Amazon's Ebook Download Shake-Up: What's Going On?

If you love reading as much as I do, you have probably noticed that things in the digital book world are changing. Lately, there’s been a lot of chatter about Amazon “killing the ability to download ebooks online.” That sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but here is what it means in plain language — and why it might matter to you and me.

What’s the Deal?
Amazon has long been the go-to place for ebook lovers. With its Kindle ecosystem, you can buy an ebook and read it on your Kindle device, tablet, or computer through the Kindle app. Historically, even though you didn’t get a “true” file like you might with a physical book or an ebook from another source, you had the flexibility to download the content and sync your reading across various devices.

Now, however, it seems Amazon is tightening the screws. The buzz is that Amazon is making it more challenging — or maybe even impossible — to download your purchased ebooks as stand-alone files that you can move around freely. Instead of having a file you can back up or read on non-Kindle devices, you’re more or less locked into Amazon’s ecosystem. If you want to read your book, you have to do it through the Kindle app or on a Kindle device rather than on a device you choose in the way that a PDF or ePub might let you.