Owners of first and second generation Kindles can’t register them

If you own a first or second generation Kindle, you might want to hold off before you perform a factory reset. That’s because Amazon appears to no longer allow those devices to register with Amazon accounts, according to The eBook Reader.

The eBook Reader noted that devices that are currently registered remain so, but if users purchase a new device from a secondary market, or perform a factory reset, they could be out of luck. This means that while first and second generation Kindle owners can browse Amazon’s Kindle Store, they will no longer be able to connect the device to their Amazon accounts. 

The revelation came following a complaint from a Kindle user on MobileRead who had contacted Amazon after having trouble with their device, notably that the Kindle was unable to re-register to their account after performing a factory reset. Other users on the forums have chimed in to note that their first and second generation Kindles are facing similar issues. A representative from Amazon’s customer service told the user that the device “may be too old to connect to our network”, and this was confirmed by a member of the company’s Tech Support Executive Customer Relations, who encouraged the user to upgrade to a more recent device. 

Amazon’s Kindle was originally released in November 2007, and while users continue to use the device, updates to the entire line have begun to take its toll on the older models, which could take a toll on the secondary market for the devices. Last year, Amazon began warning customers that its older Kindle devices would no longer be able to access the Kindle Store or sync up with user accounts if users did not install new updates. 

Update: A spokesperson for Amazon stated the company is actively investigating the issue, and noted that it continued to support all of its Kindle devices. 

The article was published on : theverge