Had an interesting conversation recently on a listserv I belong to. (Yes, Ari, my primary social networking platform is listservs — still where a lot of us “engage a small community around ideas…that mattter.”) There was a lot of discussion about the Kindle, e-books, the iPhone and its apps — and I couldn’t resist pointing out that all these earth-shaking gadget introductions actually shake only part of the earth. It might be interesting to remember this when we rant about how they are changing “the world.”
Neither the Kindle or the iPhone are available in Israel. Yet. And I’m talking about one of the most technologically advanced countries on the planet. What’s the problem? Proprietary systems. The iPhone, after all, is married to AT&T and the Kindle is chained to Sprint, plus of course Amazon. The gadget comes with a company and a service; it’s a mere piece of plastic without that company’s service. (Well, not entirely, in the case of the iPhone, but you see what I mean.) Thus, these revolutionary goodies are geographically limited.
Until proprietary deals are made with foreign service providers, that is (as in the UK and Asia). So it will happen. It just hasn’t happened yet.
I saw my first Kindle this week. A colleague brought one back from the States, pre-loaded with a huge number of books (since we can’t download to the Kindle here). I spotted it from across the room, ran over and begged for a chance to play with it. From all that I’d read (it’s ugly, awkward, limited file formats, etc.), I was sceptical.
Well, all I can say is: epiphany. It’s almost awesome. (Black and white screen? In 2008?) A few issues (discussed below), but definitely cool.
The next day, I sat near someone at a party, watching enviously as he flicked through family photos on his iPhone with his finger. Then, on last night’s news there was a report on the imminent opening of an Apple store in Tel Aviv, the mystery of whether or not the iPhone would be sold here, and a hacker (seen from the back) explaining why even the iPhones Israelis are bringing back from the States won’t work here. As phones, he emphasized — other functions do work. On the other hand, Israelis refuse to be outsmarted by anyone, so hacking the iPhone is a headline-maker.
We’re locked out of quite a few goodies that aren’t available in foreign countries, due to licensing issues, copyright, proprietary hardware issues, lack of an American credit card, whatever. Of course, I remember the early days when I couldn’t access the NY Times online due to international copyright issues — which were later solved. Thus I rather assume iPhone and Kindle issues will be solved, as well. But the Pandora problem still hasn’t been:
Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.
We believe that you are in Israel (your IP address appears to be xx.xxx.x.xxx). If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize…
Seems the Music Genome contains the same geographically restrictive gene as the iPhone and the Kindle.
At any rate, my gripe about being deprived due to the evils of proprietary systems applies even to certain areas in the States, I understand. Without access to Sprint, one can’t download Kindle e-books — so people in northern Idaho, or wherever, must feel as third world as I. It’s a kind of yuppie “digital divide.”
(By the way, for any of you thinking about traveling with your iPhone, read the fine print. It seems that Apple and AT&T have devised a way to make money even when a device is turned off.)
Both the Kindle and Pandora suffer from the DRM issue, but the Kindle bumps directly into a little thing called the first-sale doctrine: your right to pass on a legal copy of a work. As one commentator said: “I hope Amazon will eventually allow you to forward a book you really enjoy to a friend. One of the greatest joys of physical books is being able to give it to a friend after you’ve read it.” Which kind of makes you think about what you’re spending $400 for. A proprietary system that infringes your first sale doctrine rights?
Which kind of puts a different spin on the question of gadget deprivation.
July 20th, 2008 12:27
Although you do need a US credit card for the initial purchase of the Kindle and on file for any other purchases, that doesn’t mean you can’t buy and download books while in another country. True, it isn’t wireless, but you can buy (using that US credit card, which you pay online, or thru gift certificates bought on another card and added to the account – GC’s are used first), then download the books to your computer and load them on your Kindle via USB or an SD card.
