Kindle DX goes International - Page 2

joewandy · 01-06-2010, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by windylim

For all the fanfare about "International", the kindle (DX or otherwise) cannot be shipped to Singapore for some strange reason. Doh.

You can still get it via vpost, if you really want to. The wireless wouldn't work in Singapore though ...

Hogan · 01-06-2010, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Given that the charger probably costs about £1, if that, it's probably simply not worth the hassle of taking it out of the box.

Yeah, much better to insult a significant portion of your potential international customers by releasing a product / service package, at the same price, which is clearly not equivalent to the US product / service.

kennyc · 01-06-2010, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hogan

Yeah, much better to insult a significant portion of your potential international customers by releasing a product / service package, at the same price, which is clearly not equivalent to the US product / service.

I'm sure it's just a business decision. With all the different voltages/adapters/plug types and given a wide-voltage-range charge that comes with it, only an adapter is required, which I suspect most households would have anyway. It would be a significant additional expense to include adapters for all countries or individually packaged units for each country...

They could have chosen to not release it internationally.

andrys · 01-06-2010, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-Thom

How nice of them to go international with all of their current devices - now if they just would go international with publishers, too ...

They did get Random House to let loose of some.

http://bit.ly/rh_kintl

andrys · 01-06-2010, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech_au

I just watched Amazon's Kindle DX video and I didn't realise how big a 9.7 inch reader is. I don't think you'd want to be lugging that around the park or at the beach but as it says in the video you can also use it for business purposes.
At nearly US$500 you'd want to get some business use out of it

As a under-5'4" female I haven't found it heavy or awkward. I like it a LOT better than my K2. Beautifully clear. Took it on a 3-wk trip along with my netbook and had both in a small backpack.

It works a lot better with the web, especially in landscape mode. And since I get a lot of informational PDFs (and electronics guides), it is also much better for those. The photo I used today is of the DX displaying the regular Engadget page, which is not bad but I usually use the mobile-unit optimized versions of site. When it's just text it's very useful for lookups when on the street. It's slow but seems faster than it used to be.

- Andrys
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com

Hogan · 01-06-2010, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

I'm sure it's just a business decision. With all the different voltages/adapters/plug types and given a wide-voltage-range charge that comes with it, only an adapter is required, which I suspect most households would have anyway. It would be a significant additional expense to include adapters for all countries or individually packaged units for each country...

They could have chosen to not release it internationally.

That's true, but as an "international" company that wouldn't have been a great move towards their goal of world dominance

I don't want to get fixated on the charger issue but it's funny how other mobile device manufacturers have no problems including the appropriate charger for their devices. Besides, the overall Kindle package is clearly not as good for the international buyer, in terms of device features, the availability of books and the additional wireless costs (for the K2).

For a personal point of view, before the release of K2 International (and now the DX International), I bought 90% of my books on-line at Amazon (the rest in-store at Waterstones), and now that ratio has all but reversed. That's solely down to my annoyance at the botched International releases of the Kindle (which incidentally I was looking forward to buying). Looking around the commentaries on the web, it would seem I'm not alone.

Now, I'm going to wait until after CES to make a decision but it definitely wont be a Kindle.

markbot · 01-06-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrys

EDIT: I misread "(Foreign Language) Kindle" as foreign language Kindle
but they were press releases in each of several languages instead, about
the new Kindle :-

I like that it's the same price right off. Not selling the old one.

- Andrys
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com (no blog entry done on this news yet :-) )

They should for a non-English Kindle! Why not? Not enough scale and/or per capita gdp in latin america?

K-Thom · 01-06-2010, 11:15 AM

Quote:

They are doing - eg they've recently signed up "Random House", who are one of the largest British publishers (they are the British publishers for authors such as Dan Brown and Terry Pratchett).

Let me rephrase it: international publishers with a mother tongue other than english, and without a US home address, i.e. 90% of the world.

Faenad · 01-06-2010, 11:32 AM

cheap adapters here (less than 1 USD apiece, shipping is cheap too) :

http://www.netimes.com/shop/ac-plug-...l?cPath=80_731

http://www.netimes.com/shop/ac-power...l?cPath=80_731

http://www.netimes.com/shop/all-in-o...l?cPath=80_731

I agree that Amazon should have shipped them, at least the 4 common adapter type. A charger + 4 removable plugs would probably have cost them less than 1$ per kindle. reducing hassle for their customers would probably have mean more sales.

Kali Yuga · 01-06-2010, 11:37 AM

I may be wrong, but I still think the international versions are really made more for travelers and expatriates than for locals outside the US. Hence US-only power supplies, purchases only done through the US site, a predominance of English titles, etc. I expect truly regional versions of the Kindle will be out at some later date.

HarryT · 01-06-2010, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I may be wrong, but I still think the international versions are really made more for travelers and expatriates than for locals outside the US.

That certainly wasn't the case with the Kindle 2. It was very heavily advertised by Amazon on their UK site.

