|
What would be a reason for Amazon to provide functionality to permanently delete a book? I can't think of any reason this would be needed, other than Amazon hoping that someone might do this, then regret it, then pay Amazon a second time for their previous purchase.
It seems to me like "delete permanently" is a solution in search of a problem. Sure, it would be difficult to do it accidentally, and you are warned if you attempt it, but why is the option even present in the first place? It would have been easier and cheaper for Amazon to not create the option at all, than to have to code popup warnings and "are your sure?" messages in their software.
If customers asked for this option, it's probably because they were unsophisticated in software mechanisms. What they might have wanted to ask for is "give me a way to clean up my view of existing purchases". But since they didn't know how to express that desire, they ignorantly said "give me a way to delete things permanently". When I was writing software, I almost never gave the customer what they asked for. I always probed to find out what they really wanted/needed, and then negotiated with them on the best way to provide it. Usually they asked for what they asked for because they didn't know any better. Once you dig down and find out the reason they are asking, and address that, they go away MUCH happier than if you just did exactly as they asked without any questioning/analysis.
|