Amazon's New Plan to Pay Authors Every Time Someone Turns a Page • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon's New Plan to Pay Authors Every Time Someone Turns a Page

#51

Post by dTal » Sun, Jun 21, 2015, 5:58 PM UTC

Twirrim wrote: post #50

hdevalence wrote: post #3

Why is it acceptable for Amazon to be able to record every time someone turns a page?

They already know what books you're reading (because most of them have been purchased through amazon), and you're worried about them knowing what page you're on?

I am worried that an action as unimportant, intimate and personal as the turn of a page in a book, which previously required no expenditure of mental energy whatever, suddenly becomes an action with potentially global consequences. A passive action - reading something - becomes an active action (causing money to be sent to the author). I feel this is a fundamental change in the nature of the interaction.

Re: Amazon's New Plan to Pay Authors Every Time Someone Turns a Page

#52

Post by Bluestrike2 » Mon, Jun 22, 2015, 2:13 AM UTC

hdevalence wrote: post #3

Why is it acceptable for Amazon to be able to record every time someone turns a page?

They also record the amount of time spent on each page and use that to predict the total reading time remaining.

Privacy issues aside, there are a number of really amazing tools Amazon could provide authors/editors/publishers if they were willing to share this data with them. The ability to pinpoint where readers either skip ahead or pick up the pace would offer editors a remarkable glimpse inside how readers approach a given story. It'd be even more useful if those insights could then be applied to help with editing unpublished manuscripts in the future. Compared to the present, where editors are forced to make what are often judgment calls on plotting, having hard data to look at would be a remarkable benefit.

Re: Amazon's New Plan to Pay Authors Every Time Someone Turns a Page

#53

Post by freyr » Sun, Jun 28, 2015, 9:08 AM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #22

freyr wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's the device they're offering, the version of the content they're offering, and the service they're offering. If you disagree with this practice, you're free to not accept the offer. It's as simple as that.

Just because people are free to refuse it doesn't mean we must find it acceptable and refrain from criticizing it.

Of course you're free to criticize it, but declaring it "acceptable" or "unacceptable" without justification isn't particularly helpful.

Re: Amazon's New Plan to Pay Authors Every Time Someone Turns a Page

#54

Post by freyr » Sun, Jun 28, 2015, 9:10 AM UTC

gdy wrote: post #34

freyr wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's the device they're offering, the version of the content they're offering, and the service they're offering. If you disagree with this practice, you're free to not accept the offer. It's as simple as that.

It doesn't make it acceptable.

No, it is acceptable.

See? Random people declaring something acceptable or unacceptable without justification isn't particularly helpful. If you want to explain why you find it unacceptable, that might actually be interesting to someone.

I don't mind Amazon knowing how far into a book I've read, if it allows them to better compensate the authors of quality books and helps them penalize the authors gaming the system. However, if you want to keep your reading habits private, I can sympathize with that. An opt-in/opt-out option might be a good compromise in this case.

Re: Amazon's New Plan to Pay Authors Every Time Someone Turns a Page

#55

Post by gdy » Sun, Jun 28, 2015, 10:38 AM UTC

freyr wrote: post #54

gdy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't make it acceptable.

No, it is acceptable. See? Random people declaring something acceptable or unacceptable without justification isn't particularly helpful. If you want to explain why you find it unacceptable, that might actually be interesting to someone. I don't mind Amazon knowing how far into a book I've read, if it allows them to better compensate the authors of quality books and helps them penalize the authors gaming the system.…

By your logic drug, arms and organ trade also become acceptable.

As for Amazon, don't you think it is enough to make first, say, 10% pages free? If other 90% is junk then there are reviews for that.