Jeff Bezos has posted an apology for deleting books from Kindles:
This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.
July 26, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Between him saying this and Obama calling the Gates thing “stupid” I’ve been enjoying reading stupid in the media more than ever before.
July 27, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Much too little, Mr. Bezos.
The fact that he didn’t say, “it’ll never happen again,” reinforces my resolve to never buy a Kindle.
I am currently evaluating the Sony 505 (too bad the 7xx died on the vine), and am also investigating other alternatives that meet my criteria: what I buy, I own, forever.
What Bezos doesn’t get is that he violated the concept of ownership and he exposed the Kindle for what it is: a device for leasing books. I’m smelling another “PlaysForSure” moment.
If any meatspace business did what Bezos’ thugs did, it would be called ‘breaking and entering’ and/or ‘theft’. There would be some jail time involved, or at least probation.