Jeff Bezos issues humble apology over pulled Kindle title

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants you to know he's really, really sorry for pulling Nineteen Eighty-Four off of our Kindles. In fact, the guilt expressed in this public apology is comparable to a modern day Dimmesdale -- he may have even seared a mark into his flesh for all we know. The short message calls the company's "solution" to what happened "stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles," adding that he and the company "deserve the criticism we've received." Look Jeff, we're still gonna be appalled by these beyond the pale actions even if you say it won't happen again... but if you really need a hug, we'll be here.

[Via New York Times]

[D3rwin Posted Jul 25th 2009 2:06AM]

I, for one, thank Ross Miller for making me go out and look up what "beyond the pale" means.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 25th 2009 3:29AM]

I don't see what the big deal is. If you purchased something illegally (even if you didn't know it) the police have the right to confiscate it... and you probably won't get a refund. Amazon discovered someone did something illegal by putting the book online without permission. So they removed it...and refunded you. Not a big deal. The fact that they even have that capability in the unit...just shows me they were smart and forward thinking. Now if they had removed it without a refund...

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 25th 2009 3:56PM]

1. Talk's cheap
2. Actions speak louder than words
3. Will these promises last longer than the $9.99 Kindle book price limit? [about a year]

[ZeroCorpse Posted Jul 27th 2009 4:38PM]

As a Kindle owner, I see no problem with the way this was handled. It wasn't censorship; It was a recall, and they did give people their money back.

And here's news for the non-Kindle owners: We can download books from Amazon directly to our PC hard drive, where they sit untouched by Amazon. If I had that copy of 1984, I could simply re-sync via USB and turn off wireless while I read it. Or I could use the refund to re-purchase a legitimate one, or better yet, I could go to Project Gutenbeg and get another copy in Mobi format for free. NO BIG DEAL.

As a former bookseller, I can say that book recalls do happen. It's regrettable, but if the retailer can request the books back, they will, because the publishers will hammer them if they don't.

OJ Simpson's book was recalled on the day it hit store shelves because the Goldmans won their cease & desist order. Copies that were sold were requested to be returned to the retailer for a full refund. It happens. It's not censorship; It's business.

I still love my Kindle 2. I accept Bezos' apology, because I've dealt with Amazon customer service, and they work HARD to please their Kindle customers. They're certainly a lot better than dealing with customer service for the Sony e-reader, unless you speak the "condescending" dialect of Hindi, and like long waits on Sony's phone menu system.