Waterstone's UK to sell Sony Reader this autumn

[Alexander Turcic]

The long and painful wait is almost over (at least for UK residents): As previous rumors have already hinted, and the Independent is reaffirming in their Business section today, the UK's leading bookseller, Waterstone's, is gearing up to launch the Sony Reader device.

No price yet, sorry folks, but we heard people say something of around £200.

Previous discussions on Waterstone's and the Sony Reader: Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle Coming to the UK soon, 505 to be sold by Waterstone's in UK

[HarryT]

Very good news! Waterstones, for those who don't know, are by far the largest chain of bookshops in the UK. They have a shop in almost every town.

[stustaff]

Woohoo waterstones are as it goes very good bookshops!
And yes one in pretty much every town.

Its going to be very interesting though to see what books they(sony/waterstones) can sell in the UK

[zelda_pinwheel]

bookeen needs to make a deal like this with the fnac (very large book / technology chain in france). the big problem here is nobody knows about e-ink or liseuses. it would help if people could see them in person.

[vivaldirules]

After months of speculation and rumor about the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle being sold there, I hope this one pans out.

[M0zza]

Fantastic News! (especially as I'm moving back to old blighty in a couple of months)

I hope they have their own 'net bookshop as well. The Sony one is dreadful! And my wife doesn't like me messing around buying books for her and converting them. She likes to buy her own.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

No price yet, sorry folks, but we heard people say something of around £200.

Is that 200 Pounds? Isn't that almost $400? Or did you mean 200 euro?

BOb

[HarryT]

£200 is not improbable. Remember that the price includes 17.5% VAT, and pretty much everything is more expensive in Europe than in the US. £200 would be better than the "dollar for pound" price we often get (eg $270 in the US, £270 here).

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

£200 is not improbable. Remember that the price includes 17.5% VAT, and pretty much everything is more expensive in Europe than in the US. £200 would be better than the "dollar for pound" price we often get (eg $270 in the US, £270 here).

Oh ok. I forgot all you Europeans are rich anyway.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Oh ok. I forgot all you Europeans are rich anyway.

BOb

pffff. don't i wish.

[rittsi]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

bookeen needs to make a deal like this with the fnac (very large book / technology chain in france). the big problem here is nobody knows about e-ink or liseuses. it would help if people could see them in person.

I definitely agree with you! We've got Fnac here in Belgium as well, & I think it would be a great opportunity for customers to also try ebook readers out in stores. I have yet to buy a dedicated ebook reader, mainly because I want to see the device first.

I recently discovered a Sony Reader on display at Saturn (multimedia store), but it's not a working model (much to my frustration). The latest information I got from their staff is that it will be available here in December for 299 euro.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by rittsi

I definitely agree with you! We've got Fnac here in Belgium as well, & I think it would be a great opportunity for customers to also try ebook readers out in stores. I have yet to buy a dedicated ebook reader, mainly because I want to see the device first.

I recently discovered a Sony Reader on display at Saturn (multimedia store), but it's not a working model (much to my frustration). The latest information I got from their staff is that it will be available here in December for 299 euro.

yes, i know what you mean. it's really not the same, to see them in photos and even video. i can tell you though, since i've been playing with one for 2 days now, they are *better* in person.

i really don't see the point of having a sony on display, if it's not a working model. that's just stupid.

well, i will mention this at the MR apéro on friday. hopefully they are already planning this, since already they have made a deal with pixmania to sell them online, so they are expanding.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by HarryT

£200 is not improbable. Remember that the price includes 17.5% VAT, and pretty much everything is more expensive in Europe than in the US. £200 would be better than the "dollar for pound" price we often get (eg $270 in the US, £270 here).

£200 seems fairly realistic actually! after all I imported min at a cost of about $370 so just under £200

[Argel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Oh ok. I forgot all you Europeans are rich anyway.

BOb

We're not rich, we're just used to being ripped off.

[Argel]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

The long and painful wait is almost over (at least for UK residents): As previous rumors have already hinted, and the Independent is reaffirming in their Business section today, the UK's leading bookseller, Waterstone's, is gearing up to launch the Sony Reader device.

I should rejoice at this, at least short-term, because I have a few shares in HMV, who own Waterstones.

But at the same time, though it's good for us ebook enthusiasts, I can't help but feel that it's like turkeys voting for Christmas.

It's a fact that I don't buy from book-stores much any more. Paper books come by mail, ebooks over the net. Presumably the people who buy an ereader from Waterstones won't be buying their ebooks from Waterstones. In effect, they are selling their own customers - or at least part of their book-spend.

I suppose they have no choice but book-selling in the UK is becoming more and more threatened. I'll be sad - and slightly guilty - to see specialized book-stores wither away.