This is why Amazon is going to win - Page 5

HarryT · 11-18-2009, 04:15 AM

Unfortunately, though, the result is that, for people outside the US, the international Kindle has perhaps the poorest selection of books available of any mainstream device. No matter what "mainstream" author I search for in the Kindle store, the result is almost inevitably "not available outside the US".

Amazon have announced a UK bookstore in the near future. I hope it comes sooner rather than later!

kennyc · 11-18-2009, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

IF you happen to live in the US. 95% of people on this planet do not

.

What? We must increase the birthrate IMMEDIATELY!

EowynCarter · 11-18-2009, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Amazon have announced a UK bookstore in the near future. I hope it comes sooner rather than later!

Yeha, That bugged me...
UK ? What about france ! I would appreciate amazon selling e-book to us, from franch publishers, as well as the US and UK ones.

Though maybe it can be intersting if the sells to us. But, will still be mobi. And i have yet to find a book i want, that is on amazon, on not in an other shop in ePub.

kennyc · 11-18-2009, 08:36 AM

And Chipolte is opening in London as well! Bringing Denver to London.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/...e_london_store

Hee-Hee. Books and burritos the size of speed bumps.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 11-20-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

What? We must increase the birthrate IMMEDIATELY!

Wouldn't it be better to cut down their birthrate?

('Course, people do tend to take that kind of thing personally...)

markbond1007 · 11-21-2009, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not that they don't WANT you to buy their books, but that their publishing contracts do not PERMIT them to sell you some of their books. If a publisher only has a contract to sell a book in the US, then they will be in breach of contract if they sell it to you if they sell it elsewhere. That's because, legally, the "point of sale" for a digital product is the customer's location, whereas for a physical product it's the store's location. So when you buy a paper book from Amazon US, legally it's being sold in the US, but when you buy an eBook it's being sold in the UK. Yes, it's stupid, but that's the way it is at the moment, and Sony and Amazon cannot just ignore the law.

Which is also ridiculous, especially given the fact that if that were really the case, I should be paying VAT locally, and really should be charged in my local currency. In addition to all of this the actual transaction takes place via a transfer from the ecommerce server to the payment gateway, again not my computer. Of course what it really shows is that governments/publishers/et al are just a bunch of incompetent idiots who couldn't reason their way out of a teapot.

And as an (almost unrelated) example of this, did you know you cannot ring up HMRC (in the uk) put a specific instance to them (we are building a website for a company in Turkey, site hosted in the UK, client and users in Turkey, question being do we need to Charge VAT or not) and get a yes or no answer (they in fact refuse to answer, and tell you read section xyz in their hand book which doesnt actually answer the question) - useless really...

Mark

Katti's Cat · 11-22-2009, 04:52 PM

I didn't buy the kindle because of the restriction to the file format. I went Sony instead - they didn't sell it to me directly but I still got it out of the US. That didn't bother me.

Amazon now sells the Kindle International - so a lot of the books available I can now buy in Australia.

I hate the regional restrictions and despite numerous attempts by kind forum members to explain it - meeeh. It's stupid.

I think it is too early to tell which device will 'win' the race. There are loads of new models & makers comming on the market next year alone.

I doubt very much it will be the Kindle though - at least I have started educating interested parties around me who only 'know' of the Kindle because it has been in the press lately. I even spoke to some Bookstore owners. And all were put off by the fact, that you can only read the Kindle format.

Unfortunately I really wanted my reader NOW (yeah, I'm happy with it) but I can see myself going back for upgrades. The future looks bright on the eBook reader market.

And Kindle has already annoyed too many potential customers (the 95% who don't live in the US) to really make it forward now.

SensualPoet · 11-22-2009, 05:24 PM

I share some, not all, of the frustrations voiced here with Kindle, Amazon and the vagaries of international DRM. I live in Canada and thus was NOT included in the Global Edition release because Amazon/AT&T didn't have their ducks in a row yet. Finally, this past week, we were "blessed". I now own a Kindle 2, with crippled wireless and 20% inflated "roaming" taxes on every purchase.

But, hey, the market is evolving and the device does everything it says it would in my market. To the extent Amazon is not able to sell me premium ebooks, this is our mutual loss ... and the economics of the thing will work itself out over time.

