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Apple Making Plans to Extend iBookstore Internationally

MacRumorUser said:
Yes it is Apple's fault. Simple as.

There is already a precident set for books & licencing them for sale internationally. Amazon are doing it very successfully.
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Licensing books. A different industry, different product, than movies and music, the might not behave the same in terms of ease of acquiring rights. Let's get better comparisons here. How widely is AmazonMP3 available? What I see is US, UK, Germany and France, all for a service that's been available for three years. Amazon video on demand is nearing two years, US only. Kindle International ships to 100 countries, and it's been around for a few months shorter than AmazonMP3. It seems to me that international content deals for books may be a lot easier to make with than music and movies.

So, no, it's not such a simple call. Assigning blame without taking a broader picture isn't useful.
 
Americans Get Everything, We Get Nothing

I hate Apple when they decide to release half the stuff in the UK... i want to see iBookstore on the iPad in the UK, would love to digitalise my classics such as Lord of the Rings and hopefully get some of my University books onto the iPad... better than carrying huge books around :(
 
Didn't even think of it.

I live in Canada and it didn't even occur to me that iBooks might not make it here right away. I'm so pumped for the iPad, it would be a shame to lose that.

I hope Apple updates MacPros at the same time as they release the iPad. That's my winning combination. Laptops are cool, but an iPad coupled with a powerhouse tower is where it's at, for me.

I want magazines and books to go along with my games and the rest of my apps.
 
Oh please let this be true. I hate having to pay so much money to have books shipped from Germany to the US, and the conversion rate is horrible. Plus, books are so heavy when traveling. Half the weight of my luggage when I come back from Germany is books.
 
Makes sense to me. As I carry around a 7-8 pound book in my bag, I can only imagine how big e-readers will be once the gernal public accepts them and the readers themselves get cheap enough for wider consumption.
 
Australia has these annoying copyright restrictions to give local publishers a leg up. It means we pay a lot more for books than people in the US.

I would prefer it if Apple said bugger it and made the US ibookstore available to Aussies, made it clear what the difference in price is and dare the government to do something. People would Be cheering for ages.
 
Does this mean that people without US iTunes accounts cannot buy iBooks or people outside the US cannot buy iBooks because the IP address will be blocked?

I am an American living in Korea, yet I purchase from the US iTunes store, using my US credit card, with no problem. Will my IP be blocked if I want to buy a book? I have no problem buy TV shows, apps or movies now for my iPhone.
 
JeffDM said:
Regarding the article: duh! I think people would have to be stupid to think that iBookstore wasn't going to be available in other countries eventually. It was just a matter of when, hopefully sooner rather than later.



I wonder if it's Apple's fault though. The print industry might not be as difficult to deal with as the music and movie industries, may be a lot fewer rights entanglements.



Basically, Steve was making a diversion, using carefully chosen statistics to distract people from the reality. When he made that statement, print was bigger than movies and music industries combined.
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I don't share your confidence. A market as large as Japan is like much of Europe, still awaiting the launch of movies and TV shows on iTunes. You are right in questioning whether it is only Apple's fault and indeed the contents providers clearly have a major part to play in this. Nevertheless, Apple insists on promoting and promising the technological virtues of its machines internationally which is fine, but without content its pretty much like promoting a fridge to someone living in the North Pole. Great technology, not much use. Apple could be using its influence more with these contents providers and most certainly it could have had the international teams in place months ago. Why are they only arranging that now? This is the attitude we internationals have issue with.

Now, do your maths; subtract the year that iTunes was launched from 2010. This is the number of years we have waited for movies and TV shows on iTunes. Knowing this, an 'eventual' launch based on this track record is hardly very encouraging in buying a product today which will have a product life cycle shorter than the waiting time for an 'eventual' launch.
 
btcutter said:
I want to see the ability to write in various languages like the iPhone.

I would buy the iPad in a NY second for my father if that ability is available. iPad is PERFECT for him.
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That's a bit off-topic... but it's something I'm desperate for as well. I need it to write 日本語 like my iPhone does. I'd be really surprised if they left out the international keyboards.

iBooks is another feature that is really important to me on this system, and I'm in the UK.
 
Peter Harrison said:
That's a bit off-topic... but it's something I'm desperate for as well. I need it to write 日本語 like my iPhone does. I'd be really surprised if they left out the international keyboards.

iBooks is another feature that is really important to me on this system, and I'm in the UK.
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Just discovered the international keyboard details on the official Tech Specs page. It will do 日本語 (QWERTY) but not 日本語 using kana. Not what I'd prefer, but better than having no support at all.
 
Ahh, nice to know that Apple's already thinking about their northern neighbours. ^_^ (I live in Alberta province!)
 
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