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Amazon to close Kindle bookstore in China

19 Comments

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19 Comments
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Best to just leave China.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Kindle is a great invention for bookworms. Most of the Kindle editions are much cheaper than paperback versions. Not to mention that Kindle versions are instantly downloadable.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

I don't have a Kindle (monochrome), but I do have a tablet and use it for reading. If you have any Kindle ebooks that you bought, it would be smart to convert them to DRM-less formats, so you don't lose access to them.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/10/drm-be-damned-how-to-protect-your-amazon-e-books-from-being-deleted/ is a little old, but the big ideas in it are still valid.

Plus, we all need to be aware that any Kindle reader is tracking your reading and transmitting that information to the "home office" - i.e. Amazon. If you value your reading privacy, best not to use amazon software. There are alternative readers that handle non-DRM, non-Kindle, books, BTW.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Kindle leaving that totalitarian state is a good idea ethically and financially. I'm sure the Chinese based competitors have all taken advantage of stolen tech and govt. legislated favoritism.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

I don't have a Kindle (monochrome), but I do have a tablet and use it for reading. If you have any Kindle ebooks that you bought, it would be smart to convert them to DRM-less formats, so you don't lose access to them

This is good advice for all kinds of media, but the process to de-DRM books is specially easy so anybody with a little bit of time can do it immediately for the whole library.

Local competitors such as Alibaba and JD.com have capitalised on their supplier networks and understanding of Chinese consumers to gain market share, before Amazon could acquire a foothold.

That and a huge advantage because of the support of the government and their use of patents and rights to selectively block and punish foreign companies so they can only compete handicapped.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Does this mean that Chinese people will lose access to libraries that they have bought and paid for?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Does this mean that Chinese people will lose access to libraries that they have bought and paid for?

"This means that customers can no longer buy new e-books, although those that have been purchased can still be downloaded until June 2024 and will remain readable afterwards, it said."

2 ( +2 / -0 )

That’s counterproductive, because they now also can’t read or get incidentally in touch with books on freedom thoughts etc. Western countries and businesses leaving those totalitarian regimes and regions even further expose the populations there with only the 100% of remaining totalitarian ideology, propaganda and literature, which will cementing those regimes, the contrary of what might be intended by leaving them and closing businesses there.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Currently, Amazon China has more than 10,000 staff and offices in 12 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen, the company said.

10,000 staff. Automation will reduce that. China has more automation than the US and uses a massive amount of automation in everything, starting from industrial, and spreading over to services.

It has the world’s biggest entirely automated port in Shanghai. They have like 5 people handling 6 million containers a year.

You have to slash labor costs to stay competitive. Amazon has failed to compete against local players per Bloomberg.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The Chinese have voted with their money. If many in America cannot tolerate free speech, expect even less from China.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Does this mean that Chinese people will lose access to libraries that they have bought and paid for?

Amazon says no, but if the CCP-Chinese decide to block access to Amazon's servers, then re-enable that access, I can see where the prior books would be lost. Obviously, if Amazon goes under, access will be lost too.

How many people are still using MSFT's "Play's for Sure" dead platform? They bought music ... or so they thought. Those contracts - aka EULA - say that access can be suspended at any time for any reason. You did read the EULA, right?

This is the main issue with fake property. We think we own digital media, but we don't. It is licensed, usually with stipulations that access can and at any time.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It isn't just China where amazon can lose access. Anywhere in the world, this can happen.

I recall a news article about someone who lived in the US, bought some Kindle books, then when home to a European country for the summer and had some of the purchased "books" removed. EPub licenses are different in different countries and national boundaries matter for the license holders.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Best to just leave China.

absolutely! and not let their domestic competitors sell their stuff to the west

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I've never heard of a company that has a lucrative business in a country, pull out of that country willingly

Google did it a few years ago.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The CCP don't want Chinese people having that much access to texts that it cannot reliably censor. They will be showing the door to a lot of Western companies. Many have already left China and Russia. Migrant labourers are being kicked out. International students are being limited. Tourists are being excluded. Censorship, national and state control of internet services, as well as regional blocks are increasing.

Governments are building walls to fence off their tribes from others. It's what nationalists do. Expect more of it, and much closer to home. None of it will be beneficial to ordinary people. It will increase the price of everything, increase shortages, lead to the regular scapegoating and demonising of external enemies, and eventually to wars. It always has done, and it always will.

Long term, this will affect everyone. Once the US develop domestic production lines for tech, they will no longer need to defend Taiwan. Or South Korea. Or any part of SE Asia. They can pull up the drawbridge, close the curtains, and leave the rest of the world to its own devices. Which is why Japan is bumping up its military budget.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Part of a long term trend, nothing to see here, move on.

The CCP has been cultivating internal domestic economy for at least 10 years now, the smart money left years ago.

I guess that implies Uniqlo et al are either desperate or dumb, or both.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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