, from oldest to newest:
Hi
I too loved his post. But something about it caused me to stop and think about another thing entirely.
When following his book links they took me to the items at Fatbrain. This pissed me off as I am so used to just adding books to my Amazon wishlist immediatly if they sound good - it's my default "bookmarking" technique. I have nothing against Fatbrain, having purchased books there rather than at Amazon in the past. Its just that a habit has formed based on Amazon's wishlist service and most people's convention of linking to Amazon
What does this mean?
Angus
Posted by Angus Fraser @ 04/22/2001 06:51 PM pst
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it means you like using your amazon wishlist, and you don't want to run two wishlists.
I noticed it too, and didn't click because it was fatbrain. Instead I saved the post, figuring I'd return later.
No big-- you certainly can't expect the individual to offer links to multiple places to buy the book; indeed he was already generous to offer links to one place. Perhaps he's annoyed wiht my reading list, becuase it links only to amazon.
This is starting to sound like my personal site post-- maybe the net is making us lazy because everything is so convenient and so personalized, if anything doesn't work, we are immediately outraged.
Posted by christina @ 04/22/2001 10:15 PM pst
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Wasn't Clifford Nass the man behind Microsoft Bob? I remember seeing him speak at CHI a few years ago and he took his lumps for that one.
As for linking to FatBrain rather than Amazon, I'm glad to see *someone* link to someone other than Amazon. There's a sizable contingent out there that resents Amazon for its stand on software patents, an issue that directly affects usability (the most offensive one was when they forced Barnes & Noble to remove their "buy in one-click" button because Amazon has a patent on one-click buying on the web). Your next interface may infringe on a software patent, and if it's owned by Amazon, they may stomp you. See http://www.noamazon.com/ for alternatives to the patent monsters at Amazon. If *anyone* should be aware of the actions of Amazon, it's the IA-community, because their actions in this area have such direct impact on what we do.
(Personally, I stopped buying from Amazon a few years ago when the screwed up every single order I placed at Christmas time. This was the cause of some embarassment when friends asked if I had really meant to send them the books they received, and I wrote Jeff Bezos a letter on actual pulped dead trees. One of his minions contacted me by e-mail and promised the moon and the stars to make it up to me, but they never followed through.)
Posted by Ralph Brandi @ 04/23/2001 12:01 PM pst
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