Hogan · 01-06-2010, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faenad

cheap adapters here (less than 1 USD apiece, shipping is cheap too) :

http://www.netimes.com/shop/ac-plug-...l?cPath=80_731

http://www.netimes.com/shop/ac-power...l?cPath=80_731

http://www.netimes.com/shop/all-in-o...l?cPath=80_731

I agree that Amazon should have shipped them, at least the 4 common adapter type. A charger + 4 removable plugs would probably have cost them less than 1$ per kindle. reducing hassle for their customers would probably have mean more sales.

To me the charger issue is much more about principle than cost. Shipping an "international" product with a US charger and limiting some of the features for non US customers, is just very poor customer relations (in my opinion).

suecsi · 01-06-2010, 12:19 PM

Assuming that these Kindles are still shipping from the US, I think that is why. They aren't really properly international yet - and you'd still get whacked for import duties in some places.

Most companies that sell directly and distribute from overseas locations, enclose the appropriate plug for that country. Except for Sony don't actually bother giving you an AC at all as they assume you will charge via USB to computer! So you pay £5 for a PSP charger or over £20 for the 'official' one. So in a way, just buying an adapter is not a bad deal as at least you get the AC included!

If the Kindle spreads and they start distributing locally to regions, it would make more sense to enclose local plugs.

Though I remember my old Palm Pilot had a AC plug with removable prongs on it for different regions which was a useful idea.

K-Thom · 01-06-2010, 12:32 PM

Quote:

That certainly wasn't the case with the Kindle 2. It was very heavily advertised by Amazon on their UK site.

Same in Germany, and while the device itself got a positive feedback, ALL sources (major newspapers, magazines, not just eBook-related sites) criticize the lack of German books in the Kindle store. Amazon has some work left before the Kindle will truly become international.

HappyMartin · 01-06-2010, 01:20 PM

I guess it depends on how you define international. Amazon have made a fair effort to tie in local service providers and work with international publishing agreements and that seems to me to be more significant than a $1 plug. Even down here in South Africa I was able to find 2 adapters lying around the house.

01-06-2010, 11:32 AM	#24
Faenad Ad astra per aspera Posts: 347 Karma: 724 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Mexico Device: PRS-505, PRS-300 & HTC HD2	cheap adapters here (less than 1 USD apiece, shipping is cheap too) : http://www.netimes.com/shop/ac-plug-...l?cPath=80_731 http://www.netimes.com/shop/ac-power...l?cPath=80_731 http://www.netimes.com/shop/all-in-o...l?cPath=80_731 I agree that Amazon should have shipped them, at least the 4 common adapter type. A charger + 4 removable plugs would probably have cost them less than 1$ per kindle. reducing hassle for their customers would probably have mean more sales. Last edited by Faenad; 01-06-2010 at 11:37 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Kindle 2 US-->International	silt	Amazon Kindle	21	08-27-2010 05:11 PM
Kindle international in UK	mike_bike_kite	Kindle Developer's Corner	7	06-11-2010 07:06 PM
Font hacks for the Kindle 2, Kindle International and Kindle DX	edge777	Kindle Developer's Corner	17	04-30-2010 04:11 PM
International Kindle DX??? When??	jlinden	Amazon Kindle	4	12-16-2009 06:50 AM
Is Kindle going to be international soon?	mtravellerh	News	2	05-21-2009 02:13 PM

01-06-2010, 11:37 AM	#25
Kali Yuga Professional Contrarian Posts: 2,045 Karma: 3289631 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie	I may be wrong, but I still think the international versions are really made more for travelers and expatriates than for locals outside the US. Hence US-only power supplies, purchases only done through the US site, a predominance of English titles, etc. I expect truly regional versions of the Kindle will be out at some later date.

01-06-2010, 12:19 PM	#28
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	Assuming that these Kindles are still shipping from the US, I think that is why. They aren't really properly international yet - and you'd still get whacked for import duties in some places. Most companies that sell directly and distribute from overseas locations, enclose the appropriate plug for that country. Except for Sony don't actually bother giving you an AC at all as they assume you will charge via USB to computer! So you pay £5 for a PSP charger or over £20 for the 'official' one. So in a way, just buying an adapter is not a bad deal as at least you get the AC included! If the Kindle spreads and they start distributing locally to regions, it would make more sense to enclose local plugs. Though I remember my old Palm Pilot had a AC plug with removable prongs on it for different regions which was a useful idea.

01-06-2010, 01:20 PM	#30
HappyMartin Martin Kristiansen Posts: 1,546 Karma: 8480958 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Johannesburg Device: Kindle International Ipad 2	I guess it depends on how you define international. Amazon have made a fair effort to tie in local service providers and work with international publishing agreements and that seems to me to be more significant than a $1 plug. Even down here in South Africa I was able to find 2 adapters lying around the house.

Advert

Advert