4 ms·

Amazon Knows How Many Times You Read that Sex Scene, You Pervert

38 points by iProject 14y ago

teraflop 14y ago
It's not like Amazon is making any secret of this: https://kindle.amazon.com/most_popular/highlights_recently https://kindle.amazon.com/most_popular/highlights_recently Speaking of which, I wonder what to make of the fact that 23 of the top 25 highlighted passages are from the Hunger Games series. Are they that much more popular than everything else in the Kindle catalog? Or are their readers just more likely to use the highlighting feature?
- larsberg 14y ago
  I assume it's because they're both popular and free to borrow via the lending service if you're an Amazon Prime member. IIRC, up until a few months ago, the free Jane Austen e-books dominated the top highlighted passages.
- _delirium 14y ago
  On the Kindle best-seller list (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/154606011/ref=zg_bs_nav_kstore_1_kstore http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/...) the Hunger Games books are currently at #10, #12, and #13, but they've been in the top 100 consistently for over two years (674 to 775 days, depending on the book), so I wouldn't be surprised if they're even higher on the all-time sales list.
aristus 14y ago
Netflix knows how often I replayed the first 5 minutes of The Invisible Man, too. :) This is more concerning: https://kindle.amazon.com/post/192I0Q7B1DRFJ https://kindle.amazon.com/post/192I0Q7B1DRFJ Apparently notes and highlights can be made public, with your name attached no less, and they are indexed by search engines. As soon as I saw that I rummaged through my Kindle settings (app on iPad, v 2.85) but couldn't find an option either way.
- dhimes 14y ago
  It looks like this page on their website allows you to control public-ness: https://kindle.amazon.com/your_reading https://kindle.amazon.com/your_reading
AznHisoka 14y ago
Calling me a pervert is redundant. All human beings are perverts. At the end of the day we just want to see attractive perfect human specimens naked.
- cglace 14y ago
  You don't believe there are degrees of pervertedness?
  - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
    I wonder if pervertedness means anything. Why is it seen as "bad"? Perhaps there's an evolutionary motive, a basic biological reason for it. I suppose an obsession with sex is not always in nature's interests.
  - ido 14y ago
    More importantly, why is being sexual perverted?
    - antidoh 14y ago
      It's not, unless you're in the United States.
  - FuzzyDunlop 14y ago
    It would be dependent upon culture, and the point at which it considers a sexual practise to no longer be 'normal'. Sex before marriage, or masturbation, could be perverted in some cultures, but completely normal in others. I wouldn't personally classify reading an erotic novel (be it a Mills & Boon novel, or 50 Shades of Grey) as particularly perverse. That so many people seem to enjoy these suggests to me they're fairly normal.
- idupree 14y ago
  99% or so of humans experience sexual attraction. I have a couple friends who don't experience sexual attraction. If "pervert" insinuates "weird", then they're weird for not being weird... Isn't our sex-phobia funny. Also, I/we needn't have just one fundamental motivation. I would also kind of die if my sense of curiosity was taken away from me. That doesn't make me better or worse than uncurious people, just different.
veyron 14y ago
Is there any way to disable this?
- dhimes 14y ago
  maybe: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184957 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184957
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
dfc 14y ago
Is it just me or should the title be "Amazon Knows How Many Times You Highlighted That Sex Scene"? The article at BB and the WSJ never discusses Amazon tracking reading habits, however it does mention that the Nook collects this data. Betabeat should be ashamed of themselves, the title is much worse than harmless linkbaiting...
- brown9-2 14y ago
  Well, which headline will get more views? That's the only explanation needed here.
jpalomaki 14y ago
Combine this with the recently covered technology that determines user's pulse by using the camera.
flashingleds 14y ago
You know how sometimes you buy a second hand book and some jerk who owned it previously went through and underlined every second sentence, presumably for an assignment or some such? The default behaviour on the kindle seems to be to show me underlined phrases from everybody on every book. I love the device, but was supremely happy to learn how to switch that junk off.

