Quote:
Originally Posted by rashkae
The problem is 2 fold, and both originate from Amazon.
One is the new habbit of cycling the paperwhite models without making it clear on the box. (The distinction is only to be found in the fine print,, the model is always simply "Paperwhite".. this is not the same thing as the iphone example, since the Iphones have a clearly distinct model number. The Paperwhite 3 is never called Paperwhite 3 by Amazon. (you only see a reference to '7th generation, and of course, the specs have the new resolution.)
2. Amazon treats Retail channel as 3rd citizen at best. There is no attempt made to have the new models in retail stores at launch time.
All together, if you aren't buying your Amazon gadgets directly from Amazon, your being ... not cheated, but probably getting a bad deal. (getting older hardware for higher cost.).. honestly, I'm amazed retailers carry Kindle's at all.
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It would be nice to have different incarnations of the same model devlce readily identifiable. I don't have sufficient information about Amazon and retail stores, though logically physical retail stores would not be a priority for various reasons which seem to be obvious. However, this may not be true in some or even most Countries outside of the United States. In Australia Amazon has appointed a local large retail chain, Dick Smith, to handle Kindle Sales. The Voyage became available here I think in about April, but Amazon will still not sell this directly. The local site seems to sell little except books, with other purchases through the US (or possibly the UK) store if they do make the item available in Australia. At the moment Amazon's Australian online store offers little except the ability to pay agency prices to the local large publishers (Agency never stopped here). It is obviously a work in progress and will probably remain one until Amazon decides to set-up one or more local warehouses. In the meantime they seem content to let Dick Smith handle the hardware side of things. I have no experience of Customer Service, though I can say that the staff had little knowledge of Kindle's when I asked about a Voyage early in the year. Incidentaily, a Voyage from Dick Smith costs $A299. At current exchange rates this is about $US220 as opposed to $199 from the US Kindle Store. Not too bad including postage, local taxes of about $20. And no waiting for it to ship from the US (if they would actually supply one).