
The hypocrisy of Amazon - raganwald
http://weblog.masukomi.org/2008/12/09/the-hyprocisy-of-amazon
======
ig1
They're doing it because it's cheaper to develop their own app than to pay
vast amounts in commision to someone else's app.

Profitability is the good reason they're doing it. That's the point. They're a
commercial company not a non-profit.

You're free to use a non-profit alternative such as openlibrary.org instead.

~~~
masukomi
If that held up in anything beyond the short term then Amazon would have
killed their associates program years ago. The fact of the matter is that the
associates program may cost them 5% of the sales but they believe it makes
them significantly more profit than they would have without it. And, there is
absolutely no doubt that Amazon has the stats to back up that belief.

I had the same thought as you, but it just doesn't hold up when you think
about it from anything but a short-sighted perspective.

If I were amazon, and people were making apps as cool as Mazo to sell products
for me I would set them loose on the world without hesitation. So what if they
outshine the Amazon built app. Doing so would result in more enjoyment of a
product that drives amazon sales, and provide an extremely cheap form of R&D
for what features they should include in their own mobile app / site.

~~~
allenbrunson
you know, you might have a point. perhaps amazon _should_ open up their mobile
apis. but the language you used in your blog entry isn't helping your cause
any! you are not likely to get people to change their minds by using
inflammatory words like "hypocrisy."

~~~
masukomi
I dunno, thousands of people reading that you're a hypocrite does tend to have
an effect. They have two options: 1) do nothing, and watch mobile phone
developers either move to whatever API steps in to fill the void or go rogue
and use their service without permission or adherence to the rules or 2) open
it back up like it used to be.

I realized that Amazon is the 800lb gorilla but if another book / movie seller
can step in with a competing API before Amazon stops being stupid, they could
steal a significant number of future sales from Amazon.

Also, regarding the use of "hypocrisy" if it weren't true I would agree with
you. But in this case it's not just an inflammatory insult. It's like being
called a "pig f@#$er" if you don't actually have intercourse with pigs it's
just an obnoxious insult. If you _do_ the effects of being called it are
radically different.

I called them hypocrites because, in this instance, that's exactly what they
are.

------
comatose_kid
I developed a site that allows people to access book info via phone
(www.fonefu.com), and was dismayed to find that Amazon rolled out a similar
service with the added competitive advantage of allowing the user to pay for
the transaction over the phone as well.

They should have opened this up - alas, things like this happen when you play
in a walled garden.

