Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylver
nashira, just curious, if B&N is not available in Australia and you cannot purchase ebooks from B&N's US site, what exactly interests people there to buy a nook? And is 3G function useful to you guys at all then or you are looking more of the wifi only version (because of the price drop) as a basic reader to read your own content which is what I get a nook for.
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I have about as much interest in a reader with 3G (which has big-brother potential issues - Amazon did it once. Someone will do it again.) or ebooks with DRM as I do with catching the plague
I'm guessing, but I think I'm right, the only reason B&N won't sell outside of the US with their nooks is because their ebooks can't be sold outside of the US. Basically it's "oh well. Lets pretend only America exists" week. Sony kind of does this too - the 300 aside most of the PRS readers are shockingly hard to get here. And expensive when you do.
The nook has several things that make it appeal, the form factor not being the least of them. It's uncluttered and undistracting. Plus it's an epub reader and I do love me some epubs. Price is also a factor. Even at the former price... compared to some of the options locally? It was fairly cheap. The Australian consumer electronics market has a whole lot of interesting stuff. If you really want to pay premium for it. If it's available at all. One of our major bookstores, Dymocks currently stocks several readers. All over $300 or more.
http://www.dymocks.com.au/Search/Res...P&Ns=Price_P|1
There is the kobo, of course... It's sold by Borders Australia and Angus & Robinson but I hold a reader with either hand, so I'm a bit out of luck when it comes to turning pages one handed if it's in my left. And I do think they're charging too much ($199 AUD) for a very simple ereader when I could get a nook wi-fi from the states for a little more than that, including the cost of the freight forwarder.
Plus the nook (unlike the Kindle2 which I could get without too much fuss from Amazon) has a user changeable battery which is potentially VERY important from a foreign customers POV and expandable storage. Very important for my sanity in case I run out of storage. I don't want to buy a new device if I run out of space, or have to take books on/off my device via USB all the time. I'm not the only one.
Even though B&N needs to sort out book licensing for foreign customers before they go to the effort of sending the nook out, it'd be nice of them to allow us to buy the device directly (even if they put up a warning before checkout for those unaware about the geographic restrictions on ebooks) if only to build faith in the international community that this is not yet
another device we're going to have to find sneaky ways/troublesome ways to get and yes, B&N does care, a little.
...I went on for a bit there. Ahem.
