# Open letter to Amazon **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557 "2019-12-08T17:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/1 "2019-12-08T17:08:53Z")
Two things, Amazon: 1. For Christ’s sake, get your streaming service working properly. First, everything we tried to stream failed to load the first time: “Sorry, we are unable to stream your video at this time. Please try again later.” Not fucking helpful. And now things load properly (hooray!), but at about the one-hour point, they Just Stop, and we’re looking at a grey screen. You’d think the biggest fucking retailer on the planet could manage to hire somebody to get their streaming system, you know, the system they’re pinning their FUTURE on, to actually fucking work. 2. When I search for something, and the first page of search results is over half “sponsored links” that aren’t anywhere near what I want, that counts as a Search Engine Failure in my book. Just knock off with the fucking annoying Sponsored Links and show me what I want, already. Jesus H Christ. At some point, this gets to be annoying enough that people go elsewhere to buy stuff. EBay doesn’t do this shit. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/2 "2019-12-08T17:18:06Z")
Also, STOP listing movies and then “NOT AVAILABLE”. Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/3 "2019-12-08T20:57:40Z")
How hard would it be to produce a Kindle Paper White or Oasis with a wireless (or even wired) remote page turn control, Amazon? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/4 "2019-12-08T21:09:12Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > First, everything we tried to stream failed to load the first time: “Sorry, we are unable to stream your video at this time. Please try again later.” Not fucking helpful. And now things load properly (hooray!), but at about the one-hour point, they Just Stop, and we’re looking at a grey screen. You’d think the biggest fucking retailer on the planet could manage to hire somebody to get their streaming system, you know, the system they’re pinning their FUTURE on, to actually fucking work. Are you sure this was a problem on Amazon’s end, and not your internet? > [@](#): > > When I search for something, and the first page of search results is over half “sponsored links” that aren’t anywhere near what I want, that counts as a Search Engine Failure in my book. Just knock off with the fucking annoying Sponsored Links and show me what I want, already. Now this I can get behind. > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > How hard would it be to produce a Kindle Paper White or Oasis with a wireless (or even wired) remote page turn control, Amazon? I’ve never encountered this idea before, and I can’t decide whether it’s brilliant, dumb, or somewhere in between. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/5 "2019-12-08T21:20:39Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > How hard would it be to produce a Kindle Paper White or Oasis with a wireless (or even wired) remote page turn control, Amazon? The Kindle Oasis also has page turn buttons. I don’t know why you would want a wireless or wired remote page turn control for that. I can picture that for, well, nearly any other e-book reader, though. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/6 "2019-12-08T21:38:41Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > The Kindle Oasis also has page turn buttons. I don’t know why you would want a wireless or wired remote page turn control for that. I can picture that for, well, nearly any other e-book reader, though. For those with limited arm/hand mobility. For those who read not by holding the Kindle in their hands, but by using a tablet holder, leaving hands free. There seems to be quite a bit of interest for this, and I’ve seen schemes that enable it, but it usually involves “jail-breaking” the Kindle. I don’t like that. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/7 "2019-12-08T22:40:31Z")
Also - stop screwing around companies like Birkenstock! How big can this open letter be? ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/8 "2019-12-08T23:06:08Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Also - stop screwing around companies like Birkenstock! > How big can this open letter be? it’s the pit: big as you want 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/9 "2019-12-08T23:09:43Z")
heh I’m sure our comadre kopek has a list longer than anyone else’s … since he works for them … mine is id wish they let me use PayPal credit to buy stuff with … ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/10 "2019-12-09T00:39:49Z")
I wish they’d quit sending me new offers on books that have absolutely no link to books I’ve ordered in the past. I actually quit ordering books 3 or 4 tears ago. I still get email updates from them. Yes I’ve unsubscribed. I go look on Amazon for something and it starts up again. Maddening. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/11 "2019-12-09T05:16:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Are you sure this was a problem on Amazon’s end, and not your internet?.. Doesn’t happen with Netflix or Hulu. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/12 "2019-12-09T07:37:33Z")
Here’s my problem with all streaming services. It seems they give top priority to desk top/laptop steaming. All the other devices get second billing. I say this because anytime a streaming services starts to give me problems, I’ll switch over to desktop and the problem is resolved. This still sucks though because internet browsers do not support surround sound. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/13 "2019-12-09T11:35:05Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > heh I’m sure our comadre kopek has a list longer than anyone else’s … since he works for them … Based on pictures provided, either kopek is our compadre or she’s the Bearded Lady. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/14 "2019-12-09T13:46:38Z")
Here’s another complaint: Why no shopping cart for Kindle books? ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/15 "2019-12-09T15:49:47Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Here’s another complaint: Why no shopping cart for Kindle books? I have very few complaints with Amazon, and they’re all at the level of annoyances. This would be one. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/16 "2019-12-09T16:04:46Z")
Next year I’ll probably look elsewhere for Christmas shopping. Every purchase I’ve made since Black Friday has shown up late. A couple of items may not arrive by Christmas which were “next day” delivery. (It should have been called “next year”.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/17 "2019-12-09T16:09:38Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Just knock off with the fucking annoying Sponsored Links and show me what I want, already. Jesus H Christ. At some point, this gets to be annoying enough that people go elsewhere to buy stuff. EBay doesn’t do this shit. That’s not entirely true; I often see eBay list items which are only tangentially related to my search parameters. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/18 "2019-12-09T16:21:57Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > I have very few complaints with Amazon, and they’re all at the level of annoyances. This would be one. Oh, I agree. There is nothing that chaps my butt enough to cause me to stop using Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/19 "2019-12-09T16:28:37Z")
Stop recommending books to me that you know I’ve already read. You know I’ve read them because I checked them out from you. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557/20 "2019-12-09T17:04:25Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > You’d think the biggest fucking retailer on the planet could manage to hire somebody to get their streaming system, you know, the system they’re pinning their FUTURE on, to actually fucking work. Let’s ignore how big they are as a retailer for a second, look at how big AWS (Amazon Web Services). That’s their cloud computing side. They’re so big, Netflix stores their movies in Amazon’s cloud and streams it from there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-amazon/844557.md?page=2)