Amazon has sent me an email tersely explaining why hundreds of books on gay and lesbian issues - including many like "Heather Has Two Mommies" aimed at children - as well as books on drug policy -- suddenly were designated as "adult" and lost their Rankings -- while books like American Psycho about brutal sex and murder, and Ron Jeremy's porn autobiography, were child-friendly enough to keep theirs.
Amazon got back to me right away. It turns out it was a "glitch". So it might be a sloppy programmer, a bug in famously flaky Vista, or a loose memory chip. A glitch doesn't sound like a policy change from the top that had to be reversed when Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company got an earful from you and me.
It happens.
Like when I was growing up, irresponsible computers told the US generals that we'd be safe from Communism as long as we killed at least 15,000 Vietnamese each month. Hints of these "body count" metrics were on the news every day. Boy, were those computers wrong! We killed 2 million and the communists won anyway. It's sad those well-meaning generals trusted those over-rated machines.
I know Eichmann died thinking, "If only I'd had computers."
And this past 10 years, wasn't it faulty computer models - not greedy banks and ratings agencies - that claimed people who evidently can't pay back home loans should simply pay higher interest - later - and should still enjoy a AAA rating? It's SO complicated!! The ratings' agencies hefty fees, and the banks' eagerness to sell these valuable loans to other banks, was a coincidence. They trusted their computers, and it's sheer luck that someone else was stuck with the bill - you.
I'm a technology geek. When policy has to change and I hear "it's a glitch" I ask who's avoiding accountability - or prosecution.
-- a quickie inspired by Amazon this morning:
Hello,
Thanks for contacting us. We recently discovered a glitch in our systems and it's being fixed.
Thanks again for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
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To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Prakash V
Amazon.com
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