The Kindle starts shipping internationally today. That’s exciting for some folks, as we were waiting until the Kindle debuted to buy our first e-book reader. But the launch hides many disappointments, as well as some significant advantages. Here’s a rundown of what you need to know about Kindle International.
GSM
This is the big change inside that will let the Kindle work outside the United States. It is powered by AT&T (the other Kindles use Sprint’s CDMA network which is pretty much U.S.-only). U.S. owners going abroad will be able to download new books or magazine subscriptions while away (very handy for travel guides), and international Kindle owners will of course be able to use the Whispernet service to buy books.
But as we’ve mentioned before, despite having an always-on internet connection, most countries outside the United States will get the neither the “experimental” web browser nor access to blogs (this means Amazon’s for-pay blog delivery). Some countries, including Mexico and Japan, will get the web, but still no blogs. And sure, the Kindle’s browser is pretty poor, but hey, what about Wikipedia? The Kindle was supposed to be the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, right?
And roaming U.S. owners don’t get away with this, either. You’ll have to pay an extra $2 for international delivery.
U.S.-Centric Design
The hardware is embarrassingly U.S.-centric. In fact, this is putting it lightly. The “International” Kindle will sport a U.S. power adapter (reports say even that is a lucky break, and Australians have to make do with a USB charger only) and also, according to several of our readers, a U.S.-layout keyboard. As Gadget Lab commenter SimonBP asks, “Is this really an international product or just a legit gray export?”
And don’t even get us started on the pricing, which is in U.S. dollars but still varies from place to place.
Taxes
In the United States, Amazon is fighting for the right not to charge sales tax on its physical orders, the excuse being that it delivers (usually) from out-of-state and that the buyer is responsible for declaring taxable purchases (yeah, right).
Internationally, on delivery of bits and bytes, tax is being levied. The amount of import tax varies from country to country, and Amazon, presumably because it has to, charges you upfront. By contrast, many physical goods which a friend of mine imports from the United States by post never get taxed.
No iPhone App (Yet)
Hopefully subject to change soon, the Kindle for iPhone application is not yet available outside the U.S. store. It’s highly probable that it has been held up by Apple’s approval process, but then perhaps Amazon should have submitted it earlier.
This is one of the Kindle’s most compelling features. You can read the book on the e-ink screen but when you are, say, waiting on line in a store or want to read in bed with the lights out, you can fire up the iPhone app and carry on from where you left off. Hurry up, Amazon.
English
Right now, the Kindle Store sells only English-language books. This is bad enough in the United States where Spanish is the first language of many, but internationally this is a huge problem. We guess that as the Kindle uptake grows, more publishers will add books in other languages, but right now the international market is limited to English-speakers.
On the other hand, for people like me living abroad, this is a great feature. I can now buy a wider range of English books than I can from local Spanish bookshops, cheaper and instantly. Previously the best option was Amazon, but the delivery charges killed the value, and I had to wait for days or weeks to get the order.
DRM
This is common to all Kindles, and to almost all e-books you can buy, but it’s worth a mention. If you think a Kindle can replace your paper books, you are dead wrong. DRM means you can’t trade in the books at a second-hand book store, or sell them at all. Nor can you lend them, which is what I do with most of my dead-tree books.
And worst of all, Amazon can pull the books of your device at any time, thanks to the always-connected nature of the Kindle (as demonstrated with almost unbelievable irony in the case of Orwell’s 1984 getting recalled).
Still, I have one on order, and it should arrive Wednesday. I also have the desktop version of the excellent iPhone e-reader Stanza, which will convert any text or PDF and add it to the Kindle, free, using USB, thus avoiding the $1-per-megabyte transfer fee.
Did I mention that fee already? Amazon charges $100 per gigabyte to transfer your own documents via its wireless network. Clearly the e-book market will need to go through the same pain as the movie and music industries before we customers finally get what we want. REad the original posting here http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/international-kindle-now-shipping-the-good-the-bad-and-the-downright-ugly
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