38 points by iProject 14y ago

It's not like Amazon is making any secret of this: https://kindle.amazon.com/most_popular/highlights_recently https://kindle.amazon.com/most_popular/highlights_recently Speaking of which, I wonder what to make of the fact that 23 of the top 25 highlighted passages are from the Hunger Games series. Are they that much more popular than everything else in the Kindle catalog? Or are their readers just more likely to use the highlighting feature?

larsberg 14y ago
I assume it's because they're both popular and free to borrow via the lending service if you're an Amazon Prime member. IIRC, up until a few months ago, the free Jane Austen e-books dominated the top highlighted passages.
_delirium 14y ago
On the Kindle best-seller list (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/154606011/ref=zg_bs_nav_kstore_1_kstore http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/...) the Hunger Games books are currently at #10, #12, and #13, but they've been in the top 100 consistently for over two years (674 to 775 days, depending on the book), so I wouldn't be surprised if they're even higher on the all-time sales list.

aristus 14y ago

Netflix knows how often I replayed the first 5 minutes of The Invisible Man, too. :) This is more concerning: https://kindle.amazon.com/post/192I0Q7B1DRFJ https://kindle.amazon.com/post/192I0Q7B1DRFJ Apparently notes and highlights can be made public, with your name attached no less, and they are indexed by search engines. As soon as I saw that I rummaged through my Kindle settings (app on iPad, v 2.85) but couldn't find an option either way.

dhimes 14y ago
It looks like this page on their website allows you to control public-ness: https://kindle.amazon.com/your_reading https://kindle.amazon.com/your_reading

AznHisoka 14y ago

Calling me a pervert is redundant. All human beings are perverts. At the end of the day we just want to see attractive perfect human specimens naked.

cglace 14y ago
You don't believe there are degrees of pervertedness?
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  I wonder if pervertedness means anything. Why is it seen as "bad"? Perhaps there's an evolutionary motive, a basic biological reason for it. I suppose an obsession with sex is not always in nature's interests.
- ido 14y ago
  More importantly, why is being sexual perverted?
  - antidoh 14y ago
    It's not, unless you're in the United States.
- FuzzyDunlop 14y ago
  It would be dependent upon culture, and the point at which it considers a sexual practise to no longer be 'normal'. Sex before marriage, or masturbation, could be perverted in some cultures, but completely normal in others. I wouldn't personally classify reading an erotic novel (be it a Mills & Boon novel, or 50 Shades of Grey) as particularly perverse. That so many people seem to enjoy these suggests to me they're fairly normal.
idupree 14y ago
99% or so of humans experience sexual attraction. I have a couple friends who don't experience sexual attraction. If "pervert" insinuates "weird", then they're weird for not being weird... Isn't our sex-phobia funny. Also, I/we needn't have just one fundamental motivation. I would also kind of die if my sense of curiosity was taken away from me. That doesn't make me better or worse than uncurious people, just different.

veyron 14y ago

Is there any way to disable this?

dhimes 14y ago
maybe: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184957 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184957

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

dfc 14y ago

Is it just me or should the title be "Amazon Knows How Many Times You Highlighted That Sex Scene"? The article at BB and the WSJ never discusses Amazon tracking reading habits, however it does mention that the Nook collects this data. Betabeat should be ashamed of themselves, the title is much worse than harmless linkbaiting...

brown9-2 14y ago
Well, which headline will get more views? That's the only explanation needed here.

jpalomaki 14y ago

Combine this with the recently covered technology that determines user's pulse by using the camera.

flashingleds 14y ago

You know how sometimes you buy a second hand book and some jerk who owned it previously went through and underlined every second sentence, presumably for an assignment or some such? The default behaviour on the kindle seems to be to show me underlined phrases from everybody on every book. I love the device, but was supremely happy to learn how to switch that junk off.