Why you can’t get the Kindle in Canada | Hacker News Reader

Why you can’t get the Kindle in Canada

theglobeandmail.com

11 pointsjacquesm5 comments

The title is deceiving because the author of the article can only speculate on why, and his quote is from an analyst.

Anyway: This could all be just timing.

The international Kindle seems to be based on 3G/GSM of some sort. Up until this week, the only GSM provider in Canada has been Rogers. Just this week we've received news that both Telus and Bell will be offering the iPhone in Canada, on their shiny new GSM-compatible joint-built network.

Is it possible Amazon reached a deal with a 3G provider in Canada -- just not Rogers?

For what it's worth, Bell, Telus and SaskTel (possibly more) have publicized their GSM networks for a while, Bell and Telus just have theirs completed early, in certain markets.

What I find most annoying is that I couldn't care less about wireless functionality. There's rarely a time when I'm out of USB-cable range of a computer. Do I really need to be able to download fresh books while on the toilet?

Seriously... Does anyone care about the wireless features? Certainly they could release it in Canada and let you download books and just figure out the wireless stuff later, no?

Instead they are going to lose my (current and future book-buying) business to Sony.

The wireless is actually pretty cool. On long drives, my girlfriend will finish a book, and then just buy the next in the series, on the road. It's quite a bit nicer than having to plan ahead. The DX also ships a really crappy web browser, which can be pretty useful. I've put my recipes on my colo, so when cooking we use the kindle as a recipe book. Once again, not a killer app, but it's nice.

Totally agree, of course, that it's cool. I'm just saying that as a Canadian I would gladly take this scenario:

    - going on a road trip
    - almost done book 1
    - probably should buy book 2 before we leave

... to this one:

    - not available in Canada

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