Today it was announced that the Kindle will finally be sold to Canada. Not IN Canada, but TO Canada. Hate to just be a complainer, but here's what's not right about this launch. I'm sure some of these will be addressed in time, but until pretty much all of them are, it won't be on my wish list.
- We have to pay duty to have it shipped from the States to Canada. It should be shipped to me from within Canada.
- The Kindle app isn't available in the Canadian iTunes store.
- I pay the same US price as you do in the States, but my Kindle won't have full wireless capability.
- Only four Canadian newspapers currently available.
- I can't buy books for the Kindle from Amazon.ca – I was seriously set to buy (ironically) The Case for Books right now. It is available for the Kindle at Amazon.com
- I don't think that Canadian authors / publishers can publish to the Kindle platform.
How have I been coping w/o the Kindle? Just fine, actually. I've read well over a dozen novels on my iPhone this year. My preferred ereader of choice is Stanza (ironically now owned by Amazon) – can't think of a single thing to do to improve it. I buy most of my books from Fictionwise. There's also the Canadian option of Shortcovers, with both a store and ereader. Shortcovers just hasn't been quite as seamless as Stanza/Fictionwise for me.
For newspapers, yesterday I discovered PressDisplay. It's got my local paper and an iPhone app, though if I do decide to subscribe I'll probably choose to read my morning paper on the laptop. For me, I think newspapers and magazines on an ereader would be killer, and that's one thing I was hoping the Kindle would do for me.
It does indeed frost my shorts that I can't share the books I've purchased with anyone else. I haven't yet, but will probably explore options for cracking the DRM in order to do so.
What am I missing, eh?
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5 Responses to “Thoughts on the Kindle in Canada”
Except that fictionwise is a rip off! They want $29.95 for The Lost Symbol, while the Amazon Kindle store wants $9.99!!!
Yeah, I’ve been picking up backlist titles on Fictionwise. Looks to me like The Lost Symbol is currently $20, and you could pick it up for $12 at Shortcovers…
Still twice the price (and still showing as $29.95 from within the Stanza app…).
Kindle for iPhone now in Canada
Erasing one of the minor quibbles I had with the recent launch of the Kindle in Canada, you can now get the Kindle app for your iPhone at least.
How about borrowing eBooks from your public library in Canada? I’ve heard that Kindle doesn’t recognize the Overdrive platform that the Canadian libraries use for lending digital content. Kindle has a fix…I’m not sure if it is a free download or if you have to pay but it’s just more hassle if you ask me. I love my Sony eReader!