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12-04-2012, 10:31 PM | #31 |
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I've bought 4 generations of Kobo now, and each time I went with Kobo over Kindle primarily because Kindle was late to the party in Canada, launching their equivalent-generation model in the Canadian market about 6 months too late.
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12-04-2012, 11:00 PM | #32 |
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Amazon's been releasing models late (or not at all) in Canada for that long? For e-ink e-readers? I know they've skipped us for the Paperwhite, and that we never got the Kindle Touch 3G (though we did, eventually, get the Wifi-only version the year following its U.S. release). The rest are before my time hanging out in the forums here (I followed them, but only peripherally). Were there significant delays in previous e-ink models too? Or are you including both the first and second-gen Kindle Fire models, neither of which have been released in Canada yet?
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12-04-2012, 11:05 PM | #33 | |
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Quote:
Back to the original topic. It seems to me Canadian nationalism is ascendant, though. Teenagers cover themselves in red and white and get Canadian flag temporary tattoos for Canada Day these days; I certainly don't remember that happening in the '80s and '90s like it is dies days. And corporate Canada is, by and large, embracing Canadian nationalism in a way that I'm not accustomed to them doing too. Though, as I say, Kobo doesn't seem to be on that particular train, their TV ads have focused on things like Father's Day, Mother's Day, and Christmas. Though they *have* ads on TV, something I think they don't do in the U.S. Which makes sense, as it's focused advertising backed by strong retail partnerships here, and would be a drop in the bucket without the same retail support there. Last edited by scrapking; 12-04-2012 at 11:09 PM. |
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12-05-2012, 09:37 AM | #34 | |
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Of all the readers I own -- and that's only a partial list under my name -- my favourite is the Kobo Glo. Combined with the fabric heather-grey SleepCover, it is a near-perfect e-ink device. Also, I can't stand full justification on narrow screens, and Kindle doesn't offer an easy way to turn that off; Kobo does. Here's a partial survey (now two years old) of some of the ebook readers I've owned: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWvbhE7tbOY |
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12-05-2012, 11:34 PM | #35 | |
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I would love a novel exploring "season 2" of Flashforward, along the lines of the novel sequel for Kenneth Johnson's 1980's "V", among others.
I also got to see you on Space's "Inner Space" a time or two now (mostly recently touting "Triggers", if memory serves). It's too bad TV Ontario's "Prisoners of Gravity" is no longer on TV, you would have made an awesome guest for that show IMO. Quote:
[/QUOTE]Here's a partial survey (now two years old) of some of the ebook readers I've owned: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWvbhE7tbOY[/QUOTE] Just finished watching the whole thing (OK, watching parts, listening to other parts). Interesting collection, thank you for sharing. But I was completely serious about buying a novel sequel to Flashforward on day 1 (which would be a sequel to the TV show, as the original book didn't seem designed for a sequel versus the cliffhanger ending to the TV series). |
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12-06-2012, 10:27 AM | #36 |
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Most innovative story that actually made it to TV in years (maybe ever), brief as it turned out to be. I was surprised that I hadn't encountered the novel before I saw it on TV - I used to have time to read everything from Canadian SF authors. Thanks for the story.
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12-06-2012, 11:04 PM | #37 |
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I toyed with getting a Kindle several years ago (before Kobo) but I refused to pay the same if not more than USA customers and not get the same offerings advertised.
There was a lot of services that was not available to Canadians. Then they came out with their "Global version" but by then I had already invested in a Jetbook as well as an Aluratek Libre Pro. Not e-ink but still and open e-book system. I bought my wife a Kobo touch last year and followed through with one for myself July past. I was impressed with the Kobo Touch and as soon as the Glo came out I bought two. The only issue I had with the Touch was it's sluggishness when dealing with a very large number of books on board. This issue has been resolved with the latest firmware. I like the Kobo products because they can access a wide range of sources, e-book formats and are very comfortable to use. |
12-07-2012, 09:50 AM | #38 | |
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12-07-2012, 09:58 AM | #39 |
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It's all ebooks, not just Penguin ebooks. The data comes from this report, some of the findings of which are summarized here.
