Amazon Takes Our Advice, Offers Cash to Kindle Users

Remember back in July when Amazon ironically re-enacted a scene from the novel 1984 by deleting all the copies of 1984 from its users' Kindles?

At the time, Rick and I discussed the implications of that in Guy Vs. Guy: Amazon Parties Like It's '1984.' I'm happy to say that they did almost exactly what I told them to, making me an incredibly powerful and influential member of the media elite.

Here's what I'm talking about. At the time, Rick, a shameless corporate shill, wrote this:

Rick: I agree that nowhere in the license agreement does it say Amazon gets to delete material from your Kindle whenever the mood (or copyright infringement) strikes. But it does note that content is "licensed to you," not "sold to you." Guess Amazon gets to revoke that license anytime they want. The good news is that they won't do it again, at least if you believe a recent statement from a company spokesperson. But I suspect most people will remember the crime, not the apology.

Then I replied: Too little, too late. At this point, Amazon needs to atone. An appropriate gesture might be offering $25 gift cards to every customer who was digitally pick-pocketed, and hope that people remember how quickly Amazon got its act together and apologized with its wallet.

Well, it turns out that Amazon took my advice last week and offered $30 to anyone affected. Actually, they offered to restore the lost book (and user annotations) or a check for $30 -- which means you could take the check, buy a copy of the book, and still have money left over for a decent lunch. Personally, I'd take the check.

Photo by surfstyle