Quote:
Originally Posted by CommanderROR
I went browsing int he Kindle section and could not find ANY books by my favourite author Terry Pratchett. <snip> Pratchett is a UK author, so why can US residents buy the books and EU residents can't? Can anyone see what is wrong with this image?
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I share Cory Doctorow's love/hate relationship with Amazon being so good at selling physical goods, but horrible at selling digital stuff. This includes me bashing Amazon for the 1984 incident, so I was already biased against the Kindle.
However, when Amazon opened the Kindle gates to the world the other day, I thought I would give them a second chance because of the excellent selection and the low prices (compared to the competition).
Then I noticed the higher prices because of the AT&T roaming, the higher VAT taxes in Europe and whatever "administration costs" Amazon says they have for selling from the US. Buying in USD would also mean currency conversion fees from my bank. The low prices benefit was gone, since it is now more expensive to buy an ebook than the paperback.
What about the excellent selection? It was a deal breaker for me when I noticed that there were no PTerry books for European Kindle customers. I know it's not Amazon fault, but I would like to know whose fault it is. The publishers'? The -
Om forbid- the author? Probably the publishing world's status quo, which is the same as saying it's no one's fault, but the customer pays the price, as usual.
Since I am going to the First Irish Discworld Convention next month, I think I will ask either Sir Pratchett or his agent, Mr Smythe. I am not sure what kind of reply (if any) I will get, but I will be back here with the results.