Xmas Launch for UK Kindle ? - Page 3

HarryT · 07-20-2009, 09:19 AM

I would very much welcome a UK launch of the Kindle, and would certainly buy one. A Kindle 2, that is, not a DX.

Sweetpea · 07-20-2009, 10:10 AM

I'd read the terms and agreements very closely...

(I just did and it reinforced my idea that I don't want a Kindle...)

Wario · 07-20-2009, 10:23 AM

I am a man, but I like shopping (different from a woman, and yes there is a difference!!

).

I like to hunt down the best price or deal I can get. With the Kindle I would be force only to use their format, if they keep it the same as they use in the USA.

Sparrow · 07-20-2009, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

The number of books that have had temporary exclusivity have been less than a handful. If you've seen more than I have please point them out.

I haven't been looking for them, so I don't know the numbers (being in the UK it has only been of passing interest up till now) - but I think the bigger the market share the Kindle gets, the more pressure they can put on publishers to sign up to exclusivity contracts.

Imho, it's best if people continue to buy a variety of devices.

daffy4u · 07-20-2009, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

I haven't been looking for them, so I don't know the numbers (being in the UK it has only been of passing interest up till now) - but I think the bigger the market share the Kindle gets, the more pressure they can put on publishers to sign up to exclusivity contracts.

Imho, it's best if people continue to buy a variety of devices.

I agree that people should buy and have access to a variety (the spice of life) of readers. Not everyone has the same taste or should.

That said, just because Amazon (a book store first and foremost) has done a very good job at getting content for the Kindle is not a negative. It is cause for other retailers to step up their game. Amazon has had very little exclusive content and there is no reason to assume that they will arrive in the U.K. and start pressuring pubishers into exclusive contracts. Just as there is no need to believe that Barnes & Noble will operate that way. Hold judgment until it's a done deal (specially since no one is forced to buy a Kindle).

Competition is good for the consumer.

HarryT · 07-20-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wario

I like to hunt down the best price or deal I can get. With the Kindle I would be force only to use their format, if they keep it the same as they use in the USA.

Owning a Kindle most certainly doesn't restrict you to buying your books at Amazon. It reads standard Mobipocket books, which can be obtained from many different sources.

wallcraft · 07-20-2009, 11:24 AM

Exclusivity is less likely in the UK, because many publishers have already standardized on ePub.

In the US there are very few Amazon-specific titles (except TOPAZ, which is a special case since Amazon does the ebook creation), but they are quite a few MOBI+Amazon only titles. This is because producing a mobipocket.com ebook gets you on the Kindle and into most ebook stores. So in the US if you don't want to spend a lot on producing ebooks, or want to do so quickly, the mobipocket.com only approach is viable.

In the UK, some publishers are ePub only but none so far as I know are MOBI only. Amazon can fairly easily convert from ePub to MOBI, although Calibre does this much better than MobiPocket Creator, so ePub is probably OK for them. Given an ePub master, there is no reason for a publisher to be Amazon-only or MOBI-only at the ebook store level.

Given MobiPocket Creator's limitations, I would expect the Kindle ebooks made from an ePub master to have problems when first introduced but Amazon could very simply fix this by allowing Calibre to be used with DRMed MOBIs (i.e. by introducing a program to add DRM to a DRM-free MOBI ebook).

Jellby · 07-20-2009, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Owning a Kindle most certainly doesn't restrict you to buying your books at Amazon. It reads standard Mobipocket books, which can be obtained from many different sources.

But I seem to remember the mobi PID is not immediately available. You'd need scripts like kindlepid.py and kindlefix.py, or whatever.

HarryT · 07-20-2009, 11:35 AM

I was thinking more of DRM-free books, Jellby, from sources such as Baen, FW, etc.

krischik · 07-21-2009, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellby

But I seem to remember the mobi PID is not immediately available. You'd need scripts like kindlepid.py and kindlefix.py, or whatever.

Indeed. Also: Mobipocket.com does not accept Kindle PIDs any more. They have for a while but not any longer. So Shops which outsourced there encryption to Mobipocket.com can't deliver Kindle compatible books.

It is probably easier to register the PC's PID and strip DRM all together. Where that is legal of course.

Sweepstrue · 07-21-2009, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petermillard

I'd have thought the mass-market appeal of the Kindle is two-fold; content delivery (no PC, no syncing etc...) and the range of content available. Take away or hobble the available content and you lose a huge part of its appeal - especially when Amazon pull stunts like this.

Seriously, 1984; no sense of irony...

Cheers, Pete

Those of you who have completely banned any thoughts of buying a Kindle after they removed bought books from readers should get the whole story. Amazon have said they won't repeat this move:

"However Herdener said the company would be altering its policy so that it could block illegal copies, but not take back copies innocently downloaded by customers.
"We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers' devices in these circumstances," he said".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...on-kindle-1984

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07-20-2009, 09:19 AM	#31
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I would very much welcome a UK launch of the Kindle, and would certainly buy one. A Kindle 2, that is, not a DX.

07-20-2009, 10:10 AM	#32
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	I'd read the terms and agreements very closely... (I just did and it reinforced my idea that I don't want a Kindle...)

07-20-2009, 10:23 AM	#33
Wario Connoisseur Posts: 59 Karma: 11 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: UK Device: Sony PRS-505	I am a man, but I like shopping (different from a woman, and yes there is a difference!! ). I like to hunt down the best price or deal I can get. With the Kindle I would be force only to use their format, if they keep it the same as they use in the USA.

07-20-2009, 11:24 AM	#37
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	Exclusivity is less likely in the UK, because many publishers have already standardized on ePub. In the US there are very few Amazon-specific titles (except TOPAZ, which is a special case since Amazon does the ebook creation), but they are quite a few MOBI+Amazon only titles. This is because producing a mobipocket.com ebook gets you on the Kindle and into most ebook stores. So in the US if you don't want to spend a lot on producing ebooks, or want to do so quickly, the mobipocket.com only approach is viable. In the UK, some publishers are ePub only but none so far as I know are MOBI only. Amazon can fairly easily convert from ePub to MOBI, although Calibre does this much better than MobiPocket Creator, so ePub is probably OK for them. Given an ePub master, there is no reason for a publisher to be Amazon-only or MOBI-only at the ebook store level. Given MobiPocket Creator's limitations, I would expect the Kindle ebooks made from an ePub master to have problems when first introduced but Amazon could very simply fix this by allowing Calibre to be used with DRMed MOBIs (i.e. by introducing a program to add DRM to a DRM-free MOBI ebook).

07-20-2009, 11:35 AM	#39
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I was thinking more of DRM-free books, Jellby, from sources such as Baen, FW, etc.