How Amazon Kills Books and Makes Us Stupid

6 pages. The main argument: Without altruistic publishers and book store personell/owners, people won't buy smart books and stick to the mindless drivel of bestsellers. Because mere customers couldn't recommend those pinnacles of literary achievement, there's no other way to drive sales (book critics?) and the Amazon book recommendations just are a vicious circle towards the biggest sellers.

I've heard similar arguments before, which is why Germany still has fixed prices on books. Without declaring them damaged, any book that is in print will got at the listed price, no discounts possible. The reasoning behind this: By keeping the bestsellers more expensive, publishers can fund the literary masterminds.

All such thinking is astonishingly patronizing and reeks of a general "we know best" mentality. Books beyond bestsellers can go "viral", but apparently all those books will just be dumb, pulpy entertainment.