Amazon is nobody's friend

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Crusader

This is a very interesting article with regards to Amazon and their business practices.

http://www.hellnotes.com/amazon-is-n...0KuLrg.twitter

Some interesting points are made and there are connections I didn't know about.

I'm not going to waste my time reading and article that started with such a silly title.

Business are business. No company wants to be your friend, not even the one I work for. They exist because they provide some service to you, and users invest or spend money on those services. Some people like Amazon, others do not.

In my opinion, and based on the 10 years I have as a customer with them, Amazon has a fantastic service! They changed the reading world with Kindle (yeah, regardless of who came with a similar idea before, they just knew how to integrate that with the online bookstore) and they keep providing useful services and competitive prices.

Be sure that if Amazon was not on the position it is now, another one would be. B&N, Borders, whatever.

People tend to forget that the business world is not about favors or "making friends". It's about providing a service!

If tomorrow Amazon stop giving me the good service is giving me now, or the online bookstore reduces its amount of computer books, I will look away, that's for sure.

I have a Kindle because is a good value for its price, not because "Amazon is my friend"

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I believe that's Jeff Bezo's great, great grandfather!

Jeff Bezos is a descendant of Abraham Lincoln? Who knew?

[Scott Nicholson]

I love Amazon. They've put me IN business, not out of business!

[bminata]

Amazon has been nothing but good to me.. from the days of print to these days of ebooks. Kindle has been a godsend to us overseas readers. Not only it has saved me a lot of doughs with better price and no shipping cost, it has made a much wider selection available.

OTOH publishers and agency model has only make things harder and more expensive for us consumers. I simply cannot understand consumers who side with them, unless they're not really consumers but "consumers."

[replica145]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I believe that's Jeff Bezo's great, great grandfather!

Don't be ridiculous. It's obviously Bill Cosby

[frahse]

Amazon does a great job.

Yes there can be improvements. Adding the libraries to their repertoire is one. And now it is done.

Next, I would like to see more formats. In particular, I would love to see the [[ .LIT ]] FORMAT added. I have collected many books in that format because that is what I like to use best on my computers.

So, anyway, "Good job, Amazon!"

[frahse]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

Who is your avatar?

RDaneel54,

that is a picture of Thomas Jonathan Jackson as a young man.

History knows him as General Stonewall Jackson.


At VMI, before the War, "he taught natural and experimental philosophy (related to modern day physics and including physics, astronomy, acoustics, optics, and other scientific courses)."

"On the battlefield, he was brilliant, audacious, and unflinchingly courageous,..."

[OtterBooks]

really more of Patton fan myself. "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."

[frahse]

I forgot to mention that I got my second package of the week from Our Friend Amazon.

I received an email that they had shipped my order of

Potable Aqua Water Treatment Tablets ($6.26)

on 9-20.
They came by UPS on 9-22.

9-20-2011 (7:03 PM) shipped notice
9-22-2011 (2:00 PM - approx) received.

free 2 day delivery
free shipping

It pays to have a Friend like Amazon!

[bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I'm not going to waste my time reading and article that started with such a silly title.

Business are business. No company wants to be your friend, not even the one I work for. They exist because they provide some service to you, and users invest or spend money on those services. Some people like Amazon, others do not.

Bravo! Like you, I am a big fan of Amazon and have been a customer of theirs for years.

I chose not to get a Kindle because I preferred the features of the Sony, but I continue to buy plenty of other stuff from Amazon in the US, UK, France and now and then, Germany.

I don't care for Amazon's position on sales tax in the US. If they can charge me the appropriate VAT for my purchases from the various European branches, then they have the software to do the same for sales taxes within the 50 states and base it on the shipping address, just like they do here in Europe. (And I note that if I did buy Kindle books from Amazon.com they, too, include the appropriate VAT in the prices.)

But that's their business decision to make and they seem to want to get their corporate lawyers to fight the sales tax issue, so fine and dandy. As long as they continue to offer stuff I want to purchase at good prices and with excellent customer service (almost unheard of here in France!) then I will continue to buy from them.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I'll have to return your words:

You're right. I'm wasting time and talking to a


I'm done. I got real friends to meet. Baltimore Book fair, here I come!

[Harry_Y]

Originally Posted by frahse

That is certainly one way to look at it.

So the very first person to enter this thread which is entitled

"Amazon is nobody's friend"

could have said "you're right" and that would have been the end of it.

Harry_Y you should have been quicker and saved us 7 pages of comments so far.

On the other hand, someone named "nobody" might have differed.

Actually I really like dealing with Amazon and many times
will deal with them over dealing with the vendor directly.

If you have a problem they seem to step right up to
get it taken care of quickly and a painless as possible.

[MrsJoseph]

Nobody loves me,

Nobody cares,

Nobody picks me peaches and pears.

Nobody offers me candy and Cokes,

Nobody listens and laughs at me jokes.

Nobody helps when I get in a fight,

Nobody does all my homework at night.

Nobody misses me,

Nobody cries,

Nobody thinks I'm a wonderful guy.

So if you ask me who's my best friend, in a whiz,

I'll stand up and tell you that Nobody is.

But yesterday night I got quite a scare,

I woke up and Nobody just wasn't there.

I called out and reached out for Nobody's hand,

In the darkness where Nobody usually stands.

Then I poked through the house, in each cranny and nook,

But I found somebody each place that I looked.

I searched till I'm tired, and now with the dawn,

There's no doubt about it-

Nobody's gone!

-Shel Silverstein

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by frahse

Amazon does a great job.

Yes there can be improvements. Adding the libraries to their repertoire is one. And now it is done.

Next, I would like to see more formats. In particular, I would love to see the [[ .LIT ]] FORMAT added. I have collected many books in that format because that is what I like to use best on my computers.

So, anyway, "Good job, Amazon!"

Yeah, but considering how MS has officially killed off the format, I do not see any other reader adding support for it.

[mlewis78]

Silly article. As so many people here have said, Amazon is a business. They are a monopoly, but as long as they keep their book prices low, I'm a customer. Their customer service is the best. And since I've had my kindle (3 yrs.), I have other sources of books and don't need to buy many paper books or Kbooks from them.

When they become ONLY store, the prices will go up. Until then, I like them and will use them.

While Amazon has contributed to the demise of certain brick & mortar book stores, Barnes & Noble killed the independent book stores in my city a long time ago.