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defrogIt seems like every six months or so, I’m forced to consider whether or not I should keep giving Amazon.com my money.
The latest kerfluffle involves Amazon declaring war on Macmillan over e-book prices. To wit: Amazon sells e-books at a set maximum price, Macmillan raises its e-book prices above that ceiling, Amazon delists every book (electronic and print) Macmillan publishes until they bring e-book prices back down – only to eventually cave in anyway.
There’s a number of ways to look at this, but it’s helpful to understand how the publishing industry works and how Amazon works. Charles Stross explains that here, and Tobias Buckell has his own take here. And as John Scalzi has explained further in length, even if you understand why Amazon did what it did (basically that price ceiling is there because Amazon wants to sell more Kindles), there’s really no way to paint Amazon’s actions in a good light. And while one could argue that Macmillan wants to charge way too much for an e-book (and personally I think $14.99 is way too high), that doesn't justify Amazon nuking their entire catalog.
So yes, Boo Amazon.
However, I don’t know that an Amazon boycott would really matter. The problem with an Amazon boycott (and Scalzi explains it better here) is that it wouldn’t just impact Amazon (if at all): it would impact the publishers and (more importantly) authors who rely on Amazon for a chunk of their income.
In my own case, I only use Amazon to buy stuff I can’t buy physically in Hong Kong or when I travel overseas. I also use it for my stateside Christmas shopping. So whether I drop Amazon depends on whether I can find suitable replacements. Better World Books is pretty good for books (not least because the international shipping is cheaper), but they don’t sell CDs. So if anyone has suggestions on where to buy CDs online that also have a wide selection and ship overseas at reasonable rates, please send them along. Meanwhile, I’ll probably keep using Amazon as a last-resort option (which, technically, I do anyway).
As for e-books specifically, the whole fiasco shows in no uncertain terms just what is wrong with the Kindle business model – it’s basically Amazon using its market leverage to tell a publisher what they can or can’t charge for a book because they control both the device and the ecosystem that serves it and if you don’t like it, fuck you and yr entire catalog because where else are you going to go?
I’ve said before that I don’t oppose e-books or the Kindle itself so much as the ecosystem that basically sells me something I have little control over in the same way I do over a physical version of the same product. The Amazon/Macmillan feud isn’t doing anything to change my mind.
Name yr price,
This is dF
The latest kerfluffle involves Amazon declaring war on Macmillan over e-book prices. To wit: Amazon sells e-books at a set maximum price, Macmillan raises its e-book prices above that ceiling, Amazon delists every book (electronic and print) Macmillan publishes until they bring e-book prices back down – only to eventually cave in anyway.
There’s a number of ways to look at this, but it’s helpful to understand how the publishing industry works and how Amazon works. Charles Stross explains that here, and Tobias Buckell has his own take here. And as John Scalzi has explained further in length, even if you understand why Amazon did what it did (basically that price ceiling is there because Amazon wants to sell more Kindles), there’s really no way to paint Amazon’s actions in a good light. And while one could argue that Macmillan wants to charge way too much for an e-book (and personally I think $14.99 is way too high), that doesn't justify Amazon nuking their entire catalog.
So yes, Boo Amazon.
However, I don’t know that an Amazon boycott would really matter. The problem with an Amazon boycott (and Scalzi explains it better here) is that it wouldn’t just impact Amazon (if at all): it would impact the publishers and (more importantly) authors who rely on Amazon for a chunk of their income.
In my own case, I only use Amazon to buy stuff I can’t buy physically in Hong Kong or when I travel overseas. I also use it for my stateside Christmas shopping. So whether I drop Amazon depends on whether I can find suitable replacements. Better World Books is pretty good for books (not least because the international shipping is cheaper), but they don’t sell CDs. So if anyone has suggestions on where to buy CDs online that also have a wide selection and ship overseas at reasonable rates, please send them along. Meanwhile, I’ll probably keep using Amazon as a last-resort option (which, technically, I do anyway).
As for e-books specifically, the whole fiasco shows in no uncertain terms just what is wrong with the Kindle business model – it’s basically Amazon using its market leverage to tell a publisher what they can or can’t charge for a book because they control both the device and the ecosystem that serves it and if you don’t like it, fuck you and yr entire catalog because where else are you going to go?
I’ve said before that I don’t oppose e-books or the Kindle itself so much as the ecosystem that basically sells me something I have little control over in the same way I do over a physical version of the same product. The Amazon/Macmillan feud isn’t doing anything to change my mind.
Name yr price,
This is dF
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no subject
on 2010-02-04 02:59 am (UTC)Free shipping worldwide.