Content Time for price drop

[Kumabjorn]

Maybe there ought to be a prefix for International. Because this is mainly directed towards non-US Kindle 3 operators.

Now that the Kindle comes with WiFi, and assuming you are getting your content from Amazon through WiFi, should the additional surcharge for 3G file transfer be a specific option for those who choose to use that for transferring content?

I looked at some books from a US address and then from my Swedish address, som books were up to $4 more expensive for a European than an American (they do get all the goodies, don't they? ), however, if the book is delivered over WiFi Amazon don't incur any extra 3G charges for roaming. Delivering it my WiFi Kindle or Joe Sixpack's Kindle will cost them the same, but they do get to pocket a few extra bucks per sale.

The other thing I discovered, is that unless I have some proxy connection Amazon knows I'm not in the US when connected through WiFi. That works fine with Kindle4PC, but alas you can't just transfer between the PC and the Kindle.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Maybe there ought to be a prefix for International. Because this is mainly directed towards non-US Kindle 3 operators.

Now that the Kindle comes with WiFi, and assuming you are getting your content from Amazon through WiFi, should the additional surcharge for 3G file transfer be a specific option for those who choose to use that for transferring content?

I looked at some books from a US address and then from my Swedish address, som books were up to $4 more expensive for a European than an American (they do get all the goodies, don't they? ), however, if the book is delivered over WiFi Amazon don't incur any extra 3G charges for roaming. Delivering it my WiFi Kindle or Joe Sixpack's Kindle will cost them the same, but they do get to pocket a few extra bucks per sale.

The other thing I discovered, is that unless I have some proxy connection Amazon knows I'm not in the US when connected through WiFi. That works fine with Kindle4PC, but alas you can't just transfer between the PC and the Kindle.

Amazon are slowly but surely dropping the surcharge. We lost it in the UK earlier this year. Presumably it's as they sign deals with local telecoms operators, so there's no longer any international roaming involved. We also in the UK seem to be paying significantly lower prices for books than some elsewhere - hopefully this too will spead.

You cannot buy a book with K4PC and directly copy it to your Kindle, but if you remove the DRM from it you then can do.

[TenaciousBadger]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

The other thing I discovered, is that unless I have some proxy connection Amazon knows I'm not in the US when connected through WiFi. That works fine with Kindle4PC, but alas you can't just transfer between the PC and the Kindle.

Originally Posted by HarryT

You cannot buy a book with K4PC and directly copy it to your Kindle, but if you remove the DRM from it you then can do.

i actually think you can download the originals from one device to another without having to remove the DRM (i dare to say that even though i don't have the K3 , yet, and i'm not 100% sure yet)

i went to the "manage your kindle" option and there next to your books there's the "send to" option where you can "transfer to your device" i think. (with kindle connected via USB)
i'm guessing this allows you to move books around otherwise what would be the purpose of registering more than one device to the same account?

now i might be stating the uber-obvious here or i might be wrong, but i hope i'm not

can anyone verify?

[ProfCrash]

You can move all of the books that you have bought from Amazon using the Manage Your Kindle page. Once you have selected select to move to the Kindle of your choice all you have to do is turn on whispernet or the WiFi and you are good to go. Or you could download the books to your computer and then move them using the USB cord.

Amazon does not archive books that you buy from other stores or PDF files and the like. Those would have to be side loaded.

I have no idea how the K4PC transfer works. I have moved many a book into my K4PC account but I have not downloaded a book to the K4PC account first and then moved it to my Kindle. I would assume that a book on your K4PC account would be in the archive and can be moved like any archived book.

[TomF]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Once you have selected select to move to the Kindle of your choice all you have to do is turn on whispernet or the WiFi and you are good to go.

I have no idea how the K4PC transfer works. I have moved many a book into my K4PC account but I have not downloaded a book to the K4PC account first and then moved it to my Kindle. I would assume that a book on your K4PC account would be in the archive and can be moved like any archived book.

Just to clarify, Amazon is referring to the method of transferring documents via both 3G and Wi-Fi as Whispernet. Prior to the introduction of Wi-Fi on the K3 it referred just to the method of delivering documents via 3G, since that's all there was. Now Wi-Fi is also Whispernet.

If you download books using K4PC and copy those books from your "My Kindle Content" folder via USB to the documents folder on your Kindle they will not be readable on the Kindle because each device has it's own unique PID. This prevents documents downloaded from Amazon on one device from being read on another device. Likewise, if you backed up your books to your hard drive from one Kindle, you can't transfer those books to another Kindle and have them be readable.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

You can move all of the books that you have bought from Amazon using the Manage Your Kindle page. Once you have selected select to move to the Kindle of your choice all you have to do is turn on whispernet or the WiFi and you are good to go. Or you could download the books to your computer and then move them using the USB cord.

That is of course perfectly true, but it's not what the previous poster was asking. He was asking if you could directly transfer a book from K4PC to a Kindle. You cannot do that unless you remove the DRM, because (as you know) a Kindle book is encoded for the specific device it's downloaded for.

