Amazon was amazingly unfortunate that the two books it was asked to withdraw were by Orwell. Any journalist or PR operative worth their salt could have told them this was a nightmare waiting to happen. From a story perspective it was perfect.
But two things could really harm Amazon in the longer term. Firstly Bezos didn't actually rule out doing this again, or at least not as firmly as his customers would like. It raises the spectre in the minds of potential buyers that maybe lashing out hundreds of dollars on a Kindle isn't such a good idea.
But more importantly existing Kindle owners are still furious. When it comes to e-readers for once the bookish sorts are in the vanguard of a technological wave.
You don't buy a Kindle unless you read a lot of, and presumably value, books. Most are the kind of people who, on entering your house for the first time, won't check out the gadgets or the decorating but the bookshelves. They have large libraries of books and look after them.
So the idea that a bookseller could, as one owner put it, sneak into their house overnight and take back a book they had bought is an anathema. Getting their support is going to be a long, hard road.
24 Jul 2009
