Currently browsing Posts Tagged “amazon”
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Remember how I linked to the Kindle Single follow-up to Friday Night Lights? Yeah, it’s not on Amazon anymore Why? Because most people doing business on the internet are kind of dumb. (It should be back on Amazon sometime tomorrow.)
Mr. Bissinger wrote the e-book for Byliner.com, one of a number of fledgling companies trying to make a go of it by publishing long-form works — not as long as a traditional book, but longer than most magazine articles — for digital readers. Mr. Bissinger thought the e-book, priced at $2.99, would be a great way to pay tribute to the relationship while also helping Mr. Miles, by giving him a third of the proceeds.
But the plan hit a pothole after Apple, which had been looking to get into shorter works in a digital format, decided to include e-books in a promotion that it does with Starbucks. It selected Mr. Bissinger’s digital sequel as a Pick of the Week, giving customers a code they could redeem online for the book. (Mr. Bissinger said he still received a royalty of $1.50 for each copy sold.)
Amazon interpreted the promotion as a price drop and lowered its price for “After Friday Night Lights” to exactly zero. Byliner withdrew the book from Amazon’s shelves, saying it did so to “protect our authors’ interest.”
Inside the Amazon warehouse during the holiday season.
If you live in Canada and have a friend with an Internet connection and a credit card, chances are you’re getting either a calendar, Star Wars Lego, or a book by a Giller Prize nominee. Trust me, I know.
Also coming to the Kindle, classic text adventure games.
Not sure how long this will last, but the Kindle versions of all of Kurt Vonnegut’s books are now on sale for $3.99 each.
Amazon’s letter to the record labels shows that they really are going to take a stand on cloud-based music. (Which, of course, will help Apple take over the category sometime this summer.)
Cloud Drive is a general online storage service for all digital files, not unlike Google Docs, Microsoft SkyDrive and any number of other internet file back-up services. It’s your external hard-drive in the cloud. It requires a license from content owners no more than those other internet file back-up services do and no more than makers of external hard drives for PCs do.
Cloud Player is a media management and play-back application not unlike Windows Media Player and any number of other media management applications that let customers manage and play their music. It requires a license from content owners no more than those applications do.
It really is that simple.
Is Apple about to fuck up my ability to read Kindle and Kobo books on my iPad and iPhone? Looks like
Is Apple about to fuck up my ability to read Kindle and Kobo books on my iPad and iPhone? Looks like it.
Kindle Singles are like really long blog posts for your Kindle.
Eight stupid Amazon products with impressively sarcastic reviews.
What motivates Amazon’s hardcore raters?
Klausner, on the other hand, ranks around 700. Only about 70 percent of readers have rated her reviews as helpful. Some, in fact, believe she’s lying about having read that many books, calling attention to month-long spurts during which she averaged about 20 reviews per day. All of her reviews are either four or five stars and could be written after having read a jacket cover, her critics have said, with one going so far as to launch The Harriet Klausner Appreciation Society at harriet-rules.blogspot.com, a group blog for those who decidedly do not appreciate Harriet Klausner.
I wish I could speed read. Or even read at an average pace, for that matter.
Chuck Klosterman essays (all previously published in his books) are now for sale in the Kindle store
Chuck Klosterman essays (all previously published in his books) are now for sale in the Kindle store for $0.99 each. They’ve also grouped some together based on theme. If you haven’t read, you’re better off just buying the books for under $10 each. [via]
Amazon bought Woot.
I know I say this every time I find a picture of an adorable kitten, but please set aside 20 minutes to carefully read this entire email. Today is a big day in Woot history. This morning, I woke up to find Jeff Bezos the Mighty had seized our magic sword. Using the Arthurian model as a corporate structure was something our CFO had warned against from the very beginning, but now that’s water under the bridge. What is important is that our company is on the verge of becoming a part of the Amazon.com dynasty. And our plans for Grail.Woot are on indefinite hold.
Rick Moody on Kindles is the best review of the Kindle that should have been written like a year ago. [via]
Times Magazine looks at reviews on Amazon. (And don’t forget the previously linked Best of Amazon’s One-Star Reviews.)
The best of Amazon’s one-star reviews. [via]
The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
“This is not the Beach Boys. It can’t be. Why? No beach songs!”
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
“My teacher always talks about the Beatles but they have no lyrical skills, my cousin Rodney is a better song writer than these clowns. I think they should remix these songs with 50 Cent or Snoop, then they’d really get some fans behind them.”
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
“Too nautical for me.”
The Shawshank Redemption
“The escape through the sewer is an obvious symbol for anal sex”
Amazon bought Zappos. For $800-million.
We plan to continue to run Zappos the way we have always run Zappos — continuing to do what we believe is best for our brand, our culture, and our business. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are switching out our current shareholders and board of directors for a new one, even though the technical legal structure may be different.
Kindle book pricing is a curious thing. (Note: The Kindle is still not in Canada. Fuckers.)
Slate explains how the Kindle will change the world. (It could start by making itself available in Canada. I was anti-Kindle right up until some guy let me play with his at SXSW. Now I must have one.)
Didn’t see this coming (he said in an overly sarcastic tone): Pirates of the Amazon Too. There’s no way Amazon is keeping this script off the web. I installed it, and I don’t even use bit torrent.
A few days ago some Dutch guys released a GreaseMonkey script that added Pirate Bay download links to products while you surfed Amazon. I was going to link to it, but didn’t. Anyway, they got hit with a takedown notice from Amazon and have complied. Now there are all kind of crazy questions being raised about art and piracy and media consumption. [some via]
