(Sweden) Amazon looking at Sweden (from DN)

[owly]

Amazon appear to be negotiating with Swedish publishers about opening a Kindle store in Sweden.

Article in Dagens Nyheter, Swedens largest newspaper

Google translate into English of the article.

[patrik]

Interesting. The biggest win would probably be that it will (finally) be easy for us swedes to buy the kindle ereaders.

[Kumabjorn]

There is no problem buying Kindles from Amazon in either the U.S.or the U.K.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

There is no problem buying Kindles from Amazon in either the U.S.or the U.K.

As far as I know, on the Amazon UK site, you can only buy a Kindle if the delivery address is in the UK (I'm not sure whether it's changed to include Ireland or not).

I certainly cannot buy a Kindle from Amazon UK (or Amazon.de, or Amazon.fr, or indeed any Amazon other than Amazon.com) and have it delivered to my home address.

Buying from Amazon.com is of course very easy, especially if you're in a country where Amazon takes care of the customs fees and you don't have to go through a lengthy and costly customs process in your own country to actually get it, but for example if you get a faulty one, or decide that you don't want it after all and wish to use your 30 day return right, and so on, it's generally easier (and cheaper, and quicker) to deal with a local company / local storefront, I'd imagine.

[owly]

It would be great if they added a Swedish dictionary function. No ebook reader has that.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by owly

It would be great if they added a Swedish dictionary function. No ebook reader has that.

BTW, I cobbled together a very simple Swedish-English Kindle dictionary, which you can download from MR. However, because of the limited number of headwords it's most likely not very useful to native Swedish speakers.

[Kumabjorn]

@yapyap
I bought my Kindle 4 from the U.K.site a year or so ago, I don't recall any problems.

[derangedhermit]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

BTW, I cobbled together a very simple Swedish-English Kindle dictionary, which you can download from MR. However, because of the limited number of headwords it's most likely not very useful to native Swedish speakers.

All Swedes under the age of about 70 speak better English than I do. Although, depending on their teacher, a few have that funny accent from that little island.

Going the other way is useful, if only to show you're making an effort; and the Swedes do seem to appreciate that.

Now I'm looking around the room for my Svenska-Engelska Ordboken.

Smaklig måltid! Eller...trevlig helg! Eller...hej hej.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by derangedhermit

All Swedes under the age of about 70 speak better English than I do.

I'm well aware of this, I just mentioned it on the off chance that a bored Swede actually downloads it.

[Yapyap]

Dictionaries are a definite plus for Amazon's country-specific storefronts. (And I think that whenever they've added a country, the relevant dictionaries have become available to all Kindle owners, at least those registered on Amazon.com.)

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

@yapyap
I bought my Kindle 4 from the U.K.site a year or so ago, I don't recall any problems.

Hmm, odd. I've seen a number of people say the same thing that my experience shows - that unless you have a UK delivery address, you cannot buy a Kindle on the UK site.

At least not from Amazon (maybe from a third party seller?).

I even tested again today just to see if things have changed - as soon as I picked my home address after putting the Kindle in my basket, I got the notification that it cannot be delivered to that address.

Perhaps they are now allowing Kindle purchases (and I mean devices, not books) from certain EU countries and not others. Wouldn't surprise me.

[derangedhermit]

It's that time of year for foreign guests at Swedish smorgasbords to exercise a certain amount of circumspection.

If the little green-brown-silver fishes come out of a swollen can, or a jar with the lid popped up, and the smell makes you check the soles of your shoes, and the Swedes say it is sour herring, please note that in this case "sour" means "rotten".

And if they offer you whitefish that they dig up from its burial place in their backyard, be forewarned it has been soaking in the same substance we once used to mix with whole dead horses to turn them into soap. The fish bones will be jelly. It doesn't have much of a smell, except of antiseptic, like something's been scrubbed in bleach.

You can start chugging the glug (warm red spiced wine with raisins and almonds), and work your way deep into the aquavit, and get through the stuff above - but any or all of the other dozen kinds of herring, and some nice meatballs, serve just as well. No, they don't, they serve better.

You know why Swedish potatoes approximate Titleist Pro V1 size? It's because they throw out the little ones - look at the growing season. A dozen boiled up with salt and soused in that outstanding Swedish butter (e.g. Bregott's, not the Urban Dictionary kind) are fine eating, though, if you can keep them from rolling off the jul plate.

Swedish pron? It's all made in LA. Swedish censors are busy editing Mickey Mouse to remove the most graphic violence. But there will be millions of Swedes gathered around the TV to watch that most traditional of Swedish Christmas characters: Donald Duck (Kalle Anka). And Bamse (and company) is a fine animated adventure for kids of all ages.

Of all things Svenska: you could have sent us your fantastic modular manufactured houses, of lasting build quality and durable materials - we need such building systems here. You could have sent us your innate ability to cheat on your taxes while feeling good about it, or those old-school sailing vessels you pot around the rocks in the archepelago in the summer with. You could have sent your cheese and coffee and green-frosted cakes, your pepparkaka and milk chocolate.

You could have kept making Volvo 240s; Americans would still be buying them today. Do you know, my dear Swedes, that during 1985-1995 between 250,000-500,000 US citizens died on our roads? And of the millions of people riding around (slowly) in Volvo 240s during that decade, do you know how many of those that died were in Volvo 240's? Zero. None. Nobody. Nada, zilch, ingenting. That's the single most amazing traffic statistic I have ever come across.

But you sent us Ikea. Yeah, OK, alright. You can manage with a few Amazon Kindle stores, I reckon.

[derangedhermit]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

I'm well aware of this, I just mentioned it on the off chance that a bored Swede actually downloads it.

I've heard it said that the highest number of books read per capita in the world is in northern Sweden in the wintertime. "Bored Swede" brought it to mind, although I suppose it is "Swede who would rather be inside until May".

[patrik]

Ever since amazon.co.uk has been selling Kindles they have not shipped to swedish addresses.

Important Message

Kindle, 6" E Ink Display, Wi-Fi, Black cannot be shipped to the selected address. To shop for a Kindle device available to ship to you, please visit the product page on Amazon.com (intl.)

You can order from amazon.com. It's "easy" but you will pay tax and custom and the shipping cost is not cheap.

To order from a swedish site/company is much "easier". Especially in case of dealing with sending it back, service, etc.


Me, I flew to London and bought my latest ereader (not available in Sweden) in a shop while enjoying a weekend.