[jmkb]

Decades ago, my partner used Google Voice for texting -- really handy, texts just showed up in the gmail inbox, and could be replied to from there. She didn't like cellphones, but usually carried one of the old "Kindle Keyboard" models with unlimited 3G data. The Kindle had simple web browser that could load the low-spec gmail interface, so in essence she had a fully functional SMS device, with no monthly charges.

Notification of incoming texts was the only problem. I jailbroke the thing and started trying to schedule network requests, thinking I'd add some kind of new message counter on the home screen. This proved hard. But it occurred to me that the best place for the counter would be right next to the Kindle's device name, at the top of the screen. And the device name could be updated from her Amazon account.

So I automated a web browser on the home server to log into Amazon and update the device name to "My Kindle (x)" where x was the number of unread Google Voice texts. The Kindle would update the name on the home screen in less than a minute. This worked for years!

(Eventually that Kindle was stolen. I wanted to update its name to something foul but the device disappeared from her account too quickly.)

[xyzzy_plugh]

The AT&T bill (IIRC it was all under a single account) for the 3G Kindles was eye-watering. I recall a few byte-shavings yielding something like a million dollars of savings.

[delecti]

I was at Amazon in a Kindle adjacent team (the lockscreen ads) starting in 2012, and I can second this sentiment. For the first couple years, there were multiple tweaks made to minimize enormous roaming bills for customers taking their US region "global unlimited free 3g" kindles to really remote parts of the world. Things like not enqueuing push downloads of books/ads if they were roaming.

[bredren]

How profitable was this behavior and its paid removal?

I have always felt that the default display of ads on Lock Screen cheapened the devices—-even the flagship oasis model required an additional purchase to remove the ads.

That seemed completely at odds with the premium pricing and marketing.

Also, it seemed like there was always some way to call Amazon support and make claims about location or some other detail that would make support disable the ads for free. Are you aware of those requests and manual handling?

[delecti]

It's been several years since I left Amazon, and nearly a decade since I worked on anything relevant to those questions, but I'll answer what I remember.

The ads were profitable enough that customers buying devices without the ads for an extra $20 didn't quite make up for it. When they started selling the smart covers for the Paperwhite (IIRC the covers launched at $50) those made them more profit than they lost from reduced ad interactions on the lockscreen. I never knew the exact number though, and could be remembering wrong on some of that. Obviously I have no idea what the numbers would be today though.

There was a backend service with an endpoint which could un-enroll a device in ads, and I know that some customers were able to get ads disabled by just complaining. You can also, even today, just pay that same $20 for removal after you already have the device (I just checked on my own device here https://www.amazon.com/hz/mycd/digital-console/alldevices, I go into the device and there's a button that says "Remove offers").

Also, I'm not sure I quite agree with the ads being at odds with the premium pricing. I could have easily turned off ads on my personal kindles (using the aforementioned backend services) and I never bothered because I really just don't find them all that intrusive. The lockscreens you get when ads are disabled are also really boring, so I kept the ads. Recently the tradeoff has shifted slightly, with some of the garbage AI covers I've seen, so I'm not positive what decision I'd make if it were still free (to me), but it's still definitely not worth $20 to me.

[dghlsakjg]

I had a kindle with the unlimited roaming and it was great. I bought it at a time when I was overseas for 9 months a year, they must have eaten so many roaming fees on my behalf.

My next kindle had the ads, and I did indeed call customer service and have them remove it for no charge.

I’m very anti ad, and when my current kindle kicks the bucket, I’ll certainly be going with something else. They aren’t intrusive, but the principle is that I want to control when my time is commercialized.

Aside from all that, Amazon retail has gotten horrible logistics where I am in a medium sized Canadian town (50k people, 1.5 hours from the nearest international container port, 5 minutes from the nearest international airport). The delivery times have gotten so long over the past year that AliExpress is pretty consistently the fastest shipping.

Amazon has gone from being the first place I go shopping to the last.

[pbrum]

I'm so glad someone else is mentioning this. Last week, on what was Wednesday July 3, I needed to order a new suitcase and I obviously went to Amazon. I'm a Prime subscriber and not a single suitable suitcase (no pun intended) could be delivered prior to the following Monday - which was too late for me, as it'd be too close a call for my trip. That had never happened to me, ever, with Amazon. They were going to be unable to deliver on any day from Wednesday to Sunday, even though I was literally in the middle of Los Angeles rather than some remote location. For the first time, I am seriously reconsidering renewing Prime. I wonder what's happening behind the scenes.

[gigatexal]

I’ve actually found interesting book suggestions from the kindle ads so shrug.

[heywire]

I called in and complained about an awkward romance novel cover ad a few years ago and they disabled ads for me for free.

[zorked]

Free Internet was a very bold proposition. I used it a lot, via roaming, from a country that was in the very-expensive-roaming lists.

[jmkb]

Worth it, I reckon. You can't buy this kind of advertising:

https://xkcd.com/548/

[throwup238]

Amazon really missed the chance to call their network Sub-Etha. Or the Sub-Wave network.

