AMAZON has been a valuable phenomenon.
Almost any book could be bought with a few clicks, after seeing every available version; and it arrived within days. No need then to travel to bookshops and browse. Criticism, especially detailed, referenced, scholarly criticism was published, as well as praise. Comment was possible, so healthy debate was encouraged and knowledge could be advanced.
Mammon has now taken complete control. Criticism is now well hidden, as if praise only is wanted. The more books will be sold. This week, as a seller of books, I learned that Amazon, under the guise of new terms and conditions, now demands a perpetual licence from me to use all my materials as it sees fit.
What does this mean but that Amazon wants to pay me nothing and make me an employee? That is, it intends to take over the world. I have 60 days to agree.
Perhaps the next James Bond film will reflect this.
William Scott,
23 Argyle Place, Rothesay.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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