I have no idea where to even begin to buy a Cybook. If I search bestbuy.ca for "ereader" zero choices are returned; do the same for the US site and only Sony products are returned (and BestBuy US does not ship to Canada). I can buy a Sony eReader at a SonyStyle store here -- at full list price and without a credible content retailer backing it. But I know how to buy an Amazon Kindle because I have an ongoing multi-year relationship with Amazon.

While all this is being sorted out, I still have the option to buy an actual book where an ebook is currently unavailable. In the meantime, days being limited to 24 hours, there is a vast amount of content available to me to consume for a modest cost or free that works swimmingly on the (do nothing it's 3G wireless enabled) Kindle.

In my market, Canada, Amazon makes a compelling case.

Kali Yuga · 11-22-2009, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

I doubt very much it will be the Kindle though - at least I have started educating interested parties around me who only 'know' of the Kindle because it has been in the press lately.

Very good, now all you need to do is to personally educate a few million more people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

And Kindle has already annoyed too many potential customers (the 95% who don't live in the US) to really make it forward now.

I have a few doubts about that, especially since analysts are predicting that the Kindle is likely to snag a 60% market share.

Also, the US makes up about 30% of global book sale revenues; and the Kindle has so "annoyed" people around the world that they are clamoring for international versions of the device....

Again if "winning" is the expectation of total market dominance to the point where no other competitors will exist, that's not going to happen. The international market is still under-served, and even after a market leader is established, competition will be fierce and there will be tons of also-rans. Seen anyone use a Creative Zen lately?**

What's most likely is that Amazon will be capable of throwing its weight around and almost certainly sticking with whatever format it prefers for a long time to come, even if everyone else winds up using ePub.

(** if you are one of the 2-4% of portable music buyers who owns a Zen, this is your cue to speak up and hope that just this once, anecdotes actually do mean more than statistics.

)

Katti's Cat · 11-22-2009, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Initially posted by Kali Yuga
Very good, now all you need to do is to personally educate a few million more people.

every journey starts with the first step

Quote:

Initially posted by Kali Yuga
I have a few doubts about that, especially since analysts are predicting that the Kindle is likely to snag a 60% market share.

yikes there goes my day

At the end of the day - as long as we have plenty of readers and formats to choose from we are all winners. So please please don't let it be Kindle

TGNY · 11-22-2009, 08:48 PM

Weird how buying a Sony felt so rebellious and good. Usually Sony can be the bully on the block, this time (with this technology) it feels like Amazon is...

Free Library books vs. paying for every single book is a no brainer IMO

Kali Yuga · 11-22-2009, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

every journey starts with the first step

Have fun with that one-person war against the Evil Amazons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

At the end of the day - as long as we have plenty of readers and formats to choose from we are all winners. So please please don't let it be Kindle

The Kindle most likely will be the pre-eminent reader in the US; outside the US, who knows. Either way there will be numerous alternatives and healthy competition, so I see no particular reason to imagine that the sky will come crashing down based such things.

And whatever "evils" you ascribe to Amazon, I'm reasonably certain that almost any other company capable of building an international presence has made similar mistakes (*cough* Sony rootkit scandal *cough*). Since none of these companies is out smothering babies, I find it slightly absurd to act like any one particular company is the Epitome of Evil.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGNY

Weird how buying a Sony felt so rebellious and good. Usually Sony can be the bully on the block, this time (with this technology) it feels like Amazon is...

Yeah, well. News flash, Sony hasn't hasn't changed their entire corporate structure overnight; they're just moving to ePub out of competitive pressures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGNY

Free Library books vs. paying for every single book is a no brainer IMO

Yeah, well. News flash, there are lots of free public domain books available for any reader, including the Kindle; heck, close to 3/4 of the ebooks I've got are free PD books. Library access is a plus, but owning a Kindle hardly condemns you to paying for "every single book."

Madam Broshkina · 11-22-2009, 10:04 PM

I have a Kindle. I like it. But I am glad that I have not become one of the Kindle people.

kennyc · 11-23-2009, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

I have a Kindle. I like it. But I am glad that I have not become one of the Kindle people.

.

TallMomof2 · 11-23-2009, 11:02 AM

I showed my neighbor my DX and she her husband fell in love with it. They ended up buying 5 K2s, one each for themselves and their 3 children. I mentioned other readers including the Sony reader and the upcoming Nook but what sold them on the Amazon device was the ease of purchasing and downloading ebooks and availability of the reader.

