Tablets & eReaders 2015

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by issybird

It's the difference between shipping it down the block and shipping it 3,000 miles. Jeff'll probably drop yours off on the way home from church.

LOL, so true

Maybe I should invite him in for tea and talk to him about issuing banana credits

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

They're being very selective lately on a lot of things--including who is "qualified" to leave reviews...

Wait, what? What have they been doing on that front? I hadn't heard anything.

I do have to say Amazon has been far more annoying this year than any previous year. It's like they're starting to get cocky. (But at least they don't treat their customers like their employees!)

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

LOL, so true

Maybe I should invite him in for tea and talk to him about issuing banana credits

Lure him in with banana tea, then ask him if he's made any employees cry lately. (Be sure to film his reaction and put it on Youtube!)

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Wait, what? What have they been doing on that front? I hadn't heard anything.

I do have to say Amazon has been far more annoying this year than any previous year. It's like they're starting to get cocky. (But at least they don't treat their customers like their employees!)


Lure him in with banana tea, then ask him if he's made any employees cry lately. (Be sure to film his reaction and put it on Youtube!)

It won't affect most people, but apparently they troll places such as FB or blogs and try to discern if a person "knows" an author. If it is discerned by their measure that you are too close to an author, and you then leave a review, you'll get a note that says "You are not qualified to leave a review." If you ask why, most people are being told that Amazon believes you have a personal relationship with the author. One of my facebook fans/friends wrote to me this week and said Amazon told her she couldn't leave a review of my latest book. I don't have a business FB account, just the one. I'm also assuming it is due to the FB "relationship" as other authors have been reporting this sort of thing. Amazon probably means well. They are trying to cut back on bogus reviews and a lot of people are getting caught in the net. For the gal who wasn't able to leave a review this week, I had also gifted her a copy (for an honest review) for a previous book. That could be the problem (although she was able to leave that review). She's not a professional reviewer or anything, but I don't require professional reviewers and now and then I offer free books in exchange for reviews (we all do and we don't care who wins the book--regular blog follower or stranger in the street, a Martian, etc).


Shrug. I believe Digital Reader (Nate the Great) did a post about it a while back. Lots of arguing over whether it is helping the review process or not. My take on it is going to be a bit skewed as you would expect!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Lure him in with banana tea, then ask him if he's made any employees cry lately. (Be sure to film his reaction and put it on Youtube!)

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

It won't affect most people, but apparently they troll places such as FB or blogs and try to discern if a person "knows" an author. If it is discerned by their measure that you are too close to an author, and you then leave a review, you'll get a note that says "You are not qualified to leave a review." If you ask why, most people are being told that Amazon believes you have a personal relationship with the author. One of my facebook fans/friends wrote to me this week and said Amazon told her she couldn't leave a review of my latest book. I don't have a business FB account, just the one. I'm also assuming it is due to the FB "relationship" as other authors have been reporting this sort of thing. Amazon probably means well. They are trying to cut back on bogus reviews and a lot of people are getting caught in the net. For the gal who wasn't able to leave a review this week, I had also gifted her a copy (for an honest review) for a previous book. That could be the problem (although she was able to leave that review). She's not a professional reviewer or anything, but I don't require professional reviewers and now and then I offer free books in exchange for reviews (we all do and we don't care who wins the book--regular blog follower or stranger in the street, a Martian, etc).


Shrug. I believe Digital Reader (Nate the Great) did a post about it a while back. Lots of arguing over whether it is helping the review process or not. My take on it is going to be a bit skewed as you would expect!

I can agree they probably have good intent, but that just comes off as creepy to me. I'd rather risk more bogus reviews than them stalking customers online to try to catch cheats.

I wouldn't think the free book thing would be a problem at all as long as she made sure to say she got a free copy to review. I've seen lots of reviews on Amazon saying that.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I can agree they probably have good intent, but that just comes off as creepy to me. I'd rather risk more bogus reviews than them stalking customers online to try to catch cheats.

I wouldn't think the free book thing would be a problem at all as long as she made sure to say she got a free copy to review. I've seen lots of reviews on Amazon saying that.

Yes, that is the idea behind giving them away for review and we expect people to say that in their review (most do). But I completely agree. I don't really know how Amazon determines that I'm too friendly with someone, but I sure as heck don't like them trolling the internets trying to find out! It's more than a little creepy. I stopped leaving reviews there because ... creepy!!!

[tubemonkey]

I can't review anybody's books, because I found out I was related to all authors via Adam and Eve

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I can't review anybody's books, because I found out I was related to all authors via Adam and Eve

That's quite the "family tree" you swing from there, monkey...

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I can't review anybody's books, because I found out I was related to all authors via Adam and Eve

I thought it was just because you tripped their "totally bananas" filter.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I thought it was just because you tripped their "totally bananas" filter.

No, no. I think it's "The more bananas the better!" for their filter...

[Manabi]

If anyone likes jigsaw puzzles, there's several puzzle apps free on Amazon's app store right now. These normally run $1.99 each:

• Art: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• Art: Gustav Klimt
• Art: Paolo Uccello
• Art: Thomas Eakins
• Barcelona
• Caterpillars
• Dragons
• Horses
• More Cute Puppies
• Musical Instruments
• Rainbows
• Wild Flowers

The same developer also has a bunch that are free all the time, but these may have ads in them.

[booklover6]

The Fire Phone has dropped to $130, and still includes a year of Prime. Lowest price, yet, I think!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by booklover6

The Fire Phone has dropped to $130, and still includes a year of Prime. Lowest price, yet, I think!

It's the lowest price I've seen yet. For Prime members, it amounts to $31 for a pocket tablet. The Fire Phone is over a year old (Jul 14). So maybe a new one is just around the corner?

[booklover6]

Now the Fire Phone is unavailable. Seems as though Amazon is done with this phone.

[tubemonkey]

Reports are surfacing that Amazon has laid off engineers involved with the Fire Phone:

Amazon reportedly lays off Fire Phone engineers

It appears Amazon is taking a break from making smartphones. The tech giant has reportedly laid off several engineers tied to its failed Fire Phone as it re-evaluates its plans for developing hardware.

Amazon. According to The Wall Street Journal, the online retailer cut multiple engineers tied to its secret hardware development center Lab126. Amazon also postponed several other projects including a large-screen tablet. Amazon has proven successful with hardware, notably its Kindle line of e-readers and tablets. However, the Fire Phone failed to grab consumers' attention.

Nate also has a piece on this over at the Digital Reader:

Amazon May Have Fired the Fire Phone Team, But They’re Hiring Elsewhere (Videos)

Amazon is sending mixed messages of late about its hardware projects. On the one hand, we have leaked reports of mass layoffs, while on the other hand I have also uncovered recruitment videos.