Amazon relies on your own laziness

I was reminded by the Offscreen Dispatch newsletter that I wanted to read James Bridle's new book New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future. No sign of it on iBooks, so I jumped across to Amazon, to find that the print edition was out of stock - and that the Kindle version was an eye-watering £16.31, nearly £5 more than the print edition.

I nearly fired off an order for the print edition, when it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I could get it sooner straight from the publisher. One quick Google search later, I'm on the Verso website, looking at £8.50 for the hