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Why do people care so much about Amazon? Amazon is a middleman, so why not cut them out? Magazines, Newspapers, and Blogs can go directly through Apple and ke

Why do people care so much about Amazon? Amazon is a middleman, so why not cut them out? Magazines, Newspapers, and Blogs can go directly through Apple and keep their same 70% cut.

evilduck 16y ago
You're proposing publishers cut out Amazon as a middleman and replace them with Apple, another middleman. I don't know Amazon's cut, but it may not be worth the effort to switch if there's no financial gain. If content, quality and prices are equal between the AppStore subscription and the Kindle store versions, I have no incentive to buy from the AppStore when it's less feature rich than a Kindle version which can seamlessly sync and move between PC, Android and iOS. AppStore purchases are stuck on iOS devices, and the Kindle's display is the preferable reading screen for many people. To be fair, it's not limited to Amazon either, B&N and the Nook are in the same situation.
- nooneelse 16y ago
  But why should content sellers need to have such a middle man at all with the current technology? If there were a subscription-based-content reader installed on my laptop, I could just pay the content provider with a credit card and Dell would not be getting a cut.
  - evilduck 16y ago
    Abstracted to middlemen in general, since most of it applies: Convenience, product visibility, uniformity of services, buying power, plus they assume certain risks on my behalf (dealing with shady/inexperienced suppliers, maintaining distribution channels, chasing refunds, notifying me of recalls etc). It's the same reason I go to a grocery store instead of making trips to a dozen or more local farms. In the digital arena, product suggestions are becoming important too. Amazon has a fairly accurate profile of what I like, and can show me stuff I might like but would never discover on my own. Independent niche suppliers can't build that profile and they usually don't want me checking out their competitors. There's also the consumer willingness to trade product rights for cost savings. O'Reilly sells non-DRMed PDFs of their books on their own site, or I can buy a DRMed copy from Amazon for half price. For a book that'll might be antiquated in 3 years, that savings starts looking pretty good. "Current technology" is no magic bullet either. The cost barrier of the infrastructure is lower, but it still requires talent a supplier may not specialize in to run it. Selling your own product poorly is probably worse for you than paying someone else to do it well.
c2 16y ago
That's replacing one middleman (Amazon) with another (Apple). Also Amazon typically has much better selection then Apple, not to mention all the content you already purchased on the Kindle store and were planning to read with your iPad becomes inaccessible, if Apple does end up pulling the Kindle app.
- davidcann 16y ago
  Yes, exactly: replacing Amazon with Apple. Why should publishers and customers have two middlemen? I highly doubt that Apple will ever pull a Kindle-viewer app, so your second concern is likely a non-issue.
  - potatolicious 16y ago
    > "Why should publishers and customers have two middlemen?" That's the point, there aren't 2 middlemen. There is only one: Amazon. Apple wants to take Amazon's place by asserting their privilege over the platform.
    - davidcann 16y ago
      Yea, so what's wrong with Apple edging out Amazon? Why doesn't Amazon allow iBooks to be purchased on the Kindle? They're in direct competition. I use and love Amazon services, but I have a hard time feeling bad for them in this matter.
      - nooneelse 16y ago
        I believe the last time I saw this retort on HN, someone pointed to some "how to develop for the kindle" information that Apple is free to use if they choose. Until they do so and Amazon rejects their work, the retort does not hold up.

Why do people care so much about Amazon? Amazon is a middleman, so why not cut them out? Magazines, Newspapers, and Blogs can go directly through Apple and keep their same 70% cut.

evilduck 16y ago

You're proposing publishers cut out Amazon as a middleman and replace them with Apple, another middleman. I don't know Amazon's cut, but it may not be worth the effort to switch if there's no financial gain. If content, quality and prices are equal between the AppStore subscription and the Kindle store versions, I have no incentive to buy from the AppStore when it's less feature rich than a Kindle version which can seamlessly sync and move between PC, Android and iOS. AppStore purchases are stuck on iOS devices, and the Kindle's display is the preferable reading screen for many people. To be fair, it's not limited to Amazon either, B&N and the Nook are in the same situation.

nooneelse 16y ago
But why should content sellers need to have such a middle man at all with the current technology? If there were a subscription-based-content reader installed on my laptop, I could just pay the content provider with a credit card and Dell would not be getting a cut.
- evilduck 16y ago
  Abstracted to middlemen in general, since most of it applies: Convenience, product visibility, uniformity of services, buying power, plus they assume certain risks on my behalf (dealing with shady/inexperienced suppliers, maintaining distribution channels, chasing refunds, notifying me of recalls etc). It's the same reason I go to a grocery store instead of making trips to a dozen or more local farms. In the digital arena, product suggestions are becoming important too. Amazon has a fairly accurate profile of what I like, and can show me stuff I might like but would never discover on my own. Independent niche suppliers can't build that profile and they usually don't want me checking out their competitors. There's also the consumer willingness to trade product rights for cost savings. O'Reilly sells non-DRMed PDFs of their books on their own site, or I can buy a DRMed copy from Amazon for half price. For a book that'll might be antiquated in 3 years, that savings starts looking pretty good. "Current technology" is no magic bullet either. The cost barrier of the infrastructure is lower, but it still requires talent a supplier may not specialize in to run it. Selling your own product poorly is probably worse for you than paying someone else to do it well.

c2 16y ago

That's replacing one middleman (Amazon) with another (Apple). Also Amazon typically has much better selection then Apple, not to mention all the content you already purchased on the Kindle store and were planning to read with your iPad becomes inaccessible, if Apple does end up pulling the Kindle app.

davidcann 16y ago
Yes, exactly: replacing Amazon with Apple. Why should publishers and customers have two middlemen? I highly doubt that Apple will ever pull a Kindle-viewer app, so your second concern is likely a non-issue.
- potatolicious 16y ago
  > "Why should publishers and customers have two middlemen?" That's the point, there aren't 2 middlemen. There is only one: Amazon. Apple wants to take Amazon's place by asserting their privilege over the platform.
  - davidcann 16y ago
    Yea, so what's wrong with Apple edging out Amazon? Why doesn't Amazon allow iBooks to be purchased on the Kindle? They're in direct competition. I use and love Amazon services, but I have a hard time feeling bad for them in this matter.
    - nooneelse 16y ago
      I believe the last time I saw this retort on HN, someone pointed to some "how to develop for the kindle" information that Apple is free to use if they choose. Until they do so and Amazon rejects their work, the retort does not hold up.