GILLIAN SHAW
Sun
The battery-operated Amazon Kindle lets users download books, newspapers and blogs over a wireless connection to read on the portable tablet.
More than a month after Canada was bypassed by Kindle in its release to more than 100 countries, Canadians will be able to buy Amazon’s popular digital electronic book reader.
Amazon.com announced Canadian availability Tuesday, in time for holiday shopping, but Santa will have to have dig deep to pay added duties and exchange that will push up the cost of the $259 US wireless device.
Jay Marine, director of product management for Amazon Kindle, said there is pent-up demand for Amazon’s best selling product.
“ We … have worked really hard to bring Kindle to Canada,” Marine said. “We know we have a lot of passionate customers and Amazon readers in Canada.”
“They tell us they read more often. There is the convenience of having it always with them. You’re 60 seconds away from a great book no matter where you are.”
Import fees and delivery costs mean the $259 US Kindle will cost Canadians at least $311 US or about $330 Cdn depending on the current rate of exchange.
Unlike the music industry, which was slow to catch up to digital downloads and has been fighting ever since to get users to pay, publishers don’t see ebooks as a drain.
“What I can say as an industry observer is that we view this as a beneficial announcement,” said Jamie Broadhurst, vice-president of marketing for Vancouver’s Raincoast Books.
“We welcome more formats and we welcome more opportunities for people to read books in whatever format they find convenient and most enjoyable.”
Broadhurst said ebooks, which represent less than half a per cent of the industry’s total annual $24 billion US sales in the U.S., don’t pose a threat to traditional book sales.
“It is very, very early days for digital books in Canada and the United States. Canadian book sales continue to increase.
“We don’t feel threatened by this. The more opportunities Canadians have to read in whatever format they choose, the better the industry will be.”
While the Kindle already faces competition from such products as Sony’s digital readers, netbooks and other options for accessing ebooks, Apple’s long-rumoured tablet, which is predicted to arrive in the first quarter of 2010, could prove more of a threat. Industry watchers speculate a screen larger than the Kindle six-inch version plus Apple innovation and the fact it wouldn’t be a one-trick pony could win over buyers.
However, Nathan Groezinger, who runs a website on ebook readers, at www. the-ebookreader.com, said with the Apple product likely to come in at a higher price, it’s difficult to predict which will win out.
“ The Kindle is the leading ebook reader on the market right now and as far as Apple is concerned, it is going to be hard to say,” he said. “It looks like the thing will cost a bucketful of money, but it looks like it will be a cool device too.”
Groezinger, who has both a Kindle and Sony ebook reader, said the Amazon product wins out for its wireless capability. While Sony has launched a wireless product in the U.S., it’s not offering that option in Canada.
“The wireless is the most important because you can just download to the device,” said Groezinger, who has about 150 books on his Kindle, which will hold up to 1,500 books.
Once Kindle ebook buyers purchase a title, with bestsellers around the $11 US mark, they can keep it on their Kindle or store it online. Kindle allows them to access it anytime, complete with bookmarks and any notes they have made as they read.
For that ebook investment, consumers get an ebook in a proprietary format so it can be read on iPhones, iPods, on computers and the Kindle, but not on other ebook readers.
The Kindle uses the 3G wireless technology used by cellphones for downloading and users can also download using a Wi-Fi connection, with books taking 60 seconds to download. The device can also be used to read magazines and newspapers; The Vancouver Sun and other Canwest papers will be among the Canadian offerings.