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And once again non-Americans are left out sigh I can't help laughing when they even write about how incredibly open they are. And what, even the video is priv

by cskau 16y ago

And once again non-Americans are left out sigh I can't help laughing when they even write about how incredibly open they are. And what, even the video is private ? I'm guessing it's just location blocked. .. but why??

eiji 16y ago
I don't think this is google's fault. I think it is still too hard to turn a book into an ebook. Google did a fine job of digitizing a bunch of library title, but that wont do it. They have to share a spread that technology (make it cheap). I want to put my books into a backpack, go to a store nearby and pick my books up the next day together with the ebooks. In germany that would not be against the law, because it's a private copy. Maybe for 10 bucks per book (1Cent/page?). That would jumpstart the whole ebook thing in europe ... finally. This is my naive consumer perspective, not a publisher perspective.
robotron 16y ago
Think about it. Really hard. In your visualizations use terms like "licensing" and "international". You may find enlightenment this way.
- masklinn 16y ago
  > Think about it. Really hard. No need to think hard about it: Google simply doesn't give a shit. Really. Let me remind you that, almost two years in, Google Voice is still completely and utterly useless outside of North America. > You may find enlightenment this way. Enlightenment as to why the video of their ebooks demo would be region-locked?
  - amackera 16y ago
    Well, in Canada at least, there's pretty immovable legislation preventing them from rolling it out.
    - bruceboughton 16y ago
      What legislation is that?
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
  - chrisbroadfoot 16y ago
    > No need to think hard about it: Google simply doesn't give a shit. This is a big call. There are many, many factors that prevent a global release of something like Books.
    - masklinn 16y ago
      No. There are many factors which make it harder, and Google can't be arsed to make an effort and they only open products internationally when that requires next to none. That's exactly what they've always done.
- tomjen3 16y ago
  All my visualization came with was the words "bloody fucking racists", "typical Goggle" and "screw that, they are available on certain ship related sites for free." What did you visualize?
  - eli 16y ago
    Racist is an awfully strong word. You may not like it, but it's surely just pragmatism on their part. It requires a considering investment in lawyers and time for each country they launch in, so it makes sense to start with their home (and likely largest) market.
  - sfphotoarts 16y ago
    last time I checked, the USA has pretty much people from all races. Most US companies will launch something in English only with the domestic market in mind to test the waters, then when it becomes economically viable to do so expand licensing and other issues out to other countries. I'm sure the companies that innovate in your country do the same.
    - timknauf 16y ago
      Coming from a small nation, doing anything tech-focused and not launching internationally is hard for me to wrap my head around. But I guess the factors in play here are a) a huge domestic market and more significantly b) the inevitable licensing issues that other commenters have pointed out.
bobbin_cygna 16y ago
I'm in south america and I'm not blocked.
Derbasti 16y ago
I am non-American, too. Apple will let me buy English books as long as I have a valid US Apple ID. Go to Ebay, buy a US iTunes gift card, and you have one. Amazon will let me buy English books as long as I have a US credit card. That one is harder to get a hold of. You need friends. Google now needs a credit card and an IP address. The latter can be done easily and legally through services like socksify.com or even tor. You can get technical literature from PragProg or OReilly from anywhere. There are plenty of good small ebook publishers out there. It should come as no surprise that Google searches for ebooks rate piracy-related sites higher than ebook shops. It is currently way harder to buy an ebook than to pirate it. But book publishers suck in the same way record companies suck. And they will go the same way record companies went.
- kentosi 16y ago
  You might want to check amazon again. I live in Australia, and I just recently bought 2 books from amazon Japan.

by cskau 16y ago

eiji 16y ago

I don't think this is google's fault. I think it is still too hard to turn a book into an ebook. Google did a fine job of digitizing a bunch of library title, but that wont do it. They have to share a spread that technology (make it cheap). I want to put my books into a backpack, go to a store nearby and pick my books up the next day together with the ebooks. In germany that would not be against the law, because it's a private copy. Maybe for 10 bucks per book (1Cent/page?). That would jumpstart the whole ebook thing in europe ... finally. This is my naive consumer perspective, not a publisher perspective.

robotron 16y ago

Think about it. Really hard. In your visualizations use terms like "licensing" and "international". You may find enlightenment this way.

masklinn 16y ago
> Think about it. Really hard. No need to think hard about it: Google simply doesn't give a shit. Really. Let me remind you that, almost two years in, Google Voice is still completely and utterly useless outside of North America. > You may find enlightenment this way. Enlightenment as to why the video of their ebooks demo would be region-locked?
- amackera 16y ago
  Well, in Canada at least, there's pretty immovable legislation preventing them from rolling it out.
  - bruceboughton 16y ago
    What legislation is that?
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- chrisbroadfoot 16y ago
  > No need to think hard about it: Google simply doesn't give a shit. This is a big call. There are many, many factors that prevent a global release of something like Books.
  - masklinn 16y ago
    No. There are many factors which make it harder, and Google can't be arsed to make an effort and they only open products internationally when that requires next to none. That's exactly what they've always done.
tomjen3 16y ago
All my visualization came with was the words "bloody fucking racists", "typical Goggle" and "screw that, they are available on certain ship related sites for free." What did you visualize?
- eli 16y ago
  Racist is an awfully strong word. You may not like it, but it's surely just pragmatism on their part. It requires a considering investment in lawyers and time for each country they launch in, so it makes sense to start with their home (and likely largest) market.
- sfphotoarts 16y ago
  last time I checked, the USA has pretty much people from all races. Most US companies will launch something in English only with the domestic market in mind to test the waters, then when it becomes economically viable to do so expand licensing and other issues out to other countries. I'm sure the companies that innovate in your country do the same.
  - timknauf 16y ago
    Coming from a small nation, doing anything tech-focused and not launching internationally is hard for me to wrap my head around. But I guess the factors in play here are a) a huge domestic market and more significantly b) the inevitable licensing issues that other commenters have pointed out.

bobbin_cygna 16y ago

I'm in south america and I'm not blocked.

Derbasti 16y ago

I am non-American, too. Apple will let me buy English books as long as I have a valid US Apple ID. Go to Ebay, buy a US iTunes gift card, and you have one. Amazon will let me buy English books as long as I have a US credit card. That one is harder to get a hold of. You need friends. Google now needs a credit card and an IP address. The latter can be done easily and legally through services like socksify.com or even tor. You can get technical literature from PragProg or OReilly from anywhere. There are plenty of good small ebook publishers out there. It should come as no surprise that Google searches for ebooks rate piracy-related sites higher than ebook shops. It is currently way harder to buy an ebook than to pirate it. But book publishers suck in the same way record companies suck. And they will go the same way record companies went.

kentosi 16y ago
You might want to check amazon again. I live in Australia, and I just recently bought 2 books from amazon Japan.