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Amazon's 'Kindle' App Updated to Remove Direct Kindle Store Links
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I always get samples via desktop web, then at the end of reading that sample on my iPhone, if I am enjoying the book, I can buy it with just a couple of clicks. One of the best features.
I also prefer the responsiveness of Kindle to iBooks, and that fact that I can lock rotation on my 3G.
I am now going to go away and have a good cry.
I don't know about you but some of use have internally recognised MBA's and run our own companies.
We just don't sell hardware to customers and then make the item they bought less useful to them.
And these companies... do they not seek ways to maximize their profit? I have never seen an altruistic for-profit (and, honestly, non-profit) company before.
Of course... it's what they live for... to make our lives miserable and difficult!
Come on... really????
If you are getting the sample via your desktop, you can get the book via desktop too. Or, get the sample in Safari on your iPhone, don't close the browser, read the sample, go back to browser and buy.
Seriously, don't cry. It's just not going to be that hard. Really. I promise you. You will look back in a few months and wonder why you were so ready to throw your life away.
Live, damn you, live! Don't jump!!
I admit that is an inconvenience.
Question though, given this situation and you like a book you are sampling, would you just decide not to purchase it or buy an iBooks addition, or will you go the browser to purchase the book via Amazon? I'm genuinely curious.
But if the mall allowed you to set up a shop for $0 in rent, and just a $99 application fee, wouldn't you be doing just that?
It's one of the virtues of a Free Market, people!
It's obvious most of us have spent our entire lives only as consumers and haven't acquainted ourselves with the most fundamental principles of commerce.
Apple has invested significantly in creating a platform that, among other things, can be exploited by others to make a buck. Apple probably licensed the software code to enable in app purchases. They are offering their infrastructure for processing said purchases. Therefore, it would be foolish for them to let other companies profit from their investments for free (or too little). Honestly, do you believe Amazon doesn't get a cut when merchants peddle their goods on its website?
Frankly, it's silly that you'd be outraged at Apple. As the customer, you weren't being asked to pay a premium for the goods in question. The sellers simply wanted the highest profit possible even if that meant an inconvenience to you. Are any of them selling the same goods for less $ through alternate portals? Probably not.
Remember, when a company like Apple is profitable, it can afford to improve its products and services. Google doesn't even have a system in place to make online purchases easy.
It's obvious most of us have spent our entire lives only as consumers and haven't acquainted ourselves with the most fundamental principles of commerce.
Apple has invested significantly in creating a platform that, among other things, can be exploited by others to make a buck. Apple probably licensed the software code to enable in app purchases. They are offering their infrastructure for processing said purchases. Therefore, it would be foolish for them to let other companies profit from their investments for free (or too little). Honestly, do you believe Amazon doesn't get a cut when merchants peddle their goods on its website?
Frankly, it's silly that you'd be outraged at Apple. As the customer, you weren't being asked to pay a premium for the goods in question. The sellers simply wanted the highest profit possible even if that meant an inconvenience to you. Are any of them selling the same goods for less $ through alternate portals? Probably not.
Remember, when a company like Apple is profitable, it can afford to improve its products and services. Google doesn't even have a system in place to make online purchases easy.
Happy now Apple? So much for ease of use. This is pathetic.
I guess Barns & Noble should stop charging a certain percentage of a books sale price.
God, you people are laughable.
Go try and sell something on Amazon.com.
Guess what, *they charge money*.
I know, charging money for a service in America, *shocking*.
They don't seek to maximize profits?!?!?!?!?!?!? LOL! Clearly you've never read their licensing (especially business licensing) or read their balance sheets. They each do it a different way but each looks for every way possible to make money that they can get away with.
Because, as we've established, many technophiles have no understanding of business.
No compensation? How about helping sell iPads in the first place! How many people said "I was going to buy a Kindle but then I saw the iPad has the Kindle app..."? LOTS. It's not the sole reason to buy an iPad, but it sure may have helped push more than a few people over the edge.
