Have you ever gone to Amazon.ca (or any other non-.com) site only to be disappointed with no reviews for the books your looking at?  Check this out for a cool trick to help you peek into those reviews!

Today I was looking for a book, I found it on Amazon.ca at a GREAT price! (no, I'm not advertising for them)  Awesome writeup!  Great price.  Even recommended by SG.  So what's my malfunction?  My problem was I couldn't see any reviews.  HUH?  What?  It's been out for a little while, and I just KNOW people have made some comments on the topic, so why can't I see any? 

What's that?  Wait a sec?  Ok, let me take a step back.  Yes, Amazon does have a few books without reviews, but ONLY in some countries.  HUH?  "What you talk'n about Willis?"  Here's what I mean.  Here's a screen cap of the ".ca" site (click for full view).  See?  No reviews.

Now, here's the trick!!!!!!  Change JUST the ".ca" to ".com" and you'll see the EXACT same info, EXCEPT for it coming from Amazon USA AND with comments/reviews!

I don't know why Amazon just doesn't link up ALL the reviews, or even better split up the Reviews into Country and World sections.  Wouldn't that be cool to see what an Italian thinks about a Mexican cooking book?  Or what a Canadian thinks about a Chinese archictecture book?  And hey, if it DOESN'T matter to you, at least there's only one place to goto for reviews/comments, right where you are!

Here, I'll put both of the URLS side by side to make sure you don't think I'm pulling any "Chris Angel" here.  Here is the Amazon.ca link which does not have any reviews associated with it (well, none as of today that is).

http://www.amazon.ca/iPhone-SDK-Programming-Beginners-Guide/dp/0071626492/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266504738&sr=8-2

And here's the very same link on the Amazon.com site (the American one).

http://www.amazon.com/iPhone-SDK-Programming-Beginners-Guide/dp/0071626492/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266504738&sr=8-2

Same thing, except for the ".ca" and the ".com".  SO!  The next time your poking around Amazon.ca looking for your favourite book but don't find any reviews, just change a few characters and BINGO!  You're reading (hopefully) lots of reviews and able to better judge for yourself if you want to buy that book.

Now that you know how to get your reviews to judge if that next book is worth every penny, it's time to go grab a coffee and get coding!

 

Resources:

Amazon.ca: iPhone SDK Programming: A Beginner's Guide (link without reviews)

Amazon.com: iPhone SDK Programming: A Beginner's Guide (link with reviews)