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Comment by paulgb | Hacker News Reader

> The paperback edition of Brad Stone’s “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” — a book Amazon disliked so much it denounced it — is suddenly listed as “unavailable.”

I like a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy but couldn't the book just be... unavailable? If they wanted to impede its distribution why are they still selling the Kindle, Hardcover, and Audio versions?

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> I like a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy but couldn't the book just be... unavailable?

Its unavailable in the sense that Amazon doesn't make it available -- so it is, literally, unavailable from Amazon. Strictly speaking, this is not inaccurate, it just doesn't mean what people who trust Amazon's comprehensiveness are likely to think it means, as its not unavailable from the publisher, which is why its also not unavailable through other retailers.

There is at least a century and a half of precedent for using the term "Out of Stock."

I think I was pretty clear that the tactics at issue in the article are misleading, even when they might not be strictly inaccurate.

If being misleading-while-technically-not-inaccurate is a principle that Amazon wants to stand up for, that's up to them. There are other places to buy books, and in the future maybe publishing houses will think twice about handing them exclusives and such.

It's unavailable in the sense that you can actually buy it now. I just did. That is, in the sense that it is available. And right now the claim made is demonstrably false, if not a deliberate lie.

Seriously people you need to confirm your facts. Not everything you read in the papers is true.

It's definitely unavailable right now, for me. Glad you were able to order it, but your ability to do so once doesn't mean many people aren't prevented.

It is not.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/The-Everything-Store-Bezos-Amazon/dp/0...

"For several months, Amazon has been quietly discouraging the sales of Hachette’s physical books by several techniques — cutting the customer’s discount so the book approaches list price; taking weeks to ship the book; suggesting prospective customers buy other books instead; and increasing the discount for the Kindle version."

There is no physical shortage.

Wait, you're telling me that the book is available elsewhere (like the barnes & noble website), but not amazon? What's stopping average joe to go to a different seller and buy it there?

If Amazon doesn't want to sell something, even a book, that is entirely their right.

Which of the 5 words don't you understand? "There is no physical shortage".

That's true. However, making a JK Rowling book completely unavailable? That's incredibly suspicious. It's pretty much a guaranteed bestseller.

That book is still a preorder, so a lot easier for Amazon to play games with. If they aren't selling it on release date, that's a much bigger deal.

Both books are, actually. The paperback edition for Brad Stone's book is going to be released in October.

Wouldn't the censorship then be too obvious ? It's best to make it sufficiently inconvenient and/or expensive.

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