http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/ Engadget Comments for Jeff Bezos issues humble apology over pulled Kindle title http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 23rd 2009 11:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
The Kindle needs an architectural change. Firmware, client-server software, the whole thing. Just having a policy not to remotely delete things isn't enough: it simply needs to be impossible for remote deletions to occur. Local storage needs to be truly local, completely under the user's control. The Kindle servers should have write-only, drop-box access to that space and nothing more.

This is serious stuff here. We're talking about the future of books, mankind's record of culture and history, and Amazon is at the vanguard of this shift from physical books to digital books. They're setting the precedents for the future of reading, and they just set a really bad one that's going to need a lot of work to correct.]]>Jul 23rd 2009 11:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
As for K-cups, disgusting. Get a real expresso machine. ]]>Jul 24th 2009 6:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
I don't want to hear "sorry, it won't happen again".

I want to hear: "We will never remotely delete anything without user consent again, ever. Additionally, we will remove the remote deletion capability from the device, and all future devices"

It needs to be impossible for them to remotely delete stuff. Then, I will accept the apology and take the Kindle seriously again.
Until then, it's a huge failure and proof of how the switch to digital can go horribly wrong. Until then I will tell anyone who happens to ask me "DONT BUY A KINDLE!!!"]]>Jul 24th 2009 6:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 12:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
All my purchased books exist on my PC's hard drive, and whether or not the wireless sync can pull them off my Kindle, they remain on my hard drive ready to sync via USB. This is no big deal, and all you reactionary guys who don't even own one really can't give an informed opinion.

It's a great device. The book recall was unfortunate, but people got their money back and they were free to buy a legitimate copy with their refund. Nobody was harmed. No censorship took place, and Amazon can't delete the books you download to your PC hard drive, so they didn't even get all the copies back.

The reaction to this has been a lot of hyperbole.

]]>Jul 27th 2009 4:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 23rd 2009 11:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 23rd 2009 11:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 6:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 23rd 2009 11:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
Remote wiping is a bloody hard-core method of dealing with this problem, but on the other hand, it is either that, or nothing! If you don't wipe them then you are accepting the fact that there will be many copies of the work out there, unpaid-for, and with no money going to the authors slash rightsholders. From an individual's perspective, no problem there; but from Amazon's perspective, when they want the legitimate authors and rightsholders to put books on their store, there is no other option.]]>Jul 27th 2009 12:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 23rd 2009 11:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 23rd 2009 11:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
let's not forget: lawyers make policy. Not humans. ]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 6:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 23rd 2009 11:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 12:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
But only if you called them... and you'd still be without a book ;)]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
But hey everyone, continue to get your panties in a bunch. My Kindle continues to function, and look, I can even get non-amazon titles on there with ease, and back them up to my PC; something many people seem to think cannot be done.]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 1:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 2:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 2:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 12:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
Those principles?
]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
If I wanna pay $9.99 for a book, I'll buy a physical paperback copy. A downloadable version should just be included with the purchase. 1984 is $10.49 for the paperback version, there's almost no overhead costs with digital copies (besides server space), why the hell are they so expensive?

I strongly feel the same about all media. If it's more or less the same price to buy the physical version, why would I bother paying for the digital download?

And now with this kind of bullshit going on, I think I'll stick with my principal.]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
In the 70s and 80s I bought vinyl, and to a lesser extent, cassettes. Then in the late 80's I started buying CDs. I have probably 100 titles on Vinyl AND CD. I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay for a download. And no, I don't have time to rip all my CDs...

My physical book library is over 1,000, and I have no intention of re-paying for digital copies of books I already own, but I will have the digital copy. The only thing I would purchase (if I wanted such a thing) would be the performance version of the book.]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
I have over 1,000 physical purchased CDs (and a few foot deep piles of vinyls and cassettes), 400 DVDs, and maybe 100 or so books.

When I had around 800 CDs, I spent literally months ripping them all to my internal harddrive and backing it all up to an external media device as well. I was multi-tasking, but it was still horrible. I have tons of stuff that is not available for digital purchase or even torrents or sharing.

Not to mention various remasters/reissues/domestic and foreign versions, and I know that the book community is similar with new/foreign editions.]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
These clowns buying music on iTunes make me sick to me stomach especially the ones who bought the DRM versions. They will sell their rights and souls for the simplest of conveniences. They really disgust me.

