4 ms·

Kindle zealots trash bestseller to spite publisher's lack of e version

3 points by FluidDjango 17y ago

ToVaRich 17y ago
Wow. Who'd have thought people could be so passionate about their Kindles. It's sad that the innocent author is being taken out as collateral damage in the Kindle fanboys' desire to send a message to the publisher, but what I never expected was that the Kindle was getting the kind of passion that we've come to expect mostly over some Apple iPhone/iPad... Maybe it bodes well for the Kindle's future (if not for the civility of its fans).
- protomyth 17y ago
  I have never heard of Linux or OS X users trashing software reviews because there isn't a version for their preferred platform. Thinking about it, the last time I saw this was over the Spore DRM, but that was about the product not the platform. It is a shame that Amazon doesn't have the Kindle equivalent of the "I would really like a DVD of this" button. I am losing a lot of respect for Amazon's customer support in that they are not dealing with this (allowing their customers to be heard without damaging some poor authors reputation).
  - hannibalhorn 17y ago
    They actually do have a link specifically for telling the publisher that you would like to see a Kindle edition.
    - protomyth 17y ago
      Wow, thanks I totally spaced it. I saw the kindle but didn't read the text. Ok, well now I really think Amazon needs to be deleting these reviews as inappropriate. Maybe they put a little more into that "tell the publisher", but that is probably just me not being as observant and I could be.
- patio11 17y ago
  Without apologizing for incivility, I own a Kindle and am now experiencing the new sensation of hardware fanboyism. Let me try to convey why: a significant portion of my life is my relationship to the printed word, and the Kindle has totally revolutionized that relationship. I carry it with me everywhere I go. I spend more time on it than I spend on my cell phone, phone, television, and all forms of printed matter combined. It has changed where I read, it has changed when I read, it has changed how I read, it has changed who I read. It has seriously changed my life more than any electronic gadget since my first cell phone 7 years ago. There are clouds on the horizon for me, though: the publishers seem to see my Kindle, and by extension me, as a threat to their business models. This displeases me greatly, because I buy and read a lot of books. (Call it a hundred per year... probably more since buying the Kindle.) I feel some sense of -- hmm, I'll put a name to it -- entitlement to be best possible treatment from people trying to sell me books, like the guy who comes in every single Friday to "his" Italian restaurant feels that the head waiter should know his name, have his table ready, and be appropriately apologetic if the kitchen can't do "the usual" today. Instead of having my table waiting for me, I have been told -- in as many words, literally, by authors who were on my reading list writing to my very own mailbox -- that I am thieving riffraff who should not even be let into this restaurant. (I mentioned on my blog that if it came to a fight between Amazon, who makes my reading experience awesome, and publishers, who do not make my reading experience awesome, I would back Amazon. That apparently got passed around a group of authors -- oh, ho, Internet. Several of them backed publishers over me. That is the road less traveled in high-end customer service but, hey, whatever. One called me a thief who was stealing her livelihood. I will never read another book of hers. Even recalling this makes me freaking livid.) Amazon delivers on making me feel special: they have for the last decade always gotten me the books I wanted, when I wanted them, and then after long since cinching my Favorite Company Ever position they released the Kindle. Amazon knows that Jim Butcher has a book coming out this month and that I will want it. Neither Jim Butcher nor his publisher know my name nor care to send me an email saying "Hey Patrick, thanks for reading my last seventeen novels. I have another one coming out this month which you'll want to take a look at." (I understand there are excellent business model reasons why Jim Butcher and his publisher don't know my name. I just, frankly, do not care what their problems are.)
HoneyAndSilicon 17y ago
Well, it may not be so much that they're zealots as that they've invested cash in their Kindles... so it becomes a wallet thing what they can't get what they think "they're entitled" to have on their K.
Shakescode 17y ago
Yes, the news is what it says about customer loyalty to a propriety ereader. I can see why Amazon does not make any attempt to stop the nonsense. The next chapter will be interesting: Will the publisher cave in and permit a Kindle edition?
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
jacquesm 17y ago
I'm a bit surprised that amazon would allow their feedback section to be abused as a means to pressure publishers (especially over the back of an author), but since amazon probably profits from selling more e-books they seem to allow it. Funny though, I think that to be allowed to 'review' a book you'd have to have read it at a minimum, and you can't really rate a book that you do not have. Amazon really should nix those reviews, even if it helps them businesswise. Also, I figure that it's up to the rights owners to pick a format and to set a price, if you don't like it then there are plenty of other books that you can go and buy. This smacks of entitlement somehow.
gamble 17y ago
Think that's something? Check of The Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray. Hell hath no fury like a geek scorned.
imrehg 17y ago
I don't know what is this about, the Kindle edition sits right up there at the top of the page. http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Short-ebook/dp/B003AYZBGQ/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AU5CBAPW043HD http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Short-ebook/dp/B003AYZBGQ/ref=... Though it escapes me, why it is more expensive to have it on the Kindle ($20.68) than in Hardcover ($15.09)...

