Scott Turow on why we should fear Amazon

Hmm, I have been on the fence about the agency vs wholesale model for a long while now. I especially thought it was odd the publishers could actually get away with their behaviour, even when they would have (initially and for a while) made much more money under the wholesale model and significantly benefitted society in the short and medium term.

However, after reading this article, Amazon's canny business approach certainly looks more than predatory when all the different pieces are put together.

I understand now that it is not about book prices at all, but about control of the book industry. There is a large risk that, in the future, by the time the justice system recognised the presence of a monopoly in several areas, it would be far too late and much damage could have been done. So, the publishers and authors chose to take control now.

Unfortunately, that control itself is implicitly predatory, depends on unrealised growth assumptions plus practices, and now subject to scrutiny by the authorities - though given the growth potential of Amazon and Apple, it may be the lesser of two "evils".