I'm working on a digital detox — stopping using digital services run by those supporting the fascist regime in the US. I don't want to financially contribute, or be counted as acquiescing, to the techbro billionaires' agenda.

I want to reduce, or eliminate, doing business with Amazon. That's because of their general business practices, but also because it provides the wealth and power base for Jeff Bezos. He's then used this to support Trump (financially and otherwise), suppress the free press in the US, and generally be an arsehole.

The Amazon service I used most was Kindle, so I need to unpick myself from that.

Exporting my Kindle wishlist

I've built up hundreds of titles on my wishlist, and want to keep this list in a usable form. Ideally I'd like to be able to import it into a new service.

So I used a script in the devtools of my browser to create a table of wishlist items, then copied and pasted it to a spreadsheet.

Backing up my Kindle books

I used Calibre, with the KFX Input plugin, and 'an additional plugin' 😉 to create a backup of my Kindle books that means I know I'll always be able to access them and load them onto any ereader I have. Amazon keeps trying to close off this possibility of having backups of your books, and I got in just before they closed the last working option to do it. So I don't think this step is possible now.

Removing this option for me to download and backup my own ebooks is another reason for me to stop buying Kindle books.

Choosing a new ebook service

What I would love is if publishers put out their ebooks in a standard format, and any online bookshop could sell them. Then every device manufacturer could allow you to buy from your favourite online bookshop.

But, of course, that's not how it works. Each company wants to build their own walled garden monopoly. Small players are effectively shut out, and a couple of big companies battle it out. The consumer loses, and authors lose.

So, given the limitations, here are the options I considered:

Device:

• Stick with Kindle: I could just keep using my Kindle Oasis for now. But then I have to figure out how to get non-Amazon ebooks onto it. Most other ebook shops sell ePub formats, with Adobe DRM, and this isn't supported on Kindle.
• iPad: I have an iPad. I could just use it for ebooks, especially if I get them via Apple Books. But the brightness just isn't nice for reading for long periods. Rules out reading at night. Doesn't suit me as an ereader.
• Rakuten Kobo: Seems to go toe to toe with Kindle, with very similar designs.
• Boox: Some great devices that have been getting good reviews. Seems to be way too much choice though. I freeze in the headlights each time I visit their site. Can they really handle so many SKUs effectively and sustainably?!
• Daylight: Some lovely design choices, and I like the general principles. People who have got one seem to recommend it.

Bookshop:

• Apple Books: Books. From Apple. You can only read the books in Apple's own Books app, not on ereader devices.
• Rakuten Kobo: A Japanese company that is Kindle's main competitor.
• Overdrive: 'Lends' audiobooks in partnership with your local library.
• Hive: A UK company that mainly sells print books but also does ebooks. Requires you to use an Adobe app to access the books, eugh.
• ebooks: US-based. Requires you to use an Adobe app to access the books, eugh.

The result

After all my research and thinking, here's what I decided to do for now:

Device: I have a Kindle Oasis, which was very expensive and has lots of life left in it yet. It'd be daft to send that to landfill early. So I will keep using this until it keels over beyond repair. Then I will probably get a Kobo, Boox or Daylight device (or maybe something new and brilliant will come out by then). In order to be able to keep using this device I'm going to have to ensure I can create DRM-free backups of ebooks I buy.

Bookshop: I'm going to switch to buying ebooks from Kobo for as long as they let me create my own personal backups (via Calibre and the obok plugin) that I'm able to load onto my Kindle device. If they break that at any point, I'll shop around again.

Back to Paper: I did consider giving up on ebooks altogether, and going back to buying on paper.

That'd give me the flexibility of buying from any bookshop, and no device incompatibility or DRM issues.

However, I live between two countries, and don't want to be carrying around stacks of books. I also want to be able to buy books in English easily when I'm not in the UK for a long period.

So, what I've decided is I'll reduce my ebook buying, mostly to just fiction. For non-fiction that I'm likely to keep referring to (books for work, cookbooks, etc), I'm going to buy on paper where possible.

Additional Notes

Availability

Even in the few weeks I've been working on this, I've found books I wanted to buy that are only available on Kindle. Often these are self-published non-fiction books I want for work, but sometimes it's fiction.

Please, please, publishers. Make a concerted effort top distribute your ebooks on all platforms. Authors, please press your publishers on this.

Getting the best price

Terence Eden has two good blog posts (for people confident with code) with scripts to:

• Get an alert if a book on your Kobo wishlist drops in price
• Automatically claim the refund from Kobo under their price guarantee if the ebook is cheaper on Kindle

I haven't done these yet, and am by no means a coder, but will look into them in future.