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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2011 > January > 05 > Entry
What Amazon.com doesn’t want you to know…
Amazon.com has completely transformed the business of selling books. That’s good and that’s bad.
That is good because I can order a book from Amazon and have it in my mailbox within 48 hours. That’s fast enough for me. Users of Amazon’s proprietary eBook reader the Kindle can get books from Amazon downloaded to their devices much quicker than that. 48 hours works for me. Kindle users can get new books in about 48 seconds.
That is bad because their brutal efficiency, limitless inventory, fabulous customer service, vicious pricing strategies, quicksilver shipping, state of the art website, and vast economies of scale are factors contributing to the virtual extinction of a now rare species; the independent bookstore. The marketplace is unforgiving. But that still makes me sad. Heck, Amazon has helped push the mega-chain Borders on to the ropes. Borders is struggling to compete. They don’t have their own eBook reader like Barnes & Noble does and there are even rumors that Border’s might be considering a bankruptcy filing. It’s that bad.
Regular readers of this blog know how much I love Amazon. That I think it is a fabulous company. That I follow Amazon’s business closely. And Amazon has some issues. You might recall my coverage of their customer reviewing system over the years. Harriet Klausner, their #1 customer reviewer, supposedly reads and reviews an absurd number of books. Not possible. Yet there she remains, enshrined as Amazon’s top gun, reaping all the benefits that go with that ranking.
You see Amazon does have some vulnerabilities. Their customer review system can allegedly be gamed and manipulated. A recent book, THE DAY THE KINDLE DIED, explains how this can be done. The author claims that he was able to do it and how he did it. His book that explains how to game Amazon’s ranking and sales numbers was actually being sold through Amazon’s website. That’s one problem with being the 3 trillion ton gorilla in the room. Stuff happens. Fleas can scamper about unheeded.
Amazon must have finally figured out that they were actually helping to distribute this naughty little book that supposedly reveals how their customer reviewing systems and sales rankings could be manipulated. Picture a 3 trillion ton gorilla finally noticing the tiny bites of an almost invisible flea. So Amazon did what you might expect. They pulled the offending book off their website. They censored it. They have no comment. Gorillas can ignore fleas. Or crush them. Or simply stop selling their books…
To read more about it click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: in the Amazone
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By Danny
January 27, 2011 4:05 PM | Link to this
to victor mickunas: I get everything free from torrents!:) movies music videos games and e books;) kickasstorrents
By victor mickunas
January 11, 2011 7:06 PM | Link to this
So, you love your Kindle? Are we to assume that you also love paying Amazon for downloads on to their proprietary product? Your comment seems to imply that you are opposed to price gouging. Correct? So where are you obtaining the content for your Kindle??
By Mark from St Paul
January 11, 2011 6:11 PM | Link to this
I thought about this post today when I was reading how the Supreme Court just allowed a lawsuit to move forward against the recording industry for price fixing (wasn’t it AMAZING how everyone kept CD prices up around $14-17 for so many years?). Amazon has the right idea, and it won’t be long before someone sues the publishers for price fixing of a different sort: artificially inflating digital prices to keep dead tree books alive. As a former bookstore owner (briefly) I feel for all the people being dislocated by bookstore closings, but there aren’t many stores selling 8-tracks anymore either. Wikileaks has shown that digital is unstoppable. If the U.S. State Dept. and CIA can’t stop online publication of our secrets, how can the publishers or Amazon stop people from accessing books online? At any rate, I’m still loving my Kindle and am just settling into my fourth book of the new year.