In recent times I have gotten used to ordering pretty much everything on Amazon, from books to bookshelves to coffee makers, blenders, razor blades, magnets, and pretty much anything you can think of. It’s hard to beat the convenience of having my address already in the system, and the free shipping you get with Amazon Prime.
But in these last few weeks, as I’ve become aware of Amazon’s strong-arm tactics in its negotiations with book publisher Hachette, I haven’t ordered anything from Amazon. I don’t think there was a point where I made a conscious decision to do this — it just sort of snuck up on me.
At some point I realized that it felt unpleasant to give my business to a corporate giant while it was ostentatiously bullying a much smaller company. Yes, I know that corporations are fundamentally amoral self-serving entities. But I could always take comfort in the balance of power in that jungle — the fact that competition dictated some approximation, however crude, to a level playing field.
But this was different. Amazon is vastly larger and more powerful than Hachette. There is no parity in this particular fight — I can feel the sense of bullying in my gut.
Amazon claims that it is just trying to get the lowest possible price for its customers, but I find that argument problematic. To me, a healthy and viable marketplace is more important than pushing for the lowest possible price.
I’m not closing my Amazon account. I’m simply waiting them out. At some point I suspect Amazon will realize that its entire customer base is watching, and that many of us are not amused.
There is more that goes out of business with Amazon’s business model. Not just the stores themselves that sell books (and all else) but the places you’d go along the way, that you don’t when you buy online — the coffee, the little shops, whatever that miss your trade.
Sally, on the one hand I agree with you. On the other hand, I think we should be careful not to conflate these issues.
When the horse and buggy became obsolete, various other industries died as well. Yet they were replaced by other industries, the emergence of which introduced new opportunities for employment and new modes of experience.
As legitimately wistful as we might be for what is lost as technologies shift, I think it’s useful to separate that issue — as important as it is to think about — from the different issue of corporate bullying.