Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Are you seriously suggesting that Amazon don't have the right to distribute books in whatever format they wish to do so? The very fact that - as you pointed out yourself earlier in this thread - Amazon do have a large market share of the eBook market would suggest to me that, contrary to your assertions, Amazon's customers are happy to stick with their proprietary format, and that open formats are not high on the average customer's agenda.
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I think the market-share point is partly projection, but consider this sentence:
“Are you seriously suggesting that Microsoft doesn't have the right to make users use whatever browser Microsoft has built into Windows. The very fact that Windows has such a broad user base suggests that people are more than happy to use whatever software Microsoft has implemented”.
I admit that this is not a 100% match but close enough to warrant validity.
On another note: I generally find the hysteria surrounding big corporations irritating and that goes for both sides. Why is it that no user on this board can display his frustration (from real or imagined reasons) with big business practices and not be harassed (yes I think this is what is happening) by other users who are generally happy with what Amazon/Apple/Microsoft etc are doing? Is the identification with these super-symbols of the marketplace really that strong or that necessary that criticism like notimps provokes so many clearly personal reactions?
I see that Amazon can be credited with breaking some of the power of the big publishers but I also see why, precisely to gain more control over streams of goods and money. So I find it naive to even attempt portray as some kind of liberator (if any liberation came from Amazon, I am pretty sure that its primary goal was to liberate themselves from the constraints that other parties impose on them, disregarding if these constraints have any validity themselves).