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One of the most widely read and much loved fantasy book series is George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire.” This series includes the books “Game of Thrones” and its sequels. Millions of people have read these books and mostly enjoyed them. Well the latest release is called “A Dance With Dragons” and it was finally released yesterday.
I made it a point to pre-order the book on my Kindle so I was quite excited when I realized it was going to be released last night. I was eagerly waiting for the clock to tick 12:01 AM so I could sync my Kindle and start reading the new installment in Martin’s series. However, a strange thing happened when the clock finally struck midnight…my damned book never appeared! I kept trying to sync my Kindle and it kept telling me that I had no new items available.
I did a bit of googling and found, to my utter horror and dismay, that Amazon does not release pre-ordered Kindle books on east coast time. Instead, Amazon – which is based on the west coast – releases pre-orders on west coast time. So this means that if you live on the east coast you have to wait until 3:00 AM to get you book.
What? Is Amazon kidding me? Talk about an east coast screw job!
A Dance With Dragons: Years in the Making
In the case of “A Dance with Dragons” part of the eagerness for the new book lies in the fact that Martin, in recent years, has dragged out the finishing of this book for ages. Many readers have become frustrated and irritated with Martin’s glacial writing habits and thus there has been a backlog of desire to find out what happens to Tyrion the Dwarf and many other characters in the previous books.
So when the release day finally arrived many readers simply assumed that the book would arrive on their Kindles at 12:01 AM since they’d already pre-ordered it ahead of time. How disappointing and aggravating to have to wait another 3 hours to start reading it, thanks to Amazon’s foolish and stupid decision to discriminate against east coast Kindle owners.
Years in the making and Amazon makes east coast readers wait three hours longer!
And let’s not forget that the HBO version of “Game of Thrones” has also stoked the fires of many new readers to get their hands on “A Dance With Dragons.” So there’ has been an enormous amount of pent up demand for this new book, and this should have come as no surprise to Amazon. Amazon’s blithe indifference to east coast readers is even more egregious given the very high price of $14.99 for the new book. At that price level there is no excuse for screwing over east coast readers.
Time Difference: Discrimination Against Those Not Living on the West Coast
I know that some people will blithely dismiss this and say “so what, who cares?” Well I care and I’m sure a lot of other people do as well. The time difference is not the problem of the people living on the east coast (or in other time zones around the world for that matter), it’s Amazon’s problem. No one who pre-ordered Martin’s book made the decision for Amazon to be located on the west coast so why should we suffer for it?
Remaining silent about this outrage is only going to let Amazon get away with it again and again as more blockbuster books are released over the years. They need to know now from east coast Kindle owners that we will not tolerate this kind of outrageous discrimination any longer. We paid for our books and we want them immediately when the clock strikes midnight on release day.
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Three hours!? They made you wait three whole hours?? You ought to demand that Amazon contribute all their profits to the American Overreacting Society, East Coast Division.
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Since you invited me here from the Kindle forum on Amazon’s website, I’ll leave a reply.
Find something important to complain about. This makes you sound childish and entitled. The world revolves around Amazon, not you. hehehe
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Please tell me this is satire.
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You should’ve also mentioned how HBO subscribers on the West Coast get screwed out of seeing the new episodes until 3 hours AFTER the East Coast has already seen it! Talk about an HBO West Coast Screw Job!
(This is satire, and I’m kidding. Your anger is severely misplaced.)
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Well I guess we have some west coast people posting in the comments today, eh guys?
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I leave this quote, from your own blog, without comment.
“What a bunch of namby pamby whiners. You know the people I’m talking about, the ones bitching up a storm about the iPhone 4’s supposed “death grip.” These types of people are always looking for something to complain about. If it were a movie it would be called “Attack of the iPhone Hating Idiots”.”
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Spectre45 wrote:
Hoisted on my own petard! Doh!
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Now you know how we feel when the elections are over on the mainland and we are still voting in Hawaii and the president has been elected by all but Hawaii. GET OBVER IT!!!!!!
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I’ve always been annoyed that tv stations always play the live version of shows on the west coast and never let us see it early (at the same time). So frankly, I love that after all this time of the east coast getting stuff first now you have to wait!!! That’s awesome. I’ll be sure to email amazon like you asked and let them know to keep on going!!!! I hope you always wait for new releases!
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@ Frogsandbullets:
Sorry, meant to say they play the live version on the east coast!
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