Email this article   Print article 

Amazon CEO's Kindle Apology Met With Praise, Thanks

By Chad Berndtson, CRN July 24, 2009
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' apology for Amazon's unceremonious removal of George Orwell books from the Kindle store and customers' Kindle devices was met with a mixture of praise and guarded appreciation by posters to Amazon's Kindle Community Forum.

In case you missed it, Bezos took to the forum and called the action a "painful mistake" on Amazon's part, saying Amazon "deserve[s] the criticism it receives."

"We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission," Bezos wrote.

Overall, reaction to the statement from Bezos, who posted that official Amazon apology Thursday afternoon, was positive, with more than 200 posts expressing thanks for his candor and swiftness in admitting a mistake.

"That took a lot of courage, Mr. Bezos. Still a very loyal Amazon customer here," said "Bryan L. Wheeler." Added "Scott Books," "Thanks. It wasn't that big a deal anyway."

"While it might have been handled better I think you did the right thing for an immediate fix. I'm glad you are thinking of new ways to fix this in the future to keep the privacy-hungry part of the public happy and show that you aren't the 'draconic' company they keep thinking you are," wrote "Drukustal."

Said "Gables Girl": "I saw nothing wrong with what was done since they were illegal, but I thought the way it was handled was not up to Amazon standards."

It was precisely that handling that landed Amazon in hot water. Amazon removed George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm because they're still protected by copyright in the United States and were uploaded to the Kindle store by a third-party service, MobileReference. But it did so essentially without telling Kindle users the hows and whys.

Credit Bezos for knowing full well that damage control was in order -- another week of bad Big Brother jokes and more serious rumination on how Amazon managed its digital content on Kindle wouldn't have been good for Amazon or its popular Kindle devices.

But get used to that kind of scrutiny, Mr. Bezos -- Kindle has a big fat target on its back, and from Barnes & Noble to Google, some pretty big players are poised to fire arrows.


Email this article   Print article 
The Channel Wire




CHANNEL SERVICES >>