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12-08-2012, 02:49 PM | #40 |
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I started out with the Kobo Vox that the family bought me for Christmas last year. It was a breakthrough device - an eReader with Android for only $200! But I soon found that it it was greatly underpowered, making it infuriatingly slow and not much good for anything, except perhaps for a veerryyy patient person or one who couldn't afford any better.
Then I moved on to the RIM PlayBook (coincidentally even more Canadian than the KV!) And that was mucchh better, although I did experience some delays in getting a good eReader app from their non-Android app store. But I found this hardware to be first-rate, and a huge bargain now available at deep discount prices. Finally, thoroughly enthralled with the 7in tablet format (and not being good at sharing with other family members) I bought the Nexus 7 last summer. And it's the best yet. With the quad-core processor it's lightning fast, and with true-Android O/S is promptly updatable. It supports all eReader apps and eBook stores, allowing free choice independent of any particular walled garden - and overcomes any reduction of choices resulting from our poorly-served Canadian market!. I realize that these are all backlit tablets, which some here may not consider strictly-speaking true eReaders. But for my particular use I find the screen is perfectly adequate for extended periods of reading, and I greatly enjoy the ability to do eMail and run other apps on a multi-functional device. Anyway, that's been this Canadian's experience, and my evolution eReader-wise for the past year, for what it's worth. |
12-08-2012, 06:54 PM | #41 |
Maria Schneider
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So maybe someone can help me out here. I thought Kindles were sold in Canada a while back (like maybe two years ago). But just recently we were allowed to upload books to Amazon Canada. So...were they sold there before and if they were, where did Kindle owners buy Kindle books before, say, this week? Or did I have it wrong and the Kindle wasn't available in Canada yet and just became available?
I know that at first Canadians were buying them in the US (and I think also buying the books via a US account of some kind) but I thought that had been resolved over a year ago? Or even longer? Confused in Texas, Maria Edited to add: In reading back through comments, it seems Kindle was available--always later in Canada than US and not all models. But were all books available? Or just from some publishers? Last edited by BearMountainBooks; 12-08-2012 at 06:56 PM. |
12-08-2012, 07:14 PM | #42 |
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For quite a while Kindles were not available internationally, and that included Canada. The main sticking point was the 3G wireless support for Whispernet. Eventually Amazon inked deals with several international carriers and started selling the Kindles worldwide. This included Canada.
However, Kindles are still not available from amazon.ca, the Canadian amazon affiliate. Any Kindles ordered from amazon are sold by amazon.com and shipped internationally. A small distinction, but it can be important under certain circumstances. At the current time, Kindles available to the Canadian market lag significantly behind the American market. The Kindle Paperwhite is not available here. As the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight is also not available in Canada, it leaves the Kobo Glo with the front-lit e-reader market all to itself. As near as I can find the Amazon Fire is not now nor has it ever been available in Canada. In its place is the Kobo Arc and several other Android tablets that are not specifically marketed as e-readers. As for the book selection: research on the web suggests that not all Kindle books are available in Canada. However due to the massive amount of ebooks out there it's difficult to confirm or deny this. Certainly books from the main "Big Six" publishers are available. |
12-08-2012, 08:26 PM | #43 | |
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Thanks. |
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12-08-2012, 09:25 PM | #44 | |
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Kobo has 55% e-reader marketshare in Canada (and growing), and you can be sure Amazon's policies in Canada play a part in that. |
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12-08-2012, 09:33 PM | #45 | |
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The unfortunate truth of it was that I probably did watch one or more of your interviews, and simply didn't make the connection 20 years later when I was re-exposed to you via FlashForward. However, you've made my day! Every few years I check for Prisoners of Gravity on TV, or on the internet, and then sulk away in disappointment. This conversation (and the fact that it had again been a few years since I last checked) prompted me to check again for Prisoners of Gravity, only to discover that the whole series was posted for free streaming on TVOntario's archives! As I type this, I'm listening to this episode in the background: http://archive.ww3.tvo.org/video/163688/vietnam Fantastic! Thank you! |
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