Amazon Kindle goes international

[neilmarr]

Of course you are right, Fuzzy: For many years here in France, I could only afford English church jumble sales books (I always felt cheap ... also hypocritical because I am not at all religious). When it launched, Amazon was great for treebooks, but -- whichever Amazon site you used -- shipping was a huge item and very, very often cost more than the books themselves if you're outside the blessed US. Ebooks are the answer to a dream -- but I do not appreciate the obvious ripoffs. As someone who's supported himself as a pro writer for almost forty-five years and a freelance fiction editor/indie publisher for the last decade, I can see no excuse. It's extortion. Do remember, though, that Amazon is primarily a grubby-fingered shopkeeper ... not a publisher. If, as it claims, 48% of Amazon book sales are now ebook downloads, it wants to keep its butt well greased. In a way, the success of the Kindle may well spell the downfall of the original Amazonian idea. Neil

PS: At least outside the USA, the Kindle is utter bollox. N

[WT Sharpe]

I'm glad the Kindle is going international, and I'm also glad they've lowered the price again. Then again, I'm also willing to bet that -- given the number of books folks buy from Amazon once they own one -- they could probably give away Kindles and still make a killing!

[MelC]

A Canadian specific article on the release:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1314925/

I suspect, although the article doesn't say it, that the issue has more to do with an inability to find a sympathetic wireless partner than anything else.

No nevermind to me as I wouldn't trade my beautiful red Sony for all the monstrous kindles in the world.

Mel

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by The-eBook-Reader

Kindle International: the flood gates of complaints are now open

I agree.

I am surprised, I guess I shouldn't be, at the number of complaints about this.

For two years we have heard complaints about how Amazon is "ignoring" other countries, etc.

Now that they are starting to sell the Kindle outside the US we hear more complaints.

I guess some people aren't happy unless they have something to complain about.

BOb

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by MelC

No nevermind to me as I wouldn't trade my beautiful red Sony for all the monstrous kindles in the world.

Mel

The only reason for me to contemplate a Kindle is the ebook selection from Amazon.com. I'd not use it for reading...

[DawnFalcon]

HarryT - Oh true, they haven't done the $=£ conversion yet! (UK centric, ha)

Let's see if Sony can do better. ("Wifi" would work, as would being technically more expensive, but shipping locally rather than internationally.)

[llreader]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Yes, you've understood well.

Ahhhh. Thanks.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by MelC

A Canadian specific article on the release:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1314925/

I suspect, although the article doesn't say it, that the issue has more to do with an inability to find a sympathetic wireless partner than anything else.

No nevermind to me as I wouldn't trade my beautiful red Sony for all the monstrous kindles in the world.

Mel

Canadian telcos are worse than Australian and NZ variety then? Nasty!

[kenmark]

Originally Posted by MelC

A Canadian specific article on the release:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1314925/

I suspect, although the article doesn't say it, that the issue has more to do with an inability to find a sympathetic wireless partner than anything else.

No nevermind to me as I wouldn't trade my beautiful red Sony for all the monstrous kindles in the world.

Mel

With our 802.16e WiMAX-enabled 4G service it probably wouldn't work anyway.

[wallcraft]

This is probably going to reduce the number of ebooks that are only available from US publishers (not from UK or other non-US rights holders). As I understand it, the non-US rights holders are under no obligation to produce an ebook even though they have locked in the rights. However, would you sell your next book to a publisher that screwed you out of sales because they could not be bothered to produce an ebook? Before the international Kindle you could argue the lost sales would be small, but I doubt that will be true for long now.

If I was a US publisher with lots of ebooks, I would try to work out a deal with the non-US rights holders for them to licence the existing ebooks as the basis for their versions. Amazon may already be brokering such deals, from Wired:

Amazon staved off copyright problems by negotiating an arrangement with English language publishers that pays royalties depending on the territory of purchase. (If you buy a copy of The Perfect Thing in London, for instance, the UK publisher Ebury press gets the sale, instead of US publisher Simon & Schuster.) Still, the rights clearances aren’t yet comprehensive; of the 350,000 books in the Kindle store, only around 200,000 will be available in some countries.

[koland]

Originally Posted by kaas

The 1.99 USD surcharge seems to be taxes, which amount to 18% - 20% in all European countries. So I blame our stupid European laws that tax ebooks!

Actually, the $1.99 charge is from AT&T, essentially, an international cellular data plan charge (about a minimum, for that type of thing). So long as you use the USB cable, you never pay that charge. Were I stuck in an airport or a train with an empty Kindle, it seems a small price to get a new book (not that my Kindle is ever empty). It will mean that international customers will have to be extra careful with keeping the wireless off (and with allowing strangers to play with the Kindle); no doubt we'll start hearing of campaigns to include a "keep wireless off" option in the Mange My Kindle page or on the Kindle itself (which will be ignored just as much as the continuous outcry for folders or tags or any method of organization of ones library).

The various prices seen, though, do reflect the higher taxes in other countries and include VAT where applicable (which some of you would pay on imported paper books, as well), ebook taxes, etc. The lesser quantity of books is due to lack of international rights held for many of the books. No doubt, the numbers there will increase over time, as well. And once books are available directly from the international Amazon sites, those in the US will start running into similar issues trying to buy from other countries.

[andothfc]

It bears repeating - this $1.99 charge ONLY applies to US Kindle users who download books while abroad. It does not apply to anyone else.

the tac costs of the books are factored into the upfront price (that's why Uk bestsellers are $11.99 as opposed to $9.99)

[DawnFalcon]

That's not what other people have been told - if they're outside their "base" country...charged.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I guess some people aren't happy unless they have something to complain about.

[bbusybookworm]

Its intresting to see how Amazon is doing an endrun around having to negotiate individual wireless cuntries in every county by having their US wireless carrier (AT&T) do it for them.

Its a smart move as it give them more time and leverage when negoating location specific contracts for localized versions in the future.

Looking at the terms of service, when you specify which country you are going to be using in, it becomes more interesting.

They say that wireless will be free in your home country, but will be charged a $1.99 fee when traveling. While this is great, what this got me thinking about was whether or not they will allow you to change you Home country afterwords.

If so, then it would really be interesting, as if then if you relocate, all you'll have to do would be to register your new address and payment details and get free wireless delivery. That could prove to be real game changer, especially for people who move pretty reguary, who would be ideal candidates for a reader like this.