 |
 |
 |
|
Rope-a-Fed
In his latest DaveNet, Dave Winer proposes a way to settle the Microsoft case, concluding with some questions: Do big corporations have a role as technology goes forward? If so, what is their role? What would you be willing to give up to have open and fair competition in all aspects of technology? What do you think? My answer is here. Word spreadage
So here's a chance to revoice just a few my conflicts about Amazon (in other words, all I have time for, which is zero, but I'll raise the number a bit). First, I oppose Amazon.com's patent strategy; although I support Jeff Bezos' efforts to change the system. I also appreciate his recommendation of The Cluetrain Manifesto in his Open Letter on Patents. Second, I sympathize with local community bookstores whose sales are clobbered both by Amazon and by "big box" retailers like Barnes & Noble and Borders. I've heard that both of Palo Alto's landmark stores — Printers Inc. and Stacey's — blame Amazon more than the big guys down the street. Printers Inc, a fabulous store, almost went out of business recently.
But I have to say that Amazon is doing an amazing job of advancing conversation about books. Look at the level of reader involvement throughout the Amazon site and tell me these guys aren't far more deeply involved in that conversation than any other book merchant on Earth. It doesn't have to be that way. Any brick (or click) & mortar book store could do the same. Instead nearly all have reached critical ennui. Even some of the best, like Fatbrain. Jakob Nielsen's Designing Web Usabilitygets nine reader reviews at Fatbrain, a geek-oriented site. Meanwhile, it gets eighty-two reader reviews at Amazon. It's a bestseller at both sites. There are conditional exceptions. I'm fond of Kepler's (a bookstore in Menlo Park, California where Cluetrain hit #1 in hardcover bestsellers not long ago), and Wordsworth (a similar fixture in Cambridge, Massachusetts). But neither seems as deeply connected with its communities on line as they are on premises. This is understandable, of course, but still seems like a missed opportunity to me. Anyway, here's how Cluetrain looks as of Noon today —
Speaking of Jakob, I got an email from him a few days ago, suggesting I not provide certain links: On page http://doc-weblogs.com/ you have a link to "Sam Whitmore's column on the same topic " When following this link, I am faced with an authentication dialog box, since the column is for members only. In general, I recommend either not linking to password-protected pages or at least placing a warning next to the link to let people know what to expect. In the email conversation that followed, we came up with a new word for password-protected pages: linkwall Since Business Week's linkwall is impenetrable without a subscription, I followed Jakob's advice in the list above. And if anybody can show me a bookstore site that features a high level of reader involvement, I'll be glad to spread the word.
|
