Amazon Removes Anti-Amazon eBook

TechEye:

Online book seller Amazon has taken down an ebook which dishes the dirt on its best seller ranking system.

The Day the Kindle Died, detailed a six-month investigative effort to document how it was possible to get into Amazon's best-seller list by faking reviews, promotes inaccurate sales ranking and bestseller lists.

The book was penned by Thomas Hertog who told us that he came up with a cunning plan when he was trying to flog his financial advice book called Wealth Hazards.

Read the whole story: TechEye

Comments

[Leo Bloom]

09:38 PM on 01/05/2011

Um. This website constantly removes comments critical of it.
In fact it'll remove this comment as soon they get to it.
Why the double standard?

[Catherine MacDonald]

10:36 AM on 01/05/2011

Did you know you can now lend and borrow Kindle ebooks with other Kindle owners? Check out the Kindle Lending Club page on Facebook - lots of people lending and borrowing Kindle books there. Discover great new books for free, and share your collection with other book lovers:

http://www.facebook.com/KindleLendingClub

[eric14]

10:54 AM on 01/05/2011

Ah well, there goes the book trade!

[Leo Bloom]

09:39 PM on 01/05/2011

Much easier just to buy a Nook than to go thru these convolutions.

[ChelleAgain]

12:53 AM on 01/06/2011

It's the same lending process and conditions.

[Roger Wilco]

09:59 AM on 01/05/2011

Better check your facts or update--this book sounded interesting, so I went to amazon and ordered it. Just now. 9:00 CST. It was $2.99.

Maybe your piece got them to change their minds?

[kerriberri]

09:20 AM on 01/05/2011

Although I LOVE my Kindle, censorship is an issue that has always given me pause.

Not exactly censorship, but the ability of Amazon OR a publisher OR an author to "update" or "improve" a Kindle book AFTER you've bought it. In other words, statements or entire passages in books can be rewritten, then collectively rebroadcast to all Kindles.

The plasticity of the medium concerns me (ala 1984--the rewriting of history). Remember --quite a while ago-- when Amazon preemptively deleted a book from the thousands who had purchased and downloaded it (a copyright issue had emerged after the sales)?

Imagine buying any politically sensitive book that makes a factual statement. Now, imagine that the publisher is sued, then settles by agreeing to remove such statement from future copies of said book. And further agrees to remove it from the ebook version. Which is done, instantly, and en masse. Suddenly, a fact you know to be true, disappears in an instant.

This issue and the "shared highlighting" that has shown up in my Kindle books is just a little creepy to me. Books that are repositories of our collective experiences are still best left to print. Novels, no big deal.

Just my 2 cents...

[KIVPossum]

10:59 AM on 01/05/2011

I have been thinking about buying an ebook reader and that, along with other things I've heard, keeps me away.

Is there any way you can move a purchased ebook to another device so that you retain ownership of the work you bought?

[kerriberri]

05:10 PM on 01/06/2011

Hello again; when I tried to reply to this a few minutes ago, my message vaporized for no known reason when HuffPost decided to reload the page out of the blue; let's try again:

I don't really know the answer to your question, but I do know that my Kindle books can be backed up to my PC and are readable on other devices. However, I do all my reading on the Kindle itself.

I would STRONGLY urge you to go with an ebook reader (and I do love my Kindle). I wasn't sure that I would like it either, but my husband surprised me on my birthday with one & I would never willingly go back to print only books.

Let me make you a short list of my favorite reasons:
1. Adjustable font sizes. Instant, easy, and a great feature to make sure every book you read is the size YOU want it to be.
2. Instant availability of any book you want, any time of day or night.
3. Shrinking of my library. Although I adore books (I'm a writer), as I'm getting older, I'm enjoying a life of "less is more." I absolutely love the fact that my whole library can reside within the Kindle.
4. Search function--you can search an INDIVIDUAL book or your WHOLE LIBRARY for a certain search function in just seconds. Remember a great quote but can't remember which author or book it came from? Kindle can tell you..More..

[kerriberri]

05:16 PM on 01/06/2011

(Continued):

5. Electronic ink is way easier on the eyes than a backlit screen (like a computer, iphone, ipad, etc.). No more eyestrain & I find the Kindle screen easier to read than the printed page (& I have the original Kindle 2, not the updated versions that are said to have 50% more contrast).
6. Really, really easy to read in daylight outside (which I love to do in spring, summer, fall, to keep Vit D levels high).
7. Lets me take all my reading material into any waiting room and stay fully entertained.
8. Battery life is great; I worried I'd be charging all the time, but I get hours and hours more than I expected between charges.

You really need to take the plunge; I, too, thought I might regret it, but I never have.
Good luck!