# Kindle Cloud Reader and Kindle for PC



## jbcohen (Jul 29, 2011)

I have read and understood what the cloud reader is but I am wondering what the difference between that and the Kindle for PC is other than the fact that the cloud reader stores the document on the amazon servers while the Kindle for PC stores it on my PC.  Seems like the Kindle for PC is best for people that have internet connections that are often interupted, thankfully unlike mine.  The cloud reader is best for people that have older PCs with smaller hard drives, sinceh te documents are stored in the cloud there is nothing on your hard drive.


----------



## Skeeter (Jul 20, 2011)

I was wondering the same thing. I have instructions to download the Kindle Cloud Reader,  but a pop up warning said that downloading could result in harm to my computer (laptop). Does anyone know about this?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Depending on your browser settings, trying to download almost anything will result in that warning.  If you want to download  the Cloud Reader, make sure you go to Amazon, then to the Kindle Store and click on the link there instead of through an email you may have gotten, to be sure you get the authorized software.  Then click on "yes, I want to download this" when you get the warning message.

Betsy


----------



## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

jbcohen said:


> I have read and understood what the cloud reader is but I am wondering what the difference between that and the Kindle for PC is other than the fact that the cloud reader stores the document on the amazon servers while the Kindle for PC stores it on my PC. Seems like the Kindle for PC is best for people that have internet connections that are often interupted, thankfully unlike mine. The cloud reader is best for people that have older PCs with smaller hard drives, sinceh te documents are stored in the cloud there is nothing on your hard drive.


At the moment, the cloud reader doesn't support highlighting, notes, or word up-looks. Hopefully those features get added in the future but right now, if you want those features, you'll need Kindle for PC/Mac.


----------



## sivulabill (Jun 12, 2019)

My understanding is, when the user first accesses a Kindle book, that "Kindle for PC" DOWNLOADS the file to the user's computer (unless the book has ALREADY been downloaded).

If a Windows installation is LOST (e.g., hard drive failure or corruption of the Windows installation), the "authorized book download" will be LOST. 
[If the user can PREDICT "Loss of a Windows installation", I believe he can UNINSTALL a KindleBook download and thereby NOT be debited that Download. 
LOL in anticipating accidental loss of a drive/computer.
E.g., if a person were disposing of a computer, he would Uninstall all the KindleBook downloads, and thereby NOT be debited for any of those Downloads.]

IF a user tries to download a file for a FOURTH(?) time, he/she is told (something like), "It is time to purchase[?] this book AGAIN." Since I have lost the hard drive (Windows installation) of at least three refurbished computers in the last three years, it would just be a matter of time before my "purchased" Kindle book would be GONE. I am entirely discontented at "purchasing" the same book more than once, even if this restricts my ability to access the book. In part, this is because I anticipate thousands of dollars of KindleBooks. [I cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars every 2-10 years.]

My understanding is that "Kindle Cloud Reader" does NOT download a file to the user's computer. Am I correct that, I will NOT lose access to a book, just because I have opened it "too many times"? 
[Or is "too-many-book-opening's" another "gotcha" with Kindlebooks?]


----------



## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I think that's kind of overstating the situation with Kindle for PC.  We are limited to 6 simultaneous downloads for most books.  But if we lose a device and its contents we can go to Manage My Content on Amazon and deregister that device, freeing up the books on it to be downloaded again to other devices.

Amazon does limit us to a certain number of licenses for each book but they're careful to be fair about it and to avoid trapping us.

Barry


----------



## Fogeydc (Oct 24, 2017)

It helps *a lot* if you name each device/app/installation with a recognizable name, even if it's "Computer A" & "Computer B" & "red phone" & "blue phone" & so on, so you know what to deregister from the MYCD page after you lose a device.


----------



## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

That's a good point.  Amazon will assign default and meaningless names.  Each time I get a new device one of the first things I do is give it a name that'll tell me which device it is.  I have far too many Kindles and if I don't do that things get lost.  Even with meaningful names sometimes things get lost.

Not long ago I tried to download a book I bought a few years ago to the Kindle I was currently using and I ran into the license limit.  The first thing I did was look through each Kindle for it but I didn't find it.  I went to the Manage My Content page on Amazon and went from device to device and finally found it on several old devices, some of which I no longer have and none of which I still use.  None of these were Kindles.  They were phones and tablets with the Kindle app.

It took about 30 minutes, maybe an hour, to locate them all and remove them.  You have to check device by device.  You can't just go to the book and find what devices it's on.  I've sent a suggestion to Amazon that they provide that feature but so far it's not there.

The smart thing to do to avoid these problems is not be a geek who has to have several of each device in the world.  But I've never learned how to become that kind of person so I have to deal with this from time to time.

However it can be dealt with.  You never lose your books.  And having identifiable names makes it a lot easier.

Barry


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

At least you can now view device content from the Manage Content page .... that's only been a feature for a couple years. Before that you would have had to be able to physically check on the device.

In the very early days people would switch kindles between accounts -- say a kid has a device and his own account, but maybe there's one 'grown up' book that you're o.k. with the kid reading but you don't want his kindle always available to access ALL your grown up books. The device could only be registered to one account at the time, but changing the registration did not appear to change the content. So you could move it to your account, download the one book, then move it back to the kid's. That's no longer the case -- now when you register a device, any content on there from another account is wiped -- or at least all the file information (what is it and where's it stored etc.) is gone, which amounts to the same thing for most people. 

All that to say: perhaps an easy way to clear old licenses is simply to deregister the old device. Though I do think if you register it back to the same account -- with no interim registration -- you'll find the content hasn't gone away. So I'm not certain this will clear licenses for any content; it just makes sense to me that it would. 

I also agree about giving kindles unique names -- not to anthropomorphize them, but just so you can tell which is which. This is especially important if you have several devices you -- or people who share your account -- regularly use. I have at least 4, so I have to know whether I'm sending a new book to my bedside kindle, my purse kindle, my brother's kindle, or my main kindle.


----------



## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I was referring to finding the books on the Kindles in Manage Your Content.  The problem is you have to check device by device.  It would be great if they had a way to go to that book and see which devices it's on.  That's what I sent as a suggestion to Amazon but so far no feature.

Barry


----------

