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Neil · 07-20-2009, 04:18 PM

Great article at http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4944&tag=nl.e539
reporting on Amazon's shameful deletions from Kindle users. I urge all to read and respond there so Amazon will see that they are losing customers (if they are). My own response was:

Thanks For Having Some Guts

The only thing worse than how Amazon has been acting toward their customers is that the press has not reported it well. This is the first story I have read which indicates that Amazon may not get away with all of their draconian ways. This, of course, is not the first time Amazon has deleted books. It is amazing and their user terms of service need to be class actioned because they would never hold up in court. They really threaten the very future of computing. Suppose I had bought an app for my iPhone. Suppose Apple had been sued or threatened with suit by a copyright holder. Would Apple, simply because they are the hardware manufacturer, have the right to delete that app from my iPhone? What Amazon should have done is to delete it from THIER servers, and emailed all downloaders to ask them to delete their copies and to reply to the email that they had done so for a full refund (with maybe a coupon for a free book too).

There are lots of reasons to despise Amazon at this point:

1) The above delete-your-books situation.
2) Fonts that are absolutely lousy and although there is a well-known font hack that replaces them (and legally so under Adobe's published license agreements) Amazon officially ignore its existence.
3) Screens that have failed in the sun, screens that have failed in not correctly forming characters, screens that are far grayer in the background then they should be -- without one recall.
4) The world's worst DRM. They hide the Kindle's serial number which generates a secret PID. That PID must be there to read the book. So if you buy a Sony next year you have lost all your books. Compare to other DRM schemes which protect using a credit card number so your books can be read on other, future devices.

I loved my Kindle 2 when I got it. Now, thanks to Aaazon's policies, I hate it. It was a gift from my kids so I cannot just eBay it but will get rid of it at some point.

Word to the wise: If you are looking for an eReader the Kindle 2 is probably the best out there and yet the worst choice to buy thanks to its manufacturre's greed and lack of understanding of the most basic consumer priorities.

07-20-2009, 04:18 PM	#1
Neil Addict Posts: 242 Karma: 10932816 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: iPad Mini 6, iPad Air, Kindles HD 8, HD 10, Oasis 3, Scribe, Colorsoft	ZDNet Slams Amazon! Great article at http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4944&tag=nl.e539 reporting on Amazon's shameful deletions from Kindle users. I urge all to read and respond there so Amazon will see that they are losing customers (if they are). My own response was: Thanks For Having Some Guts The only thing worse than how Amazon has been acting toward their customers is that the press has not reported it well. This is the first story I have read which indicates that Amazon may not get away with all of their draconian ways. This, of course, is not the first time Amazon has deleted books. It is amazing and their user terms of service need to be class actioned because they would never hold up in court. They really threaten the very future of computing. Suppose I had bought an app for my iPhone. Suppose Apple had been sued or threatened with suit by a copyright holder. Would Apple, simply because they are the hardware manufacturer, have the right to delete that app from my iPhone? What Amazon should have done is to delete it from THIER servers, and emailed all downloaders to ask them to delete their copies and to reply to the email that they had done so for a full refund (with maybe a coupon for a free book too). There are lots of reasons to despise Amazon at this point: 1) The above delete-your-books situation. 2) Fonts that are absolutely lousy and although there is a well-known font hack that replaces them (and legally so under Adobe's published license agreements) Amazon officially ignore its existence. 3) Screens that have failed in the sun, screens that have failed in not correctly forming characters, screens that are far grayer in the background then they should be -- without one recall. 4) The world's worst DRM. They hide the Kindle's serial number which generates a secret PID. That PID must be there to read the book. So if you buy a Sony next year you have lost all your books. Compare to other DRM schemes which protect using a credit card number so your books can be read on other, future devices. I loved my Kindle 2 when I got it. Now, thanks to Aaazon's policies, I hate it. It was a gift from my kids so I cannot just eBay it but will get rid of it at some point. Word to the wise: If you are looking for an eReader the Kindle 2 is probably the best out there and yet the worst choice to buy thanks to its manufacturre's greed and lack of understanding of the most basic consumer priorities.