[DISCLAIMER: This is totally a joke, I just couldn't think of anything better to write about.]
Dear Amazon Book Section,
I don't quite know how to put this, and I hope that this comes across as lightly and gently as intended....But you seem to be swaying my moral compass.
No offense, you are awesome. You provide for me in ways that many others just cannot. You give me everything that I need without having to leave my house. You save me the trouble of hassling with finding a parking spot and mid-day traffic, and sometimes you are even kind enough to ship to me for free.
Sometimes, when I don't exactly know what I'm looking for, you suggest things to me that you know I like. I don't even have to ask. You have my back with birthday gifts (my mom loved the Oprah book by the way), and you even did your part to provide literary picture books to my unborn nephew (he's alive now, but he still can't read.) You also helped me laugh in the face of the campus bookstore by slicing their prices more than in half and still making it to my door before my first reading quiz of the semester.
You are all around a great deal, and that's why I appreciate you. You make my life easier, you're gracious and you're cheap.
But lately I've found myself wondering, how can something that feels so right be so wrong?
Amazon books, you don't really care about me. You don't even know me. You wine and dine me with your shipping options and your "best books of the month" section, but this is all about the money for you, isn't it?
You don't devote yourself to filing books, building beautiful displays in the front of your store, or that "fresh book smell," do you? You pretend to know what I like with your subtle suggestions but they are merely piggybacking on my last purchase. There are people that care about me out there, Amazon Books. They wake up every morning, put on their vests and drive to work to service my literary needs, and you? You spend your days selling everything from lawn mowers to cooking aprons all while simultaneously pretending to care that I was interested in purchasing Tiger Lily just last week.
I've been warned about things like you all my life. You're no better than those credit card companies or free paid vacation callers. You're all profit with no warm embrace. But man, you're cheap.
See you next semester.
Sincerely and guiltily yours,
Andrea.
I agree with your post. Amazon makes us think that its personalization is beneficial to us, but really it does not have us in mind at all. Though Amazon is cheap, it is not the same a bookstore where we can sift through rows of books and smell the pages. Bookstores cater to readers. Amazon caters to consumerism and our buying culture. Unfortunately, that's just the way things are headed in our society. I loved your post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with this also! I think Amazon is great, but at the same time I hesitate to buy books from there because I think I can get the same book from a bookstore instead. This is not to say that I will be paying more, because I probably will, but knowing that I'm helping someone put food on their table and seeing that person's face makes me feel better. I also just like the personal connection you get when talking with someone while buying your book.
ReplyDeleteAmazon's personal marketing is really key to it's success. No other company that I can think of is as good as Amazon at online relationship style marketing. You come on the site, they greet you by name, they remember what you like, and offer you things that they think you'll like. I still like the grunt and groan of the store front as well, but I am amazed by the amount of effort that Amazon has to put to get their costs so low that they are able to offer books so cheap and still make a killing in revenues. Amazing.
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