[LINK] Enhancing the customer experience?

[David Boxall]

A cautionary tale.
From: 
<http://www.amazon.com/review/RV0R3AODMRNJZ/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#RV0R3AODMRNJZ> 

*BEWARE of the SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES between Kindle 1 and Kindle 2!* 
March 14, 2009
By Gadget Queen
I was DELIGHTED to upgrade my Kindle 1 to K2...until I got down to using 
it every day.

Having invested HEAVILY in Amazon Kindle content, I looked forward to 
the new and improved version! I really wanted to love this device just 
as much, if not more, than my original purchase! It was to be my "backup 
insurance" and "protect my investment" in Amazon content for the device. 
I expected and looked forward to everything Amazon said this device 
would be.

Out of the box, and on the surface, big cosmetic changes for the better. 
Once I began using it, however, my experience became more and more 
frustrating.

1. I have a tremendous volume of Kindle content (public domain and 
Amazon). I discovered that I could not directly transfer from my 
computer backup for Kindle 1 to the new K2 (why my backup is on the 
computer is addressed later in this review). All my content had to be 
reformatted by Amazon and re-downloaded from their site specifically for 
and to the Kindle 2 (I am NOT in a Whispernet area). Major pain. Major 
time-investment. Major inconvenience. Major turn-off. Have you guys ever 
heard of "bulk-download" capability, or choose many files at once for 
copy to a new device??? Guess not.

2. All of my previous issues of magazines and newspapers were lost (ie, 
I could not re-download them specifically for the K2) because Amazon 
does not back up subscriptions on their server for more than 6 days. 
SINCE I PAID FOR THE CONTENT, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT CONTENT 
ALWAYS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD. Sorry, but I won't consider buying any 
more newspapaers or magazine subscriptions to the Kindle 1 or 2. Several 
(Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest) are less expensive online (with 
print edition also included) and have ALL content (not MIA content 
pictures, charts, quotes, etc).

3. Several books I purchased read "Kindle 2" in the title, but were 
Kindle 1 books with a new title page. OOPS!

4. Although Amazon says it keeps you content on their server, I found 
many instances where I could not download my books to my computer 
because the item THAT I PAID FOR was not available for download to my 
new Kindle2. Amazon said the book had been "pulled." Excuse me, but I 
paid for it, pulled or not, it should always be avaiable to me since I 
paid for it. When I asked for a refund for the pulled item now 
unavailable to me, SINCE I COULD NOT GET THE ITEM REDOWNLOADED, I was 
told that a refund was not possible. LESSON LEARNED: I now back up ALL 
my Kindle content on my computer. Since Amazon says "Don't worry, your 
content is safe with us." I respectfully disagree. Also, some authors 
issued new versions of their books for K2. However, then the original 
version for K1 "disappeared" from the server so I could not even 
download it to K2, nor K1. Same filename, so if I had been in a 
Whispernet area, the original would have been completely overwritten 
without my realizing it! Imagine, I bought a K2 Users Guide in May 2008, 
before it come off the engineers drafting table, instead of in February 
2009!
...
 
-- 
David Boxall                    |  Any given program,
                                |  when running correctly,
                                |  is obsolete.
                                |       --Arthur C. Clarke