3 points by FluidDjango 17y ago

Wow. Who'd have thought people could be so passionate about their Kindles. It's sad that the innocent author is being taken out as collateral damage in the Kindle fanboys' desire to send a message to the publisher, but what I never expected was that the Kindle was getting the kind of passion that we've come to expect mostly over some Apple iPhone/iPad... Maybe it bodes well for the Kindle's future (if not for the civility of its fans).

protomyth 17y ago
I have never heard of Linux or OS X users trashing software reviews because there isn't a version for their preferred platform. Thinking about it, the last time I saw this was over the Spore DRM, but that was about the product not the platform. It is a shame that Amazon doesn't have the Kindle equivalent of the "I would really like a DVD of this" button. I am losing a lot of respect for Amazon's customer support in that they are not dealing with this (allowing their customers to be heard without damaging some poor authors reputation).
- hannibalhorn 17y ago
  They actually do have a link specifically for telling the publisher that you would like to see a Kindle edition.
  - protomyth 17y ago
    Wow, thanks I totally spaced it. I saw the kindle but didn't read the text. Ok, well now I really think Amazon needs to be deleting these reviews as inappropriate. Maybe they put a little more into that "tell the publisher", but that is probably just me not being as observant and I could be.
patio11 17y ago
Without apologizing for incivility, I own a Kindle and am now experiencing the new sensation of hardware fanboyism. Let me try to convey why: a significant portion of my life is my relationship to the printed word, and the Kindle has totally revolutionized that relationship. I carry it with me everywhere I go. I spend more time on it than I spend on my cell phone, phone, television, and all forms of printed matter combined. It has changed where I read, it has changed when I read, it has changed how I read, it has changed who I read. It has seriously changed my life more than any electronic gadget since my first cell phone 7 years ago. There are clouds on the horizon for me, though: the publishers seem to see my Kindle, and by extension me, as a threat to their business models. This displeases me greatly, because I buy and read a lot of books. (Call it a hundred per year... probably more since buying the Kindle.) I feel some sense of -- hmm, I'll put a name to it -- entitlement to be best possible treatment from people trying to sell me books, like the guy who comes in every single Friday to "his" Italian restaurant feels that the head waiter should know his name, have his table ready, and be appropriately apologetic if the kitchen can't do "the usual" today. Instead of having my table waiting for me, I have been told -- in as many words, literally, by authors who were on my reading list writing to my very own mailbox -- that I am thieving riffraff who should not even be let into this restaurant. (I mentioned on my blog that if it came to a fight between Amazon, who makes my reading experience awesome, and publishers, who do not make my reading experience awesome, I would back Amazon. That apparently got passed around a group of authors -- oh, ho, Internet. Several of them backed publishers over me. That is the road less traveled in high-end customer service but, hey, whatever. One called me a thief who was stealing her livelihood. I will never read another book of hers. Even recalling this makes me freaking livid.) Amazon delivers on making me feel special: they have for the last decade always gotten me the books I wanted, when I wanted them, and then after long since cinching my Favorite Company Ever position they released the Kindle. Amazon knows that Jim Butcher has a book coming out this month and that I will want it. Neither Jim Butcher nor his publisher know my name nor care to send me an email saying "Hey Patrick, thanks for reading my last seventeen novels. I have another one coming out this month which you'll want to take a look at." (I understand there are excellent business model reasons why Jim Butcher and his publisher don't know my name. I just, frankly, do not care what their problems are.)

HoneyAndSilicon 17y ago

Well, it may not be so much that they're zealots as that they've invested cash in their Kindles... so it becomes a wallet thing what they can't get what they think "they're entitled" to have on their K.

Shakescode 17y ago

Yes, the news is what it says about customer loyalty to a propriety ereader. I can see why Amazon does not make any attempt to stop the nonsense. The next chapter will be interesting: Will the publisher cave in and permit a Kindle edition?

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

jacquesm 17y ago

I'm a bit surprised that amazon would allow their feedback section to be abused as a means to pressure publishers (especially over the back of an author), but since amazon probably profits from selling more e-books they seem to allow it. Funny though, I think that to be allowed to 'review' a book you'd have to have read it at a minimum, and you can't really rate a book that you do not have. Amazon really should nix those reviews, even if it helps them businesswise. Also, I figure that it's up to the rights owners to pick a format and to set a price, if you don't like it then there are plenty of other books that you can go and buy. This smacks of entitlement somehow.

gamble 17y ago

Think that's something? Check of The Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray. Hell hath no fury like a geek scorned.

imrehg 17y ago

I don't know what is this about, the Kindle edition sits right up there at the top of the page. http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Short-ebook/dp/B003AYZBGQ/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AU5CBAPW043HD http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Short-ebook/dp/B003AYZBGQ/ref=... Though it escapes me, why it is more expensive to have it on the Kindle ($20.68) than in Hardcover ($15.09)...