Told you so. Six months ago Stephanie at UrbZen pointed out the downside of the web-based Kindle digital book reader, the ability of the content provider to alter the text without warning or reader agreement. Her concerns were echoed by Nicholas Carr.
Amazon decided to demonstrate this principle by making digital copies of George Orwell’s 1984 disappear from devices after readers had paid for and downloaded them. Could any book be more appropriate? Here’s some initial coverage:
“Orwellian Amazon kindles Big Brother fears,” Sydney Morning Herald
“Amazon’s Orwellian Instincts,” Faster Times
“Amazon Apologizes For Its ‘Big Brother’ Move on Kindle,” Switched.com
“Why did Big Brother remove paid-for content from Amazon’s Kindles?” The Guardian
“Amazon.com Sorry For Stealing Your Kindle Books, Being Creepy,” Gawker
“Bezos apologizes for Amazon’s Big Brother move,” Baltimore Sun
“Amazon boss sorry for ‘stupidly’ wiping Kindle eBooks,” PC Pro News
“Who Took My Book? E-Book Readers Kindle Debate Over Digital Rights,” Wall Street Journal
“Amazon’s ‘1984’ Deletion From Kindle Examined,” NPR
“Amazon boss Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle e-book confiscation,” Entertainment Weekly
“Amazon Apologizes For Kindle Flap,” Information Week
“Amazon Chief Says Erasing Orwell Books Was ‘Stupid,’” New York Times
Top image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here (and Big Brother here). Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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NotionsCapital 
July 27, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Nicholson Baker delivers the definitive smackdown of the Kindle in the new issue of the New Yorker.
A New Page: Can the Kindle really improve on the book?