[lordvetinari2]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Now that the Kindle comes with WiFi, and assuming you are getting your content from Amazon through WiFi, should the additional surcharge for 3G file transfer be a specific option for those who choose to use that for transferring content?

I asked Amazon CS this very same question on August 6th. Additionally, this 3G surcharge does not make sense if books are transferred from the PC via USB, or transferred to a smartphone app. Below is their reply:

I'm sorry for any misunderstanding.

If you download a book using Wifi connection, Android application, using Kindle for PC application there will be no discount on the book and charges will be applied according to the country from where you are downloading.

Free books are also charged when you download using WiFi on the Kindle, using the Android app, or with USB transfer to the Kindle.

I'm sorry we don't have any better news. We look forward to your next visit.

As I understand it, the 3G surcharge is a one-time charge for a permanent service on that ebook. Even if you decide to initially transfer that ebook using WiFi or USB, you could later on decide to redownload that book using 3G, or sync to last page read using 3G, or upload your annotations to that book using 3G, or tweet a passage using 3G.

That said, Amazon should really drop this surcharge for customers with no Kindle 3G capabilities (smartphones, PC, Kindle WiFi-only), because they have no way of costing Amazon money with transfers over 3G. We 3G+WiFi customers are screwed, though.

As HarryT says, I guess this 3G surcharge will go away as Amazon signs local deals with telecoms to avoid roaming charges. However, I will not be holding my breath for that to happen in Spain any time this decade.

[Kumabjorn]

I have a WiFi only Kindle 3, hence I can never have deliveries made over 3G.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by lordvetinari2

That said, Amazon should really drop this surcharge for customers with no Kindle 3G capabilities (smartphones, PC, Kindle WiFi-only), because they have no way of costing Amazon money with transfers over 3G.

If you think about it, though, that's really not feasible. Suppose you bought 100 books and then bought a 3G Kindle. Should Amazon charge you $200 at that point to pay for all the roaming you might do to download those books to your new 3G Kindle? I can't see that being terribly popular myself.

[lordvetinari2]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you think about it, though, that's really not feasible. Suppose you bought 100 books and then bought a 3G Kindle. Should Amazon charge you $200 at that point to pay for all the roaming you might do to download those books to your new 3G Kindle? I can't see that being terribly popular myself.

I guess you're right, there's no way of doing this without complicating things.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by TomF

Just to clarify, Amazon is referring to the method of transferring documents via both 3G and Wi-Fi as Whispernet. Prior to the introduction of Wi-Fi on the K3 it referred just to the method of delivering documents via 3G, since that's all there was. Now Wi-Fi is also Whispernet.

If you download books using K4PC and copy those books from your "My Kindle Content" folder via USB to the documents folder on your Kindle they will not be readable on the Kindle because each device has it's own unique PID. This prevents documents downloaded from Amazon on one device from being read on another device. Likewise, if you backed up your books to your hard drive from one Kindle, you can't transfer those books to another Kindle and have them be readable.

So K4PC has a different PID then my Kindle? Interesting. I did not know that. Is that the case for K4 IPad and all the other Kindle apps?

This is why I love this board, I learn something new every day. It also explains why when I was downloading a book to my In Laws computer (no whispernet where they are) it asked what device I was going to be putting the book onto. I was wondering about that

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That is of course perfectly true, but it's not what the previous poster was asking. He was asking if you could directly transfer a book from K4PC to a Kindle. You cannot do that unless you remove the DRM, because (as you know) a Kindle book is encoded for the specific device it's downloaded for.

I guess I thought that the books were coded for a specific account with specific devices attached to that account. I did not realize that the books were coded to a specific device.

[bspline]

Books are device-coded. I have Blackberry, iPhone, Kindle 2, K4PC and K4Mac, and they all have different PIDs. BTW I'm only missing android

The international prices are usually $2.00 higher than the american counterparts, regardless of transfer method. I guess that goes not only to pay international roaming fees but international licensing as well.
There *are* some cases where pricing is not the same as the US, here in Brazil I purchased Wolf Hall and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest for less than the american version, two dollar fee included. Don't ask me why, but perhaps by some weird licensing it can happen, as the versions I have downloaded have British copyright texting. Also TGWKTHN was released earlier in here than in the american store. Covers are different as well.

[emalvick]

Yo add to the PID comments, when you purchase a book or other Kindle item, you are technically only allowed to have it on so many devices at once (I believe it is item specific).

Each item has its own PID to allow Amazon to keep track of how many devices you might have a specific book on. I think this is for the cases where someone might have many devices registered to one account.... i.e. if there was no limit you could share a book with many people by registering their Kindle to the same Amazon account. I've read on other forums (or perhaps somewhere in here) of an example (perhaps typical) of a book only being allowed on 6 devices. To go to a 7th device, the person had to remove it from a device through the "manage their Kindle" page.

[lordvetinari2]

Originally Posted by bspline

The international prices are usually $2.00 higher than the american counterparts, regardless of transfer method. I guess that goes not only to pay international roaming fees but international licensing as well.

AFAIK, it's roaming charges + local VAT, which in Europe is much higher for ebooks than for books.