Which is the cheapest eBookstore in the UK? Guardian - Page 2

wchris · 08-06-2010, 09:17 AM

The Amazon ebook store is much cheaper than either Waterstones or WH Smith. Hopefully, it will persuade them to bring down their prices to suit my Sony

fjtorres · 08-06-2010, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Until Amazon introduced the kindle, readers were independent of books

Uh, no...
Sony LRF was only available on... Sony readers.
And *they* were the first to do eink readers.
They only switched to the Adobe camp *after* Kindle came out.
Before them, Rocketbook and Nuvomedia *also* used proprietary formats.
Ditto the asian readers in between.

When Kindle came out there were no ePub readers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_...riginal_Kindle

ePub itself was only a paper document two months old:
http://www.google.com/search?q=epub+...rlz=1I7ACAW_en

What Amazon did was what Sony was doing. They just did it better.

(shrug)

Competitors compete.
Amazon has their way of competing, the Adobe ADEPT camp has theirs, Apple has theirs.

We choose from the available options, not from a hypothetical Platonian ideal universe. Our choices of commercial ebooks are all tied to one camp or another. None is ideal. Each has strengths, each has weaknesses. (Just try reading an ADEPT ePub on a cellphone. Just try reading an Apple iBook on anything not made by Apple.)

"Is this fair? No.
"Is it unfair? No.
"It simply is." (With apologies to J.M. Straczinski.)

We have choices in life.
Sometimes the choices simply boil down to whining impotently or sucking it in and dealing with it. Pouting serves nobody.

Can't we just get on with the series business of reading and pontificating about it?

GeoffC · 08-06-2010, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

When Kindle came out there were no ePub readers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_...riginal_Kindle

Huh ! Kindle can't read ePub files ....

Quote:

Can't we just get on with the series business of reading and pontificating about it?

Agreed ....

fjtorres · 08-06-2010, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Huh ! Kindle can't read ePub files ....

And if it did it would be the worst thing ever for their competitors and us, the readers.

Flub · 08-06-2010, 09:28 AM

I was pleasantly surprised to find the new Neal Asher book "The Technician" was available in the Kindle store a ful 14 days before the hardcover version. Cheaper too. A very pleasant surprise from Tor there. Full marks.

While I was disapointed that the initial Amazon UK offering wasn't really any different content wise from what was already available to UK customers via the US Kindle store hopefully this should be the start of real UK publisher support for ebooks.

HarryT · 08-06-2010, 11:53 AM

Amazon's eBook prices are pretty much always the lowest around, and they seem to be making a genuine effort to make their reading app available on every mobile device they can. Personally I think it's a good strategy, and one which will succeed. As things stand now, I can read Amazon books on my Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or PC.

carld · 08-06-2010, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Amazon's eBook prices are pretty much always the lowest around, and they seem to be making a genuine effort to make their reading app available on every mobile device they can. Personally I think it's a good strategy, and one which will succeed. As things stand now, I can read Amazon books on my Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or PC.

My only big fault with Amazon is that there's no Kindle App for Windows Mobile

amjbrown · 08-06-2010, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carld

My only big fault with Amazon is that there's no Kindle App for Windows Mobile

If it gets any traction, there will be.

fjtorres · 08-06-2010, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carld

My only big fault with Amazon is that there's no Kindle App for Windows Mobile

Would be nice. But lets face it, when MS deprecated the current WinMo APIs in favor of the new Silverlight+XNS APIs for WinMO7 it pretty much killed the incentive for Kindle for WinMo until the new Phones ship.

Fbone · 08-06-2010, 04:18 PM

Has anyone figured out a way for non-UK residents to purchase ebooks from Amazon's UK website?

Mercury · 08-07-2010, 07:07 AM

This thread makes me sad. We all want well-priced ebooks, and now we have that with the uk kindle store. (ok, before there were independent publishers and sellers, but mainstream popular writers, no way).

But, I also feel that it has come at quite a high price.

Undoubtedly the knowledgeable and tech-savvy mobile read contributors make up a small proportion of the population. Everybody just wants convenience and ease of buying when it comes to this new technology surrounding ereading. The problem they have is when someone wqnts to buy a different brand of ereader a few years down the line. They buy it and then try and put all the books they have legitimately bought on to it. They built up a huge library, after all. It doesn't take up any shelf space, they can redownload anytime they want or need to, and they paid slightly less than they would have done for the same paperbacks.

If I decide to buy a kindle 3, and I may do, reluctantly at least I will be going in with my eyes open. I won't feel swindled if I cannot move the books I have bought onto a different device. I know the apps for different devices, does expand the number of places you can read kindle bought books, however you are still limited to those companies that amazon chooses to do business with.

Looking at the website, and talking to people who are interested in the kindle, makes me feel that amazon is not being honest enough about the fact that you are not buying a Book, you are buying a licence to read a book.

They are heavily promoting the new kindles to those who may not have thought about reading electronically before, and it does feel as though the drawbacks and potential problems should be highlighted.

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08-06-2010, 09:17 AM	#16
wchris Book lover Posts: 13 Karma: 16 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Sony	The Amazon ebook store is much cheaper than either Waterstones or WH Smith. Hopefully, it will persuade them to bring down their prices to suit my Sony

08-06-2010, 09:28 AM	#20
Flub Groupie Posts: 164 Karma: 70995 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Device: iPhone, PRS-505, K2i, iPad 64GB+3G, K3, Nexus S	I was pleasantly surprised to find the new Neal Asher book "The Technician" was available in the Kindle store a ful 14 days before the hardcover version. Cheaper too. A very pleasant surprise from Tor there. Full marks. While I was disapointed that the initial Amazon UK offering wasn't really any different content wise from what was already available to UK customers via the US Kindle store hopefully this should be the start of real UK publisher support for ebooks.

08-06-2010, 11:53 AM	#21
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Amazon's eBook prices are pretty much always the lowest around, and they seem to be making a genuine effort to make their reading app available on every mobile device they can. Personally I think it's a good strategy, and one which will succeed. As things stand now, I can read Amazon books on my Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or PC.

08-06-2010, 04:18 PM	#25
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,189 Karma: 100500000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	Has anyone figured out a way for non-UK residents to purchase ebooks from Amazon's UK website?

08-07-2010, 07:07 AM	#26
Mercury Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 164 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Sony 505, iPad	This thread makes me sad. We all want well-priced ebooks, and now we have that with the uk kindle store. (ok, before there were independent publishers and sellers, but mainstream popular writers, no way). But, I also feel that it has come at quite a high price. Undoubtedly the knowledgeable and tech-savvy mobile read contributors make up a small proportion of the population. Everybody just wants convenience and ease of buying when it comes to this new technology surrounding ereading. The problem they have is when someone wqnts to buy a different brand of ereader a few years down the line. They buy it and then try and put all the books they have legitimately bought on to it. They built up a huge library, after all. It doesn't take up any shelf space, they can redownload anytime they want or need to, and they paid slightly less than they would have done for the same paperbacks. If I decide to buy a kindle 3, and I may do, reluctantly at least I will be going in with my eyes open. I won't feel swindled if I cannot move the books I have bought onto a different device. I know the apps for different devices, does expand the number of places you can read kindle bought books, however you are still limited to those companies that amazon chooses to do business with. Looking at the website, and talking to people who are interested in the kindle, makes me feel that amazon is not being honest enough about the fact that you are not buying a Book, you are buying a licence to read a book. They are heavily promoting the new kindles to those who may not have thought about reading electronically before, and it does feel as though the drawbacks and potential problems should be highlighted.

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