Objectifying Kindle
The following quote is from a less-than-happy owner of a Kindle:
"Amazon owes me a full explanation for deleting, in the dark of night and without prior notice or permission, four titles from my Kindle. Atlas Shrugged, Virtue Of Selfishness, The Fountainhead and Night of January 16th, all by Ayn Rand.
Now that the Company has demonstrated that it not only has the capability, but believes it has the *right*, to delete content from our Kindles at any time at its discretion, Amazon owes Kindle owners a detailed policy statement. I would like to know whether Amazon will set any limits on future use of this blunt instrument, and our rights if we believe the Company has crossed the line."
As it turns out, the Ayn Rand ebooks sold by Amazon were not legal in some way, and so Amazon decided to delete them from the devices of people and give refunds.
While it is nice that they got compensated, it does display the power of Amazon to not only know what you have in your device, but to actively manipulate it with or without your prior consent. It also displays their willingness to use this power. On a different forum, this was described as someone coming to your house and removing your shoes that you bought last week from your feet and giving you a refund because they were discounted too much when you had purchased them from the store.
This is yet another reason to avoid the Kindle and go with the Sony PRS-505. (Kindles are ugly, proprietary, and cumbersome anyways.)
It did tickle me that this person had their Ayn Rand library removed from their Kindle in the "dead of night." Somehow, a mass of people suddenly finding that they no longer have Ayn Rand in their pocket due to capitalistic concerns makes me smile. It is watching Rand's philosophy at work, removing her philosophy from the hands of unwitting consumers who had paid for it. Nope... no freeloading here... pay for it twice! And this time, get it right...
"Amazon owes me a full explanation for deleting, in the dark of night and without prior notice or permission, four titles from my Kindle. Atlas Shrugged, Virtue Of Selfishness, The Fountainhead and Night of January 16th, all by Ayn Rand.
Now that the Company has demonstrated that it not only has the capability, but believes it has the *right*, to delete content from our Kindles at any time at its discretion, Amazon owes Kindle owners a detailed policy statement. I would like to know whether Amazon will set any limits on future use of this blunt instrument, and our rights if we believe the Company has crossed the line."
As it turns out, the Ayn Rand ebooks sold by Amazon were not legal in some way, and so Amazon decided to delete them from the devices of people and give refunds.
While it is nice that they got compensated, it does display the power of Amazon to not only know what you have in your device, but to actively manipulate it with or without your prior consent. It also displays their willingness to use this power. On a different forum, this was described as someone coming to your house and removing your shoes that you bought last week from your feet and giving you a refund because they were discounted too much when you had purchased them from the store.
This is yet another reason to avoid the Kindle and go with the Sony PRS-505. (Kindles are ugly, proprietary, and cumbersome anyways.)
It did tickle me that this person had their Ayn Rand library removed from their Kindle in the "dead of night." Somehow, a mass of people suddenly finding that they no longer have Ayn Rand in their pocket due to capitalistic concerns makes me smile. It is watching Rand's philosophy at work, removing her philosophy from the hands of unwitting consumers who had paid for it. Nope... no freeloading here... pay for it twice! And this time, get it right...