would never complain that can you can register it with an amazon account and wifi if you want, but I avoid any product that forces you to use things like this. Same sort of reason I would never buy an ipod.

But thanks to everyone for the comments/advice.

Click to expand...

They do work though USB, however one needs to activate the device first. Once activated you never have to touch wifi or the amazon store again. I've loaded a few converted epubs via usb to mine without issue. (kindle uses .mobi, convert the epub, shovel it over and the kindle is happy)

As intimated by a previous poster, I suspect the tinfoil hat is strong with this OP. Not judging, he has every right to his views/outlook and desires. Just mentioning this as our good intentions/advice concerning the "just use WIFI one time to initialize the sucker" won't help or meet his expectations.

Not that I'm a tinfoil guy but...

Why the hell can't you buy it and read stuff with it?
Why do u have to connect even one time?
Seems bullshitty to me too OP.

Well I decided to take it back when someone suggested that it was stupid to buy a wifi device and expect it to work without wifi.

Although I didn't realise I was buying a 'wifi device' (I thought I was buying an ebook reader), I thought it meant that this particular model is mainly a wifi centric model and it was a bad choice if I didn't have wifi and another one would have been better.

So I already took it back and now I'm looking for other brands that don't require activation or wifi.

ANYTHING you buy at ANY store now days is going to be tied to something. Its just the way mobile is. Why? Because apple made that popular and companies don't care to not do it. Amazon sells a kindle near break even to get you to buy amazon products not so you can just go around them. They really don't care what you think if you aren't going to buy anything from them. I suggest you return the device if these are your desires. If you want something that is that specific you need to do a bunch of research and likely go for a non main stream company out of china or something.

Ok maybe I should buy some paper books before they make those all wifi enabled and tied to accounts as well.

I might consider an ebook reader tied to an online store if the book store accepts paypal. But I'd much rather one not tied to anything.

If you truly want to be an "off-the-grid" reader, paper-based books are the only way to do it. And, you still can read when a North Korean EMP weapon fries all our tablets, phones, and e-readers.