iPad: now the small print (or no print?)
Now the finer details are emerging. The small print. I’m so much a part of the global community that I continue to forget that most (not all) US-based corporations are US-centric.
Yesterday Steve Jobs introduced the iPad to the world (but really just the USA). The single most anticipated feature for me was the iBooks app. That’s the feature that will leap-frog the iPad above and beyond Amazon’s kindle.
And then what happens? Apple’s Australian web site, after it finally got the iPad page up, tell us in the footnotes that iBooks is available in the US only. The New Zealand site says the same. Apple’s UK site avoids the issue by not mentioning iBooks at all.
I do understand the reasons. It comes down to territorial publishing rights (and that’s a whole different debate). But my issue with Steve Jobs is that of expectation management. My expectation was built up during his presentation. Now he’s failed me.
The world hasn’t fallen in though. Once the dust has settled we’ll no doubt hear about local arrangements for book availability. Amazon has the same issues so it’s nothing new.
Tangential niggle: so if Australia has a “free trade” agreement with the USA, why isn’t there free trade.
