A little more about amazonfail

[nancylebov]

My previous two posts were a little sloppy-- I need to watch it if I get that caught up in a conflict again. Getting angry or giddy doesn't mean epistomology 101 no longer applies.

I think one of the things driving the technical problems was a sub-cultural mismatch. Some people think it's the right thing to use blunt language about sex and other people think it's equally obligatory to use euphemisms. The latter group still has a good bit of social dominance.

Comments

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting observation. I definitely agree with your final twosentences.

[jim-p.livejournal.com]

The Onion concurs with your last sentence :) (http://www.theonion.com/content/news/renowned_hoo_ha_doctor_wins_nobel)

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Good observation. The second group also seems to think they have moral superiority even if they are thinking about, or talking about, the same thing, but the euphemism somehow excuses them. "The F word" being the most obvious case.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Have you seen what archangelbeth posted about the Amazon brouhaha?

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Not till I followed your link.

The problem is, amazon's losing the sales ranks (they may be restarting books at 0) isn't some sudden little mistake made by one person-- the process started gradually back in February.

On the other hand, amazon is amazingly decentralized, so I can see how a bad idea can spread without getting noticed.

I await further developments.

[zenlizard]

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090414/ap_on_hi_te/books_amazon_s_glitch

excerpt: On Monday, Amazon spokesman Andrew Herdener called the deletions an "embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection."

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

>Some people think it's the right thing to use blunt language about sex and other people think it's equally obligatory to use euphemisms

And still other people think it depends on the time, the place, the purpose, and the intended recipients.

(Also, whether by "blunt language" you mean "correct medical/anatomical terms" or "gutterspeak.")

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about "porn" vs. "erotica". "Porn" isn't elegant, but I don't think I'd call it gutterspeak.

[avram]

"Porn" is high-class talk! It's got classical Greek roots!

[avram]

I think a big part of the problem is that Amazon wants to be all things to all people. They want to sell sexually explicit books and videos and sex toys, but they also don't want to drive away the people who might be offended by seeing sexually explicit books and videos and sex toys. In other words, effectively they're ashamed to admit that they're selling some of the things they're selling. Right there, that's a difficult problem to deal with.