My neighbors are technical but are not interested in liberating their books or reading library content. They just want an easy reading experience. As long as they stay within the Amazon ecosphere they'll be happy.

Win or lose the Kindle has had and will continue to have a huge effect on the electronic reader market.

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11-18-2009, 04:15 AM	#61
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Unfortunately, though, the result is that, for people outside the US, the international Kindle has perhaps the poorest selection of books available of any mainstream device. No matter what "mainstream" author I search for in the Kindle store, the result is almost inevitably "not available outside the US". Amazon have announced a UK bookstore in the near future. I hope it comes sooner rather than later!

11-18-2009, 08:36 AM	#64
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	And Chipolte is opening in London as well! Bringing Denver to London. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/...e_london_store Hee-Hee. Books and burritos the size of speed bumps.

11-22-2009, 04:52 PM	#67
Katti's Cat Wizard Posts: 2,259 Karma: 175640 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Device: Sony PRS-600	I didn't buy the kindle because of the restriction to the file format. I went Sony instead - they didn't sell it to me directly but I still got it out of the US. That didn't bother me. Amazon now sells the Kindle International - so a lot of the books available I can now buy in Australia. I hate the regional restrictions and despite numerous attempts by kind forum members to explain it - meeeh. It's stupid. I think it is too early to tell which device will 'win' the race. There are loads of new models & makers comming on the market next year alone. I doubt very much it will be the Kindle though - at least I have started educating interested parties around me who only 'know' of the Kindle because it has been in the press lately. I even spoke to some Bookstore owners. And all were put off by the fact, that you can only read the Kindle format. Unfortunately I really wanted my reader NOW (yeah, I'm happy with it) but I can see myself going back for upgrades. The future looks bright on the eBook reader market. And Kindle has already annoyed too many potential customers (the 95% who don't live in the US) to really make it forward now.

11-22-2009, 05:24 PM	#68
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	I share some, not all, of the frustrations voiced here with Kindle, Amazon and the vagaries of international DRM. I live in Canada and thus was NOT included in the Global Edition release because Amazon/AT&T didn't have their ducks in a row yet. Finally, this past week, we were "blessed". I now own a Kindle 2, with crippled wireless and 20% inflated "roaming" taxes on every purchase. But, hey, the market is evolving and the device does everything it says it would in my market. To the extent Amazon is not able to sell me premium ebooks, this is our mutual loss ... and the economics of the thing will work itself out over time. I have no idea where to even begin to buy a Cybook. If I search bestbuy.ca for "ereader" zero choices are returned; do the same for the US site and only Sony products are returned (and BestBuy US does not ship to Canada). I can buy a Sony eReader at a SonyStyle store here -- at full list price and without a credible content retailer backing it. But I know how to buy an Amazon Kindle because I have an ongoing multi-year relationship with Amazon. While all this is being sorted out, I still have the option to buy an actual book where an ebook is currently unavailable. In the meantime, days being limited to 24 hours, there is a vast amount of content available to me to consume for a modest cost or free that works swimmingly on the (do nothing it's 3G wireless enabled) Kindle. In my market, Canada, Amazon makes a compelling case.

11-22-2009, 08:48 PM	#71
TGNY Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 376 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: PRS-600	Weird how buying a Sony felt so rebellious and good. Usually Sony can be the bully on the block, this time (with this technology) it feels like Amazon is... Free Library books vs. paying for every single book is a no brainer IMO

11-22-2009, 10:04 PM	#73
Madam Broshkina Manic Do Fuse Posts: 2,312 Karma: 3325462 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony 500, 505, 350, Kindle 3, DXG, nook, Irex DR800SG, iPad	I have a Kindle. I like it. But I am glad that I have not become one of the Kindle people.

11-23-2009, 11:02 AM	#75
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	I showed my neighbor my DX and she her husband fell in love with it. They ended up buying 5 K2s, one each for themselves and their 3 children. I mentioned other readers including the Sony reader and the upcoming Nook but what sold them on the Amazon device was the ease of purchasing and downloading ebooks and availability of the reader. My neighbors are technical but are not interested in liberating their books or reading library content. They just want an easy reading experience. As long as they stay within the Amazon ecosphere they'll be happy. Win or lose the Kindle has had and will continue to have a huge effect on the electronic reader market.

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