Amazon Kindle - Transcript of UK First Look
The Amazon Kindle is finally available in the UK. In one of our audio updates, we looked at this eBook reader from king of the books, Amazon.
On this page, you'll find a link to the show and a full transcript from our October 2009 show.
Update: UK version released August 2010 - Full details and audio guide!!
Transcript of FrequencyCast's 2009 Update - Kindle Hits UK:
Listen to FrequencyCast's Mid October 2009 Update - Amazon Kindle
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Pete:
So this is the Kindle, you know the Sony Reader - the electronic book thing with the e-ink that we looked at several shows ago?
Carl:
Oh yeah, like an Etch-A-Sketch, only with books on it?
Pete:
Absolutely, in the US they've had this thing called the Kindle, which is made by Amazon, so obviously Amazon are king of the books, so they've brought out an electronic book reader, which is a little bit different to the Sony, but there was this whole, it's not coming to the UK issue, which finally has been resolved.
Carl:
What did they do? - put it on a boat?
Pete:
It's out on the 19th of October, and it is the US version adapted for the UK and worldwide market, but you can't actually order it from Amazon.co.uk, you have to order it from the UK on the Amazon.com site, and they'll ship it from America to the UK, which is a bit odd, and it does unfortunately bump the price up, because you've then got to pay import duties and customs and delivery and stuff, but it's coming in at £215, which makes it about £30 or £40 more expensive than the Sony Reader, but it does have one nice little feature, which is it's actually got a mobile phone chip in it.
Carl:
I'm not entirely sure that's handy, when you're reading books. Can I just ask the question - it's not the American one, it's the European standard, does that mean they've spelt colour and centre correctly?
Pete:
Well, books is books, the machine itself doesn't care what language the books are written in, but yeah, it's going to be an American unit.
Carl:
Right, what about this mobile phone thing?
Pete:
So yeah, you may think, why the heck do I want a mobile chip in my device? The main reason is, it means that if you're out and about, and you want a book, you can just download it there and then, you don't have to go home and dock and convert and download and all that stuff, you can just browse, I'd like that book now, click there, get it and download it, and the good news is, you don't actually have to pay a monthly subscription like a mobile phone, so it's just kind of a one-off, when you've got this thing for £215, that's all you're going to pay, no subscription, no data charges.
Carl:
Nice! Nice.
Pete:
Which is actually a bit odd, because it's connecting to America from the UK, so there's some fairly huge roaming costs from the UK to the US that obviously Amazon have done a deal on to swallow. The only thing that is missing that you can get on the US version, the US one has a web browser, but the UK one won't be enabling the web browser, because obviously the traffic would have to go to America to the UK, so it has a web browser, but it's not going to be enabled for the UK market.
Carl:
Never mind, you'll have to use your phone.
Pete:
And one of the downsides for us European chappies is that the books are going to be more expensive than they are in the US.
Carl:
How much more are we talking?
Pete:
Potentially up to 40% more expensive, and it's all to do with the VAT, because apparently the VAT in the UK on electronic books, as opposed to paper books, is different.
Carl:
Right.
Pete:
The other thing that these e-books are going to do is let you download daily newspapers, again another handy feature of having this phone chip, so the Times and the Telegraph I think are the first couple that are going to be available in the UK over the network.
Carl:
So it's not going to download American papers, like what's going on on Wall Street, we won't be able to find out what's going on in our country, will we?
Pete:
I'm sure for a fee, you could.
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Listen to FrequencyCast's Mid October Update - Amazon Kindle
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More Update Transcripts:
More information:
- wi-fi explored - Our feature on wi-fi and wireless connectivity
- Amazon Kindle Explored - A look at the second-generation Kindle released in the UK
- Amazon Kindle Unofficial Guide - Our audio review of the 2010 Kindle
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