This is a short but thought-provoking post.
The Power Over Christian Publishing We’ve Given To Amazon
I do have multiple Kindles and use them at times for reading books, but would never think of giving up my real books.
But his thoughts about the power we give to Amazon in other ways rings true. Amazon has created a dependence on them that most people won't break. I struggle with it myself even as I know they are going to ultimately screw me over in the end both as a buyer and as an affiliate. (Sorry for the verbiage, but I couldn't think of any other way to put it.)
Just like Twitter is silencing people, YouTube removes people, Facebook censors people... So can Amazon decide what people can and cannot read.
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why we are all so eager to give them so much power and control over our lives.
♥ Wife, homeschooling mom, conspiracy analyst ♥
Sallie,
Amazon started to creep me out after the release of Alexa. I was surprised by how many people who seemingly are worried about "privacy" were so eager to have a speaker in their house listening to their every word and reporting back to Amazon headquarters. I used to shop exclusively via Amazon and was in love with Prime shipping. Over the last two years I've intentionally stopped shopping there and instead use Christianbook.com for any Christian book/gift purchases. And anything I used to look for on Amazon I just find by going to the manufacturer. Most times now they also have free or discounted shipping and I just accept the fact that I won't have my item in two days. And I can live with that! The consequences of giving so much power to Amazon are real. I was just visiting my eldest daughter who's in college at Liberty University and the local Lifeway Christian book store was shuttered. How sad -- if a Christian book store can't make it in Lynchburg, VA... I don't know where one can. : (
I totally agree about Alexa and all the rest of them. I really do not understand why people want things listening to them in their homes. And it's not just that. They now put tracking devices in things you purchase at the store, etc. Your TV listens to you. It's creepy.
Privacy has been completely lost. It's virtually impossible to be "alone" any longer.
I've tried to do as much local shopping as I can. There are a few things I can only get on Amazon (like my beloved ghee that is one of my best foods right now) so I order from them. But they have totally seduced people and we're going to pay for it eventually.
Lifeway is closing all their stores this year. We do have some Christian stores left here, but this is Grand Rapids so some publishers are based here (Baker, Kregel, etc.) otherwise I'm not sure we would still have any stores at all either.
https://religionnews.com/2019/03/20/lifeway-christian-resources-to-close-all-stores-in-2019/
♥ Wife, homeschooling mom, conspiracy analyst ♥
I've been told that most media publishing is going to end up being subscription-based. My church just signed up for a Christian media streaming service, which I won't be using because I have some disagreements with their terms of use. I was thinking about what the church library could be like if the same amount of money per month was put into it. It was downsized last year, and dozens of the books ended up at my house. There is a LOT of good stuff in them, although most of them have dismally bad covers by modern standards.
