I thought I’d revisit this debate. Wired.com goes into the Amazon $9.99 Boycott story in greater depth here. I mention it again because I’m sure we’re going to keep hearing about this until something drastic happens. What Amazon has to remember is the sophistication of search engines gives consumers freedom to choose where they go shopping online. Consumers can search the globe for the best prices.
If they run into an online retailer like Amazon.com guilty, as mentioned in the linked article, of fixing and changing prices from day to day, (Manipulating market forces some say…) then the consumer is entirely free to click on down the Information Highway to the next online retailer–hopefully there to find more competitive prices. (Perhaps unlocked eBooks too… [Say NO to DRM!])
Amazon.com has already had to cut the Kindle loose of their devious plan to control readers and lock in a consumer base with proprietary formats; if their greed continues to alienate those Kindle owners will the publishers and authors be far behind? Yah?
Publisher websites are already selling their own eBook titles. So are authors. Think about that for a minute and you might recognize the catalyzing force behind the ‘drastic’Â change I mention above. Amazon.com’s ambition for world domination only matters so long as the online eBook retailer is relevant to the discussion.
