As Prop Joe would say in The Wire: "Let me understand you." So I buy an ebook from Amazon. They decide, for whatever reason, that it's being withdrawn. So it then disappears from my Kindle without so much as a by your leave. Oh yes, they refund my dosh, but that's not quite the point, is it?
I blogged a while back about Amazon's unerring ability to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to PR, and I haven't bought from them since the row over GLBT books suddenly disappearing from the rankings. This latest mystery of the disappearing ebooks doesn't make me inclined to return.
There's a distinct sense of irony here that the books immediately affected are 1984 and Animal Farm. George Orwell is presumably performing stall turns in his grave.
Amazon are claiming that the editions of both books were unauthorised. I'd say that was a case of 'caveat seller'. You sold it, someone paid for it, transaction over. Remove the books from the catalogues, not from people's hardware. Otherwise, where does it end? "Ugh, that idiot's got no taste – they've just bought the new Patricia Cornwell. Quick, erase it while they're asleep."
OK, so that's being a tad silly. But if my local bookshop sells me a book at the wrong price, that's their problem. As others have pointed out, they can hardly break into my house, take the book back and leave the money on the table (not least because they'd never find the book or the table buried beneath my avalanche of books).
Amazon have, up 'til now, done a slick PR job (makes a change) by turning the Kindle into a must-have gadget. There's no sign of it in the UK yet, and I shan't be rushing to buy one if and when it does. And before I get yelled at for being a grumpy old Luddite, it's not because I'm against ebook readers, because I'm not. I actually rather like the idea of storing all these books electronically and saving myself from being crushed by the books piled all around the house. And just think of being able to go on long train journeys with just one electronic device and not a pile of paperback.
My understanding of the Kindle – and someone correct me if I'm wrong – is that when it's full, you start deleting books to make space for new ones. Yep, fine, but what happens to the deleted ones? Presumably once it's gone, it's gone (rather like the Orwells). Or do you have a little repository on Amazon where you can go and reload later if you want to?
I want an electronic device that holds the equivalent of the British Library, can be read in dull light, in bright sunlight and in the bath. I want to be able to mark my place without resorting to shopping receipts and old rail tickets. And I want this device to be mine and well away from retailers' sticky mitts. I don't want to feel that Big Brother really is watching me.
