Quote:
Originally Posted by verbose
I would order a Kindle 1 or 2 from e-bay or elsewhere in a second, if I knew for certain what to do when I receive it.
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If we ignore *how* you acquire a Kindle -- and I do know several people who live outside of the USA who received Kindles as gifts from family members who happen to live in the USA -- then we can talk about what happens next.
1 - You could use the Kindle as a generic reader for books in Mobipocket format. This would include the thousands of free books available here at MobileRead, those at Feedbooks, and ManyBooks, and Munsey's. There are many, many DRM-free books available at Fictionwise and at Baen/Webscriptions. All you need to do is charge the battery on your Kindle, download books to your PC or Mac from the various sites, then transfer to your Kindle using the supplied USB cable. You can also convert many file types to Mobipocket using readily-available (and free) software.
2 - You can register the Kindle at Amazon.com -- but only if you have an account with a US mailing address and a credit card on a US bank. Once the account is set up, as long as you have a credit balance from gift cards and gift certificates, the credit card will not be charged. Some people who live outside the US have an account with Amazon in their own country and then purchase gift cards from this account to fund the Kindle account.
The big problem with #2 is that you place yourself and Amazon in a position where they are selling (electronic) books in a country where they may not own distribution rights. At this point no one is sure exactly why Amazon hasn't offered the Kindle in Canada, England, Germany, and other countries where Amazon has a normal on-line presence. There is speculation that the problem is due to inability to secure contracts with the telephone companies so that the Kindle's "whispernet" feature would work. But it could also be an issue of distribution rights. And, since Amazon hasn't given any explanation, I can see why your relative was uncomfortable ordering the Kindle for you.