Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion [LWN.net]

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

Posted Jul 24, 2009 18:40 UTC (Fri) by dlang (guest, #313)
Parent article: Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

calling the device the Amazon Swindle instead of it's proper name (Amazon Kindle) is a childish act that undermines the credibility of this press release.

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disagree

Posted Jul 24, 2009 19:23 UTC (Fri) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link] (5 responses)

I like it.

Names like Micro$oft or Microshaft are silly and should be left out of PRs, but the Swindle's a good pun for what Amazon's selling.

disagree

Posted Jul 24, 2009 19:29 UTC (Fri) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (4 responses)

why is one way of making fun of companies acceptable and others aren't?

I see all of these (along with Slowaris, Winblows, etc) to all be in the same category. they can be fun, and in discussions are not bad, but have no place in formal communication (and about the only things more formal than a press release are legal documents)

disagree

Posted Jul 24, 2009 19:54 UTC (Fri) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link] (3 responses)

"Microshaft", "Micro$oft", and "Winblows" don't hint at the harm that MS do. They're just cheap insults.

Swindle's a good one because it hints to people that what's on offer isn't exactly what they think.

disagree

Posted Jul 24, 2009 20:40 UTC (Fri) by josh (subscriber, #17465) [Link] (2 responses)

Along similar lines, I've always found "Micros~1" a much more amusing jibe at actual technical shortcomings of Microsoft software, and *patent* technical shortcomings no less.

disagree

Posted Jul 27, 2009 15:55 UTC (Mon) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link] (1 responses)

Yeah, Micros~1 both makes a statement and is accurate at the same time.

FWIW the one I tend to use is MSWormOS, both because it's so accurate, and
as a (rather obscure, admittedly) statement about their claim of trademark
on the term "Windows", particularly when the X Windows System was using
the term way before MS came up with it.

But as my unfree past recedes into history, pretty much everything
proprietary including MS has begun to lose relevance to me, and I don't
care so much any more to make those "immature" references. But I like
yours as it's "MS approved" and thus legitimate in a way the others
aren't, and bears particular legitimacy now that they're making such a big
deal over their LFN/FAT hack patents.

Duncan

disagree

Posted Jul 27, 2009 19:29 UTC (Mon) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

Um, that's 'X Window System', which seems unlikely to be considered the
same trademark as 'Microsoft Windows'.

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

Posted Jul 24, 2009 19:53 UTC (Fri) by HappyCamp (guest, #29230) [Link] (5 responses)

They did not call it the Amazon Swindle.

There are only two instances of "Swindle" in the entire press release.

Once in the press release it says, "... Kindle Swindle's ..." and then it has "... won't be Swindled again"

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

Posted Jul 24, 2009 21:37 UTC (Fri) by ccchips (subscriber, #3222) [Link] (4 responses)

Right - and I think e-book readers are swindles anyway. Take it from someone who got all excited because they might be able to read me a book (which I cannot do on comuter trains because of eyesight and repeatedly being made fun of because of the way I read by the same kind of immature people who come up with DRM...because they know from experience how to be abusive....

..only to find out that I have to jump through hoops to have it, and that my sighted brethren are denied it.

Down with DRM. DRM is fundamentally a swindle, particularly for future generations, who won't be able to access archives because of it.

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

Posted Jul 24, 2009 22:11 UTC (Fri) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (3 responses)

don't equate e-book readers with DRM.

while all of them support DRM, I believe that they all also support non-DRM documents (I know that the Kindle does)

and many of the online stores that sell e-books have them available without DRM. they aren't as high a profile as the one-click ordering through amazon from the kindle, but they are out there.

on my kindle I put about a dozen non-DRM items on it for every DRM item

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

Posted Jul 25, 2009 2:50 UTC (Sat) by felixfix (subscriber, #242) [Link] (2 responses)

Whoa! How do you *know* what Amazon can do with their (not your) Swindle?

The very fact that they can delete not just a book you paid for, but your very own notes that you wrote, is proof positive that you do not own that e-book reader.

You make many implicit assumptions about what Amazon can do with their Swindle. Are you really that naive?

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

Posted Jul 25, 2009 20:04 UTC (Sat) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (1 responses)

as long as someone else can update the software on your machine without you approving the update, they can do anything to your machine.

it doesn't matter if it's a phone, e-book reader, DVR, or general-purpose PC/laptop

it also doesn't matter if the someone else is amazon, microsoft, redhat, or ubuntu.

so if you are worried about what they _can_ do, you need to first disable automatic updates.

only after you do that can you start arguing about any capabilities of their software as it's currently deployed

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion

Posted Jul 26, 2009 0:32 UTC (Sun) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946) [Link]

I would note that automatic updates are NOT enabled by default in a Linux distribution and you do have access to the source code of the updates. The Amazon situation with DRM is hardly the same thing.