Funny thing is, I'm probably going the opposite direction this fall - buying a Kindle BECAUSE of the iPad (and indirectly because of this In-App Purchase crap - my concerns that Amazon would stand their ground and Apple would force the app out of iOS got me looking closer at Kindles, and I realized it may be the perfect device for me now. Just waiting for the updated ones that should be a step up from Kindle 3 at this point.)
Apple would have to do something amazing to make iBooks a serious contender.
Well, if B&N charges a percentage high enough that a significant number of books are pulled from their shelfs and only sold via the internet, they might have charged a bit too much.
The analogy does not work that great since iOS is both a store and a usage platform, B&N is mainly only a store.
A better analogy might be a mall with an adjacent fitness center (but with the fitness center being in its own building, built or purchased by the fitness center provider, the mall just providing the entrance, the parking etc.). Of course the mall provides a lot of customers to the fitness center but this also works to some degree the other way around. Now, the mall could also provide the selling of fitness passes or the fitness center provider could do it themselves.
In this case the mall required a certain cut of the sale of fitness passes when bought in the mall (even when those passes might unlock access to a whole chain of fitness centers) and if the fitness center operator refused, prevented them from selling passes on their property, customers have to step outside to another building via the parking lot to buy the passes.
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Thanks for your concern.
I am an extremely voracious reader, and I read everywhere, including the bath (waiting for shower gizmo to support my iPhone and allow me to turn pages).
I download several samples at a time, and having to bookmark 'em all or leaving numerous browser windows open on the phone... it's just inconvenient, dammit!
It is a minor inconvenience, but a wonderful feature while it lasted. I probably will buy it for Kindle because choice (as far as I am aware), and the performance of the app on my aging 3G, is better than iBook. I have the Amazon app on my phone anyhow...
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Thanks for your concern.
I am an extremely voracious reader, and I read everywhere, including the bath (waiting for shower gizmo to support my iPhone and allow me to turn pages).
Oh no... we're going to all be counseling you to leave your phone sitting in uncooked rice for 3 or 4 days, due to a dunking!
Lets see MS has a very strong university support system in place were they give away a lot of their software for cheap to even free. If you want to get your hands on MS dev tools you can get the 1k+ packages for free if you are a student.
Lets not forget the very nice deals that they give universities for upgrades to give to the students. They could clearly charge more for most of that and people would pay it.
MS also is one of the best companies in corporate philanthropy.
Google gives away a lot of their stuff that they could charge for. A lot bigger in the open source development.
Cisco gives away a lot of stuff.
HEB donates huge chunks of food and money to food banks.
Sanuks gives away huge amounts of items.
That list above none of it bring in money. Hell they could kill most of it off and still they would bring in just as much revenue. No one would walk away.
I also know of several companies in construction that I do a lot of things as well. CMC I know has done quite a bit for example and they were a joy to work with.
Apple on the other hand has been killing of its Edu program to well it is crap now and you can almost get a better deal going outside of Apple. Kills off it corporate philanthropy (with a promise to bring it back when the company was doing better.)
Well all the people who thought Amazon was going to make some bold stand are eating crow.
Seems none of the companies think this is a deal-breaker, and simply took the links out.
I for one have owned a Kindle since day one, and have had the Kindle iPhone app since day one, and I have NEVER used the app to make a purchase.
It's business people. That's why Apple can't make an exception. And that's why all the companies complied. Because they can see the simple business sense, which most of you can't.
Seems none of the companies think this is a deal-breaker, and simply took the links out.
I for one have owned a Kindle since day one, and have had the Kindle iPhone app since day one, and I have NEVER used the app to make a purchase.
It's business people. That's why Apple can't make an exception. And that's why all the companies complied. Because they can see the simple business sense, which most of you can't.
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Apple was compensated when Amazon paid for a developer account to publish apps in the app store.