This is also how you load books you download free or purchase (non-DRM versions only, at least for now) from other sources. Some may also be US limited by IP (due to copyright laws that vary in other countries), but others are not. Hundreds of thousands of books are available that are out of copyright or have been released on a Creative Commons license. All of which can be read on the Kindle. Even many formats it does not support can either be converted (for free) by Amazon or using software like MobiCreator. You could read for years on the Kindle, in fact, and never spend another penny on books (or at Amazon). They are, of course, betting that won’t happen and apparently it doesn’t – they claim that Kindle owners buy just as many paper books as before, but their total book purchases are 2.6 times what they were before. I suspect many shift their non-Amazon purchases to the Kindle (those impulse buys when browsing a bookstore or waiting in the airport, for example).
July 21st, 2008 09:18
My colleague told me about the gift certificate idea. She has a son in the US who can do that for her — not everyone does. She also mentioned the IP address problem (which I demonstrated with the Pandora message). I run into this when downloading software: I want the English version, and get the Hebrew version pushed at me. Even Google insists on reverting to the Hebrew interface all the time, which is really annoying. In short, they know where you’re sitting.
I recently read a long blog post about converting e-book formats for the Kindle, using MobiCreator and other methods. There was a vast number of comments, very vociferous about the range of problems encountered. I don’t even remember them all: I simply gave up.
Anyway, I expect all of these bumps will be ironed out at some point. Not long ago, I couldn’t order used books on Amazon. Now I can (but I can’t always get international shipping).
July 21st, 2008 02:41
Good points about DRM and the Kindle’s more pernicious demand that you never pass it on. This is another facet of the same silliness that causes some people to still design websites as though they will be used only by people familiar with one language.
If amazon or apple is paying attention (see Josh Porter’s pricey new book, “designing for the social web” and several other recent articles about looking at p2p networks to determine good markets) they are noticing that there are a lot of potential users in Israel (and in many currently unserved companies) and they are making plans based on frequency of piracy. In fact, I would guess that looking where the hackers are trying to make your products useful is more telling than looking who is purchasing items and simply bringing them to other countries–the former are either passionately in favor of using your device (or proof that your device is popular enough to be worth hacking).
But really, the idea of DRM and geographic restrictions in this day and age seems counter-intuitive and counter-productive. We have to keep calling the idiots on that issue. Thank you.
(And yes, like you I belong to several listservs–it isn’t that they are obsolete as examples of community, it is that people are voting with their participation–mail is no longer the collaborative interface it could be for many; nor is it the preferred interface for a host of community activities. Having new tools doesn’t obviate the old ones, but they do open new doors.)
July 22nd, 2008 06:05
The hacking-as-marketing-survey idea is spot on. Gadget envy makes people take things into their own hands — what better sign of desire is there?
Ari, it may be, as you say, “e-mail is no longer the collaborative interface it could be for many:” my kids almost never use it, which to me is unfathomable. But for how many? I live, breathe, interact with the world, and do most of my work by e-mail, as do most adults I know (I think). I yawn at the mention of Facebook, agreed to sign on to LinkedIn and have never looked at it again. I know many, many people here who’ve never heard of Facebook, or if they have, aren’t interested. There definitely may be an interesting generational /geographical thing going on here.
(Israelis tend to collaborate over food and drink, not over wikis?) Which might be fun to investigate.
I have a suspicion that, like the not-so-entirely-earth-shaking impact of the iPhone and the Kindle, we might discover that statements like “people are voting with their participation” (no criticism intended – just a convenient example) might be geographically biased.
For whatever that discovery’s worth.
July 28th, 2008 12:07
Seems the Music Genome contains the same geographically restrictive gene as the iPhone and the Kindle.
I am in the US but read online news at the BBC web site. Often I will come across a video segment that gives me a similar error message – “you can’t watch this video in your region.” It’s always surprising, because much of their video content CAN be played (although I rarely watch any of it either way). I have yet to pinpoint exactly what can and cannot – seems like it’s mostly sports clips, but not just sports cips.
December 9th, 2008 04:04
OK, I’m huge Kindle fan and I sympathize with users in other countries who can’t take advantage of these gadgets now. But Amazon will get there. As for the DRM I have to agree with you. Sharing a good book is better than discovering it for the first time.