06-22-2009, 12:07 PM | #1 |
Now what?
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Amazon - Big Brother or Benefactor?
Wow - I've just had the most (to quote Arthur Dent) mind boggling experience - courtesy of Amazon. I had purchased a Kindle copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the one with the movie tie-ins - interviews, etc) a long while back - in fact it is still on my K1. This edition was pulled several times after my purchase for "formatting issues" and then re-offered for sale. I never bothered to return for a refund or re-download it.
When I read the edition on my K1 earlier this year, the main problem was in the sections of the books that were formatted in italics - many of the words were run together - apparently the scanner/editor couldn't reliably distinguish word breaks in text formatted in italic fonts. Annoying - but no big deal for me - I just kept the muddled version on my K1 for re-reading. Well, today (cue drum roll) when I went into my "Manage Your Kindle" section of my account on Amazon, I saw H2G2 listed as waiting to download onto my K1. So I fired up the K1 & Whispernet - and lo and behold - a spanking new copy of H2G2 is now on my K1. I've scanned some of the italicized sections - not all yet - and the run-on problem seems to be fixed. Sha-zam! I don't know whether to be happy or afraid. I didn't ask for the new download. I hadn't complained about the formatting in the old version, or asked for a refund. And - the old version that was on my K1 is now gone. I suspect the new download overwrote the old file. Anyone else have this happen to them? Wonder if we'll get new versions of the Hobbit, and other books that were similarly recalled for formatting problems. Zowie! |
06-22-2009, 12:14 PM | #2 |
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Hehe, just take it for what its worth. Amazon can be a strange little bro.
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06-22-2009, 01:41 PM | #3 |
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Somewhere along the line, I seem to recall Amazon saying something about updating books as editions changed. I have no idea if they meant electronic editions (perhaps for formatting issues) or print editions (an interesting issue where textbooks e.g. which may go to new editions annually are concerned). Food for thought.
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06-22-2009, 10:11 PM | #4 |
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I had a similar experience with Stephen King's "The Stand". I turned on my whispernet while I was eating lunch to look around in the Kindle store when I noticed "items downloaded" pop up in the top left corner. As I don't currently subscribe to anything, I was curious to see what it was, thinking perhaps it was an update to the firmware. I was glad to see that they finally got around to fixing the error in "The Stand". At least I assume that it was because they fixed the error in the file that caused my Kindle to lock up when I was 90% finished with the book. I'll check on it and report back.
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06-23-2009, 08:24 AM | #5 | |
Now what?
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Quote:
Anyone get a new Hobbit yet? My copy (it was the original "Tha Hobbit") made my K2 lock up repeatedly. |
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06-24-2009, 06:41 AM | #6 |
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The problems that originally plagued the Kindle version of "The Stand" seem to have been resolved. I did have to find my way to the point I left off when it went awry, but it moved on through to the end with any further difficulties.
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10-15-2010, 01:49 PM | #7 |
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What Amazon seems to be doing now is emailing customers that there is an update, and waiting until they actually email back requesting the update. I've done this for a couple of books.
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