Amazon UK downplays Kindle Christmas

If you ask for an e-book this Christmas, don’t be disappointed if you get a paperback instead. Because it seems that Amazon is unlikely to launch its Kindle over here this year. The online retail giant’s UK managing director, Brian McBride, recently told trade publication The Bookseller that the e-book reader is more likely to …

[Ben]

full euro coverage?

“If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday in Spain, unless we have signed deals in Spain it's not going to work on that beach,”

So the Euro Kindle isn't going to have storage??? what a crap reason to delay. When I'm away i don't expect it to magically work everywhere.

[Jerome]

Disappointed

"If you ask for an e-book this Christmas, don’t be disappointed if you get a paperback instead."

I'd be extremely disappointed if I did get an e-book, they're one of the more pointless inventions of recent years. Why would I want to carry around yet another bulky piece of electronic gadgetry, when I could just use the smartphone that's in my pocket anyway? Sure, the display ain't quite so purdy, but I can live with that if it saves me carrying a man-bag around with me everywhere I go.

[D@v3]

wireless only?

from the wording of this article, am I to believe that you can only use this e-reader where you have wireless coverage, sounds a bit crap to me, seeing as for some time at least, you will be reading the same book, so unless it streams page by page, whats the point.

Surely, on board storage allows you to have (at least) a couple of books with you, so that when you finish one, you dont have to connect to a network to download the next.

My Sony e-book has the 100 preloaded books stored on board, and has a 4gb SHHC with mp3's so i can listen while i read, no wires (except headphones) required.

Bad product, or my misunderstandment of the article..........

[Martin]

Won't work in Spain??

“If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday in Spain, unless we have signed deals in Spain it's not going to work on that beach,”

He can't mean that literally, surely? If you load the Kindle with (say) thirty books in Londond, surely it will work perfectly well in Spain. (Won't it?)

Perhaps you can't load new content over the air in Spain - but that doesn't mean it won't work as an eBook reader.

Why isn't there a "?" icon?

[Janko Hrasko]

good idea

What a good idea, they just weren't ready. My guess is they will be buying into those plastic screens...

[Mike]

Useless on the beach?

“If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday in Spain,

unless we have signed deals in Spain it's not going to work on that beach,” McBride said.

----

What, so it has no local storage then?

[Joe K]

Fuck it

Who needs wi-fi to read a damn book anyway.

Stick with the Sony, if you can find one, Waterstones have been fresh out since launch.

[Anonymous Coward]

Curious

You mention the Sony alternative, so why say :

"If you ask for an e-book this Christmas, don’t be disappointed if you get a paperback instead. Because it seems that Amazon is unlikely to launch its Kindle over here this year."

Why not get the Sony for Christmas ? Or do you think Amazon have an exclusive contract with the UK public for Christmas presents?

I personally don't want to "surf" for content all the time, I'd be content to download before I go.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dumb quote

Kindle will work just fine on the beach, it has 180Mb of online storage and has an SD card. You just won't be able to get the downloads over EVDO.

[Scott Mckenzie]

The Sony...

...is readily available from Sony Centres and online.