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Amazon Hobbles Features For International Kindle

Posted by timothy on from the someone-call-me-when-the-sinister-starts dept.

Barence writes "Amazon has stripped several key features out of the international edition of the Kindle, PC Pro has discovered. Newspapers and magazines are delivered without any photos, and the web browser has been disabled, presumably because Amazon doesn't want to foot the data bill. There's also a 40% premium on books bought via the Amazon store. 'International customers do pay a higher price for their books than US customers due to higher operating costs outside of the US,' an Amazon spokesperson confessed."

4 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Another troll summary? by radish · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1) The browser is not a "key feature" - it's barely useable and not an advertised/supported feature anyway.
    2) Calling the Amazon explanation a "confession" seems a little biased...sounds quite reasonable to me to charge more if their costs are higher.

    --

    ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

    1. Re:Another troll summary? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      2) Calling the Amazon explanation a "confession" seems a little biased...sounds quite reasonable to me to charge more if their costs are higher.

      No offense, but if you accept that explanation, you're one of the suckers their PR people spew that line for. That's not why they are charging more. Prices are set based upon maximizing profitability, not based on "cost + some acceptable profit margin".

      They've made the determination that they'll make more money selling overseas at a higher price (even if they sell fewer units). Their "higher costs" explanation is just a standard explanation for "we're going to charge more in a certain market because we've determined that's how we'll make the most money".

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  2. A market for middle men? by maillemaker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What is to stop someone from buying "American" book and reselling them to European customers for, say, only a 10% markup?

    Oh, let me guess - no interoperability / not an open format.

    --
    A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
  3. Then this should be true also: by maillemaker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    [b]There's nothing inherently wrong with adjusting your product for the market your selling in.[/b]

    Then there should be nothing inherently wrong with me buying a product in any market available to me to buy from.

    --
    A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.