1. Reading Amazon Kindle eBooks Without a Kindle
Reading Amazon Kindle eBooks Without a Kindle
I often find interesting titles published by Amazon as Kindle eBooks and I often wondered
whether I really needed to buy a Kindle in order to access this interesting set of books.
Then I found an interesting article on the ComplicatedtoSimple website that explains how you
can read Amazon Kindle eBooks also with other devices and, since I think that the subject
could be useful to many more people I have re-published it below for your convenience.
How to Read Kindle eBooks Without a Kindle
by Robert Seth on August 25, 2011
The Amazon Kindle is the bestselling eBook reader in the world. It’s also the
bestselling item on Amazon.com. But did you know that you don’t need a Kindle e-reader
to read Kindle eBooks?
Before I tell you about this, let me explain a few things. First of all, Kindles can read books in
the Kindle, PDF, and a couple other formats. They cannot read books in other eBook reader
formats. This is done intentionally in an attempt to prevent you from reading the competition’s
eBooks. Amazon does not want you buying Barnes and Noble eBooks. They only want you to
buy Amazon eBooks.
This is the same for Barnes and Noble and Apple and pretty much anybody that sells eBooks.
Their e-readers will read the standard PDF format and some other formats not specific to
anyone else’s e-reader. But nobody wants you buying the competition’s books
What I find amusing about this whole issue is the fact that you don’t even need an e-reader
to read these eBooks. Amazon tries so hard to keep you from buying the competition’s
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2. books. They also try hard to keep you from reading your Kindle eBooks on anyone else’s
e-reader. They do this by publishing their eBooks in proprietary formats that only their devices
can read.
But then what do they do? They turn around and write an app (software program) called the
Kindle App, that can run on any device except the competition. This Kindle application can run
your Kindle books on your computer, smart phone, tablet, iPad, or any other device; just as long
as it’s not the competition’s device.
What does this mean to you? It means that if you don’t want to buy a Kindle, or just don’t
want to buy one now, you don’t have to. You can buy all the eBooks you want from Amazon
without laying out the cash for the Kindle. This is very handy if you don’t like the current
model of Kindle or you have some other device that will work already.
Personally, I’m waiting for a color Kindle. Not like the Nook with the color LCD screen. I mean
one that uses color e-paper, just like the current Kindle uses black and white e-paper. Color
e-paper has been invented and works, it’s just not in production for low priced consumer
models yet. Anyway, back to the point at hand.
Now here’s another thing you might not have known. Pretty much everybody else has an App
too. So if you have some Barnes and Noble eBooks, you don’t need a Nook to read them.
You can download the Barnes and Noble app and read those books anywhere you want.
Except of course, on the competition’s e-reader.
I have an iPad as my eBook reader. Prior to buying it, I tested the Kindle and the Nook. I
purchased eBooks for both of them. Now I have the Kindle and the Nook apps on my iPad
so I can read all my eBooks regardless of where they came from.
Now here’s my last treat for you. Did you know that you not only don’t need to spend money
on a Kindle, there’s a good chance you don’t even need to spend any on the books! I’m not
suggesting theft, piracy, or anything illegal here. The truth is, there are millions of free eBooks.
The last official count I was able to find was in 2008 when there were over 1.8 million free
eBooks. These were not all Kindle books but the total of all free eBooks available online.
There are many free eBooks available offline too. Like at your public library. Many e-readers
have the ability to read the format used at public libraries.
According to Amazon, there are over 950,000 free kindle items just on their site. This
includes books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs. That’s enough to keep you busy for a
long time! Many of the free eBooks on Amazon are publications in which the copyrights have
run out. This makes them public domain works which is why Amazon can give them away for
free.
Another source of free, public domain books is Project Gutenberg. They have over
36,000 free eBooks. These are old classics that were originally published by reputable
publishers. Since the copyrights have run out, they have been able to scan the original books
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3. and offer them online. They offer their books in many different formats so you can use just
about any e-reader you want. You can visit their website by clicking here.
Going back to Amazon for a moment, I should mention one more thing. Amazon’s free eBooks
are not just limited to public domain works. They constantly have specials where they offer
books by today’s authors for free. For example, I wanted to purchase Steven Pressfield’s
book “Do the Work.”
When I arrived at Amazon I was surprised to see that the Kindle Edition was actually free. The
hardcover edition was around $13.00. As of this writing, they are both around $6.00. So if you
visit Amazon fairly often and watch closely, you could accumulate quite a library for not much
money
So there you have it! Now you can have an entire eBook library without having to spend a dime
on an e-reader. Or, in the case of this article, an entire Kindle library without having to own a
Kindle
If you enjoyed this article or have additional information to add, please feel free to leave a
comment. If you’d like tips on using your computer better and making it run faster, click here to
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Thanks for visiting!
Are you interested in not only reading eBooks, but writing them too? Could your hobby or
small business benefit from having an eBook or eBrochure in addition to the standard business
card? If so, we have some resources to help you do that. You can start with our free report that
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About Robert Seth
Robert
Seth is a CPA in the Clark County, Washington area who has been
serving individual and small business clients for the last 25 years. His business includes a
growing number of remotely serviced customers throughout the United States. He’s also a
writer and technology expert. He has a passion for improving the lives of others by helping them
simplify the complicated stuff in their lives.
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