Brits will surely wait for a properly localised version.
A confession: yesterday morning, I pre-ordered the new international version of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader, even after writing this news story questioning some of its restrictions.
Well, I’ve been waiting impatiently for it to cross the Atlantic for some time now, and my impulse buying instinct kicked in. But after time for reflection, I cancelled the order this morning. I suspect many fellow Brits – even voracious gadget-loving bookworms – will also be hanging onto their cash.
The international Kindle just has too many buts. It ships to more than 100 countries, but you have to buy it from the US. More than 250,000 books will be available, but you have to buy them in dollars from the US Kindle Store. Its 3G connection is bundled into the price, but its blog-reading and web-browsing capabilities are disabled. And so on.
The Kindle with U.S. and International Wireless feels like a missed opportunity, not least because of the danger that early adopters will get stung when it does eventually go on sale properly in the UK.
“In the future, we plan to introduce a UK-centric Kindle experience, enabling you to purchase Kindle and Kindle books in sterling from our Amazon.co.uk site,” says a message on said site. Will the US & International edition be able to switch to use that store when it launches, though? There’s no word on that.
Article continues belowAdvertisement
When the first Kindle launched in the US, it’s fair to say e-book readers were treated with some scepticism. While Amazon hasn’t divulged any figures on sales of the device or its e-books since, it’s fair to say it’s confounded the doubters.
It’s a hugely desirable gadget, at a time when the book publishing industry is finally getting its weight behind the idea of digital distribution. So why neuter it for non-US countries? Amazon would surely have been better to wait until everything was in place to go global – much as Microsoft is doing with its Zune multimedia devices.
If yesterday’s announcement had been a truly local Kindle, Amazon would still have my money waiting to drop into their account.
But by the time the “UK-centric Kindle experience” makes its bow, Apple may have launched its own reportedly e-book friendly tablet. In the meantime, I might check out some of the e-book readers for iPhone – Stanza for example – and save the cost and hassle of adding another device to my already overcrowded shoulderbag.
It’s frustrating for Brits, though. We’re big on books, and we’re big on gadgets. But we’re having to wait for a proper UK Kindle, while Sony too is only bringing its standalone e-readers to the UK, rather than its 3G-enabled Daily Edition.
These devices are sure to find a healthy audience here, and kickstart the nascent UK e-books market. But not if they have too many strings attached. My credit card is staying firmly in my wallet for now.
