Hacker News Reader

>Amazon also is in the interesting position of probably being able to disrupt literally all commercial and retail business in the next couple years

I agree, but replacing a diverse range of suppliers with a monopoly is not a positive form of disruption in my view

View on HN

Right, while disruption is theoretically good for consumers, the major effect I've seen from Amazon over the past 15 years is that nearly every physical bookstore around me has closed. I would prefer a world without Amazon to a world without bookstores.

Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. I was having a discussion earlier today. It seems like a choice between the publishing cartel and Amazon. Amazon is probably better for just books, but for everything else, I'm uncomfortable with the potential monopoly.

I boycott non-free books and culture. I'm very leery of Amazon, too, but I don't have a policy for them yet.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com