This was an odd one, and reader and podcast host (The Kindle Chronicles) alerted me to it.
In my last post, I put a link for readers to download a free version of Alice in Wonderland from the Kindle store.
When Len tried it, he saw this message:
“This mobile site does not currently support the purchase of this item.”
That’s a message that MP3 users have seen before, as well (I believe) those trying to get digital video downloads from Amazon. It’s something people see on cell phones…and the Kindle does behave somewhat like a cell phone.
The message (and it appears on the page, not as an error message), tells you to add it to your Wish List and buy it from your computer. You can do that, but that seems unnecessarily convoluted.
I tried switching modes (Basic and Advanced), clearing cookies…hmm…
After a long phone call with Amazon, I may have the answer…and it’s interesting.
The second-tier Customer Service rep, Josh, was helpful, if this all turns out to be correct.
So, the link in the blog doesn’t go to the Kindle store you get to on your Kindle…it goes to the website version you would get to on your computer. If this has been true all along, and I’m surprised no one mentioned it to me. I was told you can’t buy from the website version while on the Kindle.
Does that mean all the times that we’ve been linking to books, people from their Kindles haven’t been able to buy them?
Anyway, when I looked up the title in the Kindle store from my Kindle, I originally got the same message. However, Josh had me use a “soft restart”…
Home-Menu-Settings-Menu-Restart
After that, it was okay from the Kindle store (by searching for it), but not from the link in the blog.
Josh also recommended the soft restart, rather than using the switch, when possible…I’m going to start suggesting that. He said the hard restart (via the switch) was “harder” on your Kindle.
So, I’ll update the post to have people shop from the Kindle store for it.
Thanks for the heads up, Len!
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
I Love My Kindle 
May 11, 2011 at 6:04 pm |
I have this problem with my Kindle 2. The “soft restart” suggested didn’t work 😦
June 15, 2012 at 1:51 pm |
Whoa there Nelly! Not so fast! This is an issue that just cropped up with the last update. Before that if you had a Kindle Touch you were able to follow links in blogs to purchase books on Amazon. So this problem is only a week or two old. Many people are reporting the same issue. “Josh” at Amazon was wrong. When I called second-tier support, the person I talked to did some digging and found that it’s a “known issue” and they don’t know why it’s happening. Did you try comparing the address of going to the Kindle store with the address in the blog link to see if they’re the same? If they are the same, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to follow a link to the Amazon store. The only difference is that they’re negating the whole convenience of having a Kindle with this stupid glitch.
June 15, 2012 at 2:20 pm |
Thanks for writing, Daily!
I love the shout out to the old Roy Rogers show! I used to say, “Whoa, Nelly” as a kid. Actually, you could refer to it as an issue that has re-cropped up. 🙂 You might not have noticed when the post on which you commented was originally published:
“This entry was posted on December 28, 2009 at 6:05 pm”
🙂
At that point, we were dealing with the Kindle 1, Kindle 2, or Kindle DX. Things were a bit different then.
That’s not quite as old as Roy Rogers, but suffice it to say, things have changed considerably in the interim. Josh may certainly have been right at the time.
There have been some issues with recent updates. My guess is that Amazon will fix that one before too long. I find a lot of other conveniences in using a Kindle besides being able to go to a link in a blog post, but if that is a prime issue for you, my guess is that if you hang in there, it will get better soon.
When I’m helping people with Kindle issues, I occasionally don’t notice when something was originally posted some time ago (that happens with “Lazarus threads” in the Kindle community). So, I’m sometimes recommending a fix that would work now, but wouldn’t have worked when it was posted. That can be a bit embarrassing, but I’m careful not to criticize people who are asking questions, and the current information I give can help explain an issue in the here and now.
You point out one of the problems with the long-lasting nature of blog posts. Sometimes, people search for something, and don’t realize they’ve found something with outdated information. I sort of hope people notice the age and go on to look for something more relevant. 🙂
I appreciate you wanting to give additional information to others.