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Originally Posted by fjtorres
"The consumer point of view?"
Which consumer?
Are you proposing that all consumers are interchangeable? Have the same needs, same tastes, same biases, same budgets?
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Of course not. Are you proposing that the lack of a feature that only makes a product more useful is somehow a benefit? Even if only some consumers will benefit from it doesn't make its absence a feature.
Quote:
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Is a Porsche Cayenne failing because it doesn't offer the fuel economy of a Honda Fit or the manure-hauling capacity of a Dodge Ram? Is a Tesla failing because it offers a single speed transmission instead of five, six, or eight gears?
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Absolutely. The low MPG of trucks is a failing. The small capacity of a Fit or Fortwo is a failing. The high cost of Rolls Royce is a failing. It is then up to the individual consumer to decide which trade-offs they are willing to live with.
The
Kindle product has shortcomings. All products have shortcomings. I'm not arguing that people are stupid to pick a Kindle with its failings, rather than a Nook with its failings. I'm not arguing that those shortcomings aren't to Amazon's financial advantage. But when I pick a product, I choose it based on its features, shortcomings, price, and their impact on
me. I don't benefit from a feature of "makes the rest of Amazon even more profitable".
If Amazon considers lack of library lending a feature, maybe they should put that on their boxes. Hmm - they don't.