ebook zoink • 27 September 2011 • The SnowBlog
ebook zoink
Just as a little aside and a footnote to the rant below: the thing that got me started complaining about the current state of ebooks was something I didn't even mention. I followed a link to an ebook that was being sold through Scribd. There I was able to preview enough of the book to decide I liked it. I clicked on the prominent (=intrusive) 'Buy this for $3.00' banner and found... that it was not for sale outside the U.S. "Selling documents on Scribd is currently only available to users within the United States." Scribd, you knew I was outside the U.S. when you previewed it to me and then gave me a 'Buy' button to click on; why do that if you don't plan to accept my money? This is made more annoying because I buy all my Kindle books from the U.S. store not the UK* one. So the Britishness of my location is only sometimes a problem. (Just for balance, does anyone have a story of being on holiday and browsing a bookshop but being turned away at the till for being foreign? No, I thought not.)
* And don't ask me why I put full stops in 'U.S.' but not in 'UK' because I don't know. I just know I don't like the look of either if I swap them over.
Rob
Just as a little aside and a footnote to the rant below: the thing that got me started complaining about the current state of ebooks was something I didn't even mention. I followed a link to an ebook that was being sold through Scribd. There I was able to preview enough of the book to decide I liked it. I clicked on the prominent (=intrusive) 'Buy this for $3.00' banner and found... that it was not for sale outside the U.S. "Selling documents on Scribd is currently only available to users within the United States." Scribd, you knew I was outside the U.S. when you previewed it to me and then gave me a 'Buy' button to click on; why do that if you don't plan to accept my money? This is made more annoying because I buy all my Kindle books from the U.S. store not the UK* one. So the Britishness of my location is only sometimes a problem. (Just for balance, does anyone have a story of being on holiday and browsing a bookshop but being turned away at the till for being foreign? No, I thought not.)
* And don't ask me why I put full stops in 'U.S.' but not in 'UK' because I don't know. I just know I don't like the look of either if I swap them over.