Amazon’s Kindle will be available to South Africans from the middle of this month.
While cracked versions of the famed e-book reader have been used in the country, the official version was previously only usable in the US. However, this morning, the company announced it has released an international version that will be available to 100 countries around the world, including SA.
According to Amazon, the Kindle can be pre-ordered from the Amazon.com Web site for just over R2 000 ($279 at today’s exchange rate, and without shipping and import duties) and shipping will begin on 19 October.
“We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books. Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds,” says Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.
Kindle uses the same 3G wireless technology as cellphones, and the company Web site shows that SA is almost entirely covered for book downloads. While most sites will make use of GPRS or Edge, most of the major cities will use 3G speeds for download.
South Africans will have access to New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases from $11.99 (R86.65), and other books will be available from $5.99 (R43.29).
Some of the experimental features will not be available to South African readers, including the basic Web browser and the blogs service.
About time they brought it here. I’d really like one, however, I don’t like its DRM and some of Amazon’s actions and policies (like remote deletion of your books, without consent, if they deem it necessary). Also, I’m weighing up waiting for a colour device, though that appears to be years away.
I had one for a couple of months and it’s a cool gadget, but you’d have to be a big reader to put out the money for it.