[LegitShady]

I still have my Kindle 3g. I love it. The battery on mine is toast right now so it's not operable. I was going to buy a new Kindle but the prime day preview in Canada doesn't show any Kindles on sale and I was hoping Amazon was going to release an oasis v2 with USB-c before I replaced this.

I might just pay $30 for another battery and stick with this Kindle keyboard.

[timo555]

Was wondering if anyone was going to chime in about still having this old Kindle. I still have mine and use it daily. Battery lasts 3 weeks as long as the wifi is off and the free 3G still works too. Purchased it in July 2011. I also want a new e-reader but I also want to see how long I can keep this thing going.

[wwweston]

Does the connectivity still work? Thinking about pulling out my DX and giving it a spin.

[daemonologist]

I have a keyboard 3G on v3.4.3 and the cell connectivity does not work anymore. It does still mention in the device info that it has 3G capability but if you try to do anything requiring a network connection it prompts you to connect to wifi. (Interestingly it also has the cell-style right triangle with five bars to indicate signal strength.)

I recall Amazon announcing a few years back that it would stop working; not sure if they pushed a firmware update, stopped paying the bill, or if 3G just isn't available anymore.

[TylerE]

As of a few months ago there are no operating 3g towers in the US.

[nfriedly]

Did that finally happen!? I feel like they've been telling me it was going to happen "this year" for at least 5 years.

[realityloop]

None in Australia anymore either

[LegitShady]

I dont think any of the providers around me still have 3g networks for it to connect to, and I know in the US amazon said they would lose connectivity in the US 2021

[vasusen]

Yes, the connectivity should still work, but it might be limited depending on the model and the network you're trying to connect to. Some older Kindle models may have issues with newer Wi-Fi standards. It's worth giving it a try, though! You might also want to check if there are any firmware updates available for your device.

[criddell]

The Oasis has been discontinued which is a big bummer for me. I’ve had 3 or 4 kindles and the Oasis is the only one I thought was truly great.

[LegitShady]

it being discontinued was exactly why I was hoping that meant a v2 coming out, with a more modern usb port. I looked at picking up an oasis but everything else I own is usb-c more or less, and I don't want to deal with a microusb port.

I think the kindle keyboard (3rd generation) was great. physical buttons for page turning. internet. a keyboard! was way ahead of its time.

[borispavlovic]

Hm... I've just checked on amazon.de and it's still available in several versions.

[criddell]

I suspect once the stock is depleted, it will be delisted there as well.

https://www.thestreet.com/retail/amazon-quietly-discontinues...

[ThePowerOfFuet]

Wow, that writer was definitely being paid by the word.

[RajT88]

I used to have a few 3g Kindles. I believe they have dialed it back to 50mb a month, but they still get that free internet - and internationally too!

[LegitShady]

I loaned my kindle keyboard to a coworker for a trip and it was stolen from them in mexico. The joke was at the time it was probably the oldest working kindle possible, so I assume the thief just took whatever was in the bag.

Later I found another kindle keyboard for $20 in a flea market but it only worked for 6 months before the battery died. I still have the body around - I wonder how much it would cost to get a replacement battery.

[Palomides]

I just replaced two, a new battery inc. shipping runs around $15

not too hard to pop open and swap in

[actionfromafar]

It's probably a single cell so with some luck you can plonk whatever battery physically fits in there.

[LegitShady]

Batteries for it are pretty readily available across the Internet so you can get the exact right one. It's about 2 minutes worth of work to change.

[e808]

Oh that 'free' 3g was amazing! I was able to hobble through gmail through the browser, and even wrote a kindle-friendly Zork website so one could play text games on it allowing you to choose from a bunch of zmachine roms. Had some traction getting mentioned on a few news websites.

[thot_experiment]

Oh my god! I did this too!!! I didn't have the clever Kindle name change integration but I did use a keyboard Kindle with infinite 3G to text for a while.

[CrazyStat]

Years ago before I got a smart phone I used my kindle keyboard to navigate on a long road trip. It could just barely run the Google Maps website.

[venusenvy47]

I still use Google Voice for texting, but only from their dedicated web page. I never heard about being able to text from Gmail. I assume this feature is gone?

[vasusen]

Google Voice still supports texting from their web page, but the feature to text directly from Gmail was discontinued a few years ago. It was a convenient feature, but now you have to use the Google Voice app or web page for texting.

[kristopolous]

I use it as my primary interface. I can't believe they haven't killed it.

I like it, it's useful, I rely on it, and it's from Google. How does it still exist?

[dark]

no, it still exists.

[toastercat]

Google Voice has only existed since 2009, so it couldn't have been "decades" ago. That's how i know your story is fake.

[fyrn_]

Or just maybe, 1.5 decades and "decades" are compatible when parsed by a human. Calling a story fake for that is a bit much, people just get details wrong, and that's okay