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Kindle Goes International
. . . pretty much.
Amazon announced today that Kindle now comes in an international version that will be released on October 19. For US$279 you get the e-book reader and the ability to download books with “international wireless.”
Except that it is still unavailable in Canada.
Cape Verde (the next country on the dropdown list), yes.
But Canada, no. All of which makes my refusal to buy one on aesthetic grounds kind of meaningless. Sigh.
Clearly this is the result of an inability to strike the necessary deals with copyright groups in this country. It would be good to get a sense of what exactly the sticking points are and how it is that other somewhat similar jurisdictions are able to do the deal.
The issues appear to relate more to wireless access than to copyright (though the latter may be lurking in the background) – see here for some details (if the link doesn’t make it through, search “Kindle” at the Maclean’s website): http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/06/09/you-can%E2%80%99t-buy-that-here/
Thanks, Bob. You’re right, of course. I should have thought of that. Michael Geist was also kind enough to point me to the wireless access issue. Way to go Bell and Rogers!