I also learned that despite paying for a downloaded versions with no physical copy they will not allow a redownload and expect you to do your own backup. With CD, the CD is the backup.

I hate the concept of paying for lossy audio where parts of your music is thrown out by an encoder algorithm. You should get the CD and the download in FLAC should be instantly accessible. That's how to make the music business viable again. ]]>Jul 24th 2009 6:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
Don't even get me started on iTunes!

I'm an independent artist, and part of the deal for getting my band's CDs pressed was "free" distribution though digital downloads, including iTunes (that's another thing, I can't believe people pay people to put their crap on iTunes).

I haven't seen a single cent from them, and do you know why?

We get about 2 cents per download, that's why. It's freaking ridiculous. We don't get a check until the downloads reach at least $20 I believe. Who the hell is going to download our songs for 99 cents each, $9.99 for the album, when they can buy the physical album from our band for $10? We'll even sign the damn thing for you!

I give a ton of my money to Apple for doing next to nothing. Through other digital distribution companies I've received checks, but not Apple.

In the meantime, since I sell our physical CDs without any middleman, we gain around $8.30 for selling a disc for $10, which is light years better than being on any stupid label (i.e. someone on a major label gets like 20 cents per CD, which adds up when you sell millions, but you still have to pay your lawyers and other BS, including the $1 million advance you got from your label to record the album... I'M NOT JOKING THESE KINDS OF FIGURES EXIST AND ARE WHY ARTISTS GO BROKE!).

I encourage our fans to rip/share our stuff (we're in CDDB so you don't even have to mess with the ID3 tags!), and we even put a free live album on our website for anyone to download.

I'm sure the book industry is just as bad. Whoever is collecting for George Orwell is probably getting a check for like $300 in the mail from Amazon when this is all said and done.]]>Jul 24th 2009 2:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
I mean imagine if apple decided that they didn't want you having certain apps on their iphone, or if microsoft remotely uninstalled applications from your pc.]]>Jul 24th 2009 12:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 9:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 1:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
I applaud Jeff Bezos for being able to do something like this.]]>Jul 24th 2009 1:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 1:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 2:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 2:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 2:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 2:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 2:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 4:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
"This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle"

The customers didn't buy them illegally. The customers don't CARE that Amazon sold them illegally. The customers had a book. Amazon deleted their book. The "illegally sold" portion of the 'apology' is unnecessary turn of phrase that attempts to justify Amazon's actions.

I also agree with the other poster that pointed out that Amazon included a remote-wipe capability in the product - so apparently their principles include doing THAT, but not using it?

Right....

How about a real apology now?]]>Jul 24th 2009 7:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/ Oh I am extremely sorry I did this, this will never ever happen again. Judge : Ok Apology accepted, you are free!]]>Jul 24th 2009 9:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 9:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 9:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 9:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
Rinse, repeat. The sad thing is there would still be a large majority of people who probably wouldn't even realize just how insanely wrong this is. I'll guess 50% of Kindle owners who's books were deleted found out there was a credit and just said "OK, at least I got a refund" and proceeded to just go buy another book.]]>Jul 24th 2009 10:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
I remember when the music industry was trying to take a cut of used CD sales, remember that bullshit?!?!]]>Jul 24th 2009 1:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 30th 2009 3:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/Jul 24th 2009 11:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/jeff-bezos-issues-humble-apology-over-pulled-kindle-title/
Let's face it: Amazon is at the mercy of the publishers and their whims. Without their support and approval, Amazon (or any online ebook retailer) would have no ebooks to sell. A bootleg copy of a book appeared on Amazon, the publisher kvetched about it, Amazon had to remove it.

I think if we get honest, what everyone is REALLY complaining about is the nature of DRM and Amazon using it. Well, guess what? If there weren't so many pirates out there downloading copywrited material on torrent sites and whatnot, maybe retailers like Amazon and Apple wouldn't feel as compelled to have DRM on their files. I'm sure just saying that makes me the most unpopular guy in the world (and the fact that DRM even exists makes pirates feel justified in their actions -- and thus, the vicious circle continues), but Amazon and the publishers of the ebooks they sell are just trying to protect their merchandise. I'm sure everyone out there has downloaded something illegally in their time (lord knows I have many times), and it's not the end of the world, but if have, don't be a hypocrite and complain about stuff like DRM.]]>Jul 25th 2009 12:25AM