iPad, AppStore, Amazon and the Internet (Rant)

[latyshev]

Hello from Russia. I just got this email from Amazon and i would like to share my feelings. The email:

Dear Valery Latyshev,
I see that you attempted to purchase "Wired for War" while in a different country than United States listed on your Amazon account. Certain Kindle titles are not available everywhere. We are reaching out to you to ensure the best possible service for your account.
lalalalalalala.........
Best regards,
Account Specialist

A day before that, i downloaded Kindle to my iPad and to my honest surprise found out that the book selection was very very poor. While trying hard to find some books i wanted to read, i noticed that in "also bought by customers" there were the books i was looking for. Ah... Now it all came together. Im in EUROPE, screw you, you only get access to a couple of books there Whats the bloody logic/evil bureaucracy machine behind that? Without thinking for too long, i went to "my addresses", googled up "apple headquarters address" and pasted it there. Then i bought all the books i wanted. And on the next day i get that email and i can no longer buy using US region.... Thanks for best effing possible service.

Then there is this AppStore thingy. Which is regional as well. So that means im locked into RUSSIAN version ONLY. And that means all the top ratings are Russian and all the comments are Russian... AND not all applications are available How about that iPage, iWork or whatever its called? Well, i want that and i want to read peoples opinions from all over the world and i want to see which apps people use all over the world and i dont want to be locked into 0.01% user group half of which doesnt even speak English properly!!! Well, screw you, sir!

And then there is this internet regionalisation. Where stuff like that i encounter more and more. And i have to employ elaborate tricks to fool the system, like using US-based proxy servers. Recent thoughts from TED (Internet has 'not become the great leveller’, Zuckerman) about narrowing our world perspective, instead of broadening it, i think are more appropriate then ever.

Whats up? Internet. Its supposed to be open and global. But its becoming less of each. I feel like a mouse in a room with closing walls.

 

[skubish]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

You're rant is misdirected. Apple, amazon, the Internet does not make the laws that restricted how books are licensed in different countries. They have to make licensing agreements in each country the books are sold often with a different publisher.

Regarding apps, each developer decides where to sell their apps. Complain to them.

 

[wyneken]

Hi Latyshev,

As someone who has worked as a writer (in the USA) for 30 years, I would say that the problem is not the Internet or Amazon or the iBookstore, but the ownership of publishing rights.

When a book is "sold" by an author to a publisher, what is really being sold is the right to publish and sell that book in certain places and in certain ways. These limitations are carefully spelled out in every publishing contract. The author retains all other rights. This is obviously important from the writer's point of view, but also from the publisher's, because it's cheaper to buy the right to publish a book in (for example) only North America, or only in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, than to pay the author for the right to publish all over the world.

Also, a publishing contract limits the WAY a book may be sold -- for example, only in hardback, or only in a digital format.

There are separate arrangements between publishers and resellers like Amazon and the iBookstore. My own publisher, for example, does not yet allow ANY of its books to be sold by Apple, even in the US.

All this gets very complicated. And remember, the whole concept of eBooks is fairly new. So really, we're all still trying to figure this out.

My own hope is that the globalization of the book market will make it easier for writers (like me) to sell books outside their own home nations. But that hasn't really happened yet, or at least not in a big way.

Hello from Russia. I just got this email from Amazon and i would like to share my feelings. The email:

Dear Valery Latyshev,
I see that you attempted to purchase "Wired for War" while in a different country than United States listed on your Amazon account. Certain Kindle titles are not available everywhere. We are reaching out to you to ensure the best possible service for your account.
lalalalalalala.........
Best regards,
Account Specialist

A day before that, i downloaded Kindle to my iPad and to my honest surprise found out that the book selection was very very poor. While trying hard to find some books i wanted to read, i noticed that in "also bought by customers" there were the books i was looking for. Ah... Now it all came together. Im in EUROPE, screw you, you only get access to a couple of books there Whats the bloody logic/evil bureaucracy machine behind that? Without thinking for too long, i went to "my addresses", googled up "apple headquarters address" and pasted it there. Then i bought all the books i wanted. And on the next day i get that email and i can no longer buy using US region.... Thanks for best effing possible service.

Then there is this AppStore thingy. Which is regional as well. So that means im locked into RUSSIAN version ONLY. And that means all the top ratings are Russian and all the comments are Russian... AND not all applications are available How about that iPage, iWork or whatever its called? Well, i want that and i want to read peoples opinions from all over the world and i want to see which apps people use all over the world and i dont want to be locked into 0.01% user group half of which doesnt even speak English properly!!! Well, screw you, sir!

And then there is this internet regionalisation. Where stuff like that i encounter more and more. And i have to employ elaborate tricks to fool the system, like using US-based proxy servers. Recent thoughts from TED (Internet has 'not become the great leveller’, Zuckerman) about narrowing our world perspective, instead of broadening it, i think are more appropriate then ever.

Whats up? Internet. Its supposed to be open and global. But its becoming less of each. I feel like a mouse in a room with closing walls.

 

[sapporobaby]

If you want to purchase from American stores get a US credit card, issued by a US financial facility. End of rant.

If you can't get one then I am sorry but that is simply the way some things are. I live in Europe at the moment but I am an American with a US bank to back my credit card so I can shop the US iTunes Store, as well as Amazon, B&N, etc... However, I have a European credit card to purchase things I can't in the US such as Navigon for Europe which not offered in the US iTunes Store. Should I rant about this or just recognize things are the way they are?

 

[Shoesy]

rant, then vote.

 

[sapporobaby]

rant, then vote.

What?

 

[latyshev]

The replies are interesting. The rant wasnt directed at someone in particular. In amazon case there is a clear statement "evil bureaucracy machine" btw.

Wyneken, thanks for a detailed reply. It is always good to read on how things work and extend your knowledge.

Im frankly surprised. So, basically "i have to deal with it"? I am experiencing issues: i cannot access content or dont get the full user experience, for the money i pay. With also looming far-reahing implications for the future development of the whole internet.

And if in the case of Kindle and Amazon there are big obstacles, in case of AppStore there are little.

So, maybe answer for iPhone 4 antenna issue is also "its the way it is". Well, it may be the way it is, but we dont like that, and we discuss it.

 

[sapporobaby]

The replies are interesting. The rant wasnt directed at someone in particular. In amazon case there is a clear statement "evil bureaucracy machine" btw.

Wyneken, thanks for a detailed reply. It is always good to read on how things work and extend your knowledge.

Im frankly surprised. So, basically "i have to deal with it"? I am experiencing issues: i cannot access content or dont get the full user experience, for the money i pay. With also looming far-reahing implications for the future development of the whole internet.

And if in the case of Kindle and Amazon there are big obstacles, in case of AppStore there are little.

So, maybe answer for iPhone 4 antenna issue is also "its the way it is". Well, it may be the way it is, but we dont like that, and we discuss it.

Unpleasant answers might not be what we expect but they are the answers none the less. You purchased an iPad knowing from the beginning that support for your country was not supported. That is not Amazons fault, nor Apples, nor anyone elses. The fault lies with you because you purchased the product regardless of the lack of support. You are denying yourself the experienced you paid for because no one promised you (while in your country) that you would get a certain type of experience. No one owes you or promised you a certain experience. You simply assumed it. Your situation is no different than that of the people in Sweden, or Finland, or Norway, or Bulgaria, etc.. where the iPad has not been rolled out for sale. You can't blame someone else for you lack of an expected experience.