Rocket Talk: Can Sunday Subway Service Start Sooner?
Newsstand: November 19, 2009
Gender Studies Coming to a High School Near You
Please Insert Station and Try Again
The Art of Not Knowing
Now ranked as Amazon's best-selling product, the Kindle has been a remarkable success in the American marketplace, possibly signalling that e-book readers have reached a tipping point. The devices can download books wirelessly without being tethered to a computer, and text is displayed on a reflective electronic paper screen, which isn't backlit and uses very little power. The Kindle has been available south of the border for two years, and in a press release late yesterday, Amazon announced the rollout of their iconic e-book reader in more than a hundred countries. While consumers in places like Botswana, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia are now able to order the thin white tablet, however, Canadians are—again—left twisting in the breeze.
Canada is notorious for being tardy to the technological party, for a variety of reasons ranging from convoluted broadcast contracts to patent issues to domestic business practices. Probably the most notorious example of this involves Apple's lustfully coveted products: we were a year late for the iPhone and the iTunes Music Store, Skype was available on the iPhone in every country except ours (until last month), and we still can't buy high-definition movies on iTunes. As for television, it's taken decades of negotiation to finally get HBO and Nickelodeon channels in Canada, although the "Canadianized" versions are merely brand licences and don't always include identical content to their American counterparts.
So: back to e-books. The Kindle boasts 60% of the American e-book market, with Sony bringing up most of the slack. The attractive Sony Reader is actually available in Canada right now (and finally became Mac-compatible last month), but they are unable to download e-books wirelessly. DRM-wrapped e-books downloaded from Sony's service can also only be viewed on a Sony device, and vice-versa with Amazon.
Unlike Amazon, Sony didn't graft on a clunky keyboard, but the screens are virtually identical. Photo by bfishadow.
For now, Amazon is remaining mum on why Canada has been shut out of the international launch. A message on Amazon's Kindle page states, "We are currently unable to ship Kindles or offer Kindle content in Canada. We are working to make Kindle available to our Canadian customers as soon as possible."
Denied.
The delay could be due to publishing contracts, although that seems unlikely since e-books are already available domestically. Because the Kindle uses GSM networks to download its product internationally, Amazon could also still be in negotiations with Rogers. It's not necessarily a matter of retail inventory either, since Kindles aren't destined for the Best Buys of the world (international customers have to order directly from Amazon and have the e-readers shipped from the United States).
The lack of the device in the Canadian marketplace seems unusual since Sony, Indigo, and book publishers like Penguin and Random House have moved to fill the gap with their respective electronic offerings, despite a clear demand for the Kindle. Clearly, it's a matter of "when" rather than "if," but in the meantime, Amazon.ca at least helpfully sells some Kindle product: screen protectors and charging cables.
This article originally insinuated that the Sony Reader could only display content purchased from Sony's e-book store. It has been clarified to explain that this only pertains to DRM-wrapped content. Both e-book readers can display a variety of text and image formats, but not each other's protected product.
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Given the recent Bell/Telus iPhone announcements, It may be that Amazon is talking to one of them instead of Rogers, and now has to wait for their networks to actually launch.
Lee's suggestion that Amazon is talking toBell or Telus is a good one.
The other possible fly in the ointment is Canada's rules against foreign ownership of booksellers. Due to the law, Amazon.ca can't have any physical presence in Canada whatsoever (not even token office staff), and is operated entirely from the U.S. (Canada Post's fulfillment centre in Mississauga fills the orders). In itself, this wouldn't prevent Amazon from selling kindles and ebooks from U.S. soil to customers in Canada. However, there may be rights issues at play (often different companies/subsidiaries have distribution rights in Canada and the U.S. respectively, thus complicating the sale of some titles in Canada from the U.S.). Just speculating. However, if they can figure out how to market this product in the Central African Republic, you'd think they could figure it out here.
These examples are all fine and good, but the real outrage remains that we can't get Pandora in Canada.
Completely agree. Pandora and Spotify are way more important to me, heh.
No interest in it at all. I'm concerned that Kindle won't execute an ironic 1984 again. Plus it's wrapped in DRM sludge.
(Waits patiently for a Mac Tablet/iTunes solution)
err... won't = will
Mac probably isn't a good solution for avoiding DRM. You should look for a linux based solution.
"Like Amazon, Sony's Reader can only download e-books from Sony's own proprietary store." - Not true. The Sony Reader handles several different eBook formats and you can purchase books from Fictionwise and other e-book vendors and also read pdfs on the Sony Reader. I have hundreds of books on my Sony Reader, only a few of which I got through Sony.
wetcoast has it right: the Sony product is (marginally) better.
I think Canada is being punished for its continued "failure" to adopt draconian, American-style copyright "reform".
I came hear to say what wetcoast said, but also this:
You can read library books from the Toronto Public Library on the Sony eReaders at http://overdrive.torontopubliclibrary.ca/. You can't do that on any Kindle.
As a Torontonian with a Kindle DX that I bought the day they became available, let me share some wisdom.
I used amazon.com (as opposed to .ca) and logged in with my .ca credentials, and shipped my Kindle to a friend in Portland, OR. (If I'd been really smart, I would have created a new throw-away account that "lives" in Portland as Oregon residents enjoy a 0% sales tax.)
Aside from being a lot larger (and useful if you don't like squinting) the DX has a very specific capability that should be of great interest no matter where you live: you can hook it up with USB and transfer PDFs (as well as MP3s, if you enjoy background music) and the experience is just about the same as for native Kindle content. I have my Kindle loaded up with a few dozen PDF e-books and client proposals.
As for comparing the device to other readers, libraries, the web, whatever... it really is a new class of device that doesn't really deserve the slagging it gets from certain camps. The fact that it has unlimited wireless web browsing (within the states) and can automatically sync up with subscriptions is not something that should be overlooked. Just my opinion, I suppose... but I am the only one of the commenters that actually has one, and that should count for something.
Oh, one last thing: those pre-paid Mastercards you can buy from Shoppers Drug Mart are technically generic American cards which you can use to set up an American account with a secondary email at [a friend in Oregon's address so you don't have to pay sales tax].
After all, you visit the states a lot, don't you? You can just go and 'sync up'.
On Wednesday I asked Ian Freed, Amazon's Kindle VP, when the Kindle will be coming to Canada. He did not have a specific prediction by date, but it was clear to me they are working very hard to do this as soon as possible. My guess: before Christmas.
I'll have the full interview here, to be uploaded later today in Episode 64 of my weekly Kindle Chronicles audio podcast.
You guys arent missing out on much. The DRM on the kindle is awful. There are other devices that do the same thing and allow you more control over what you can upload to them.
http://www.geardiary.com/2009/06/19/kindles-drm-rears-its-ugly-head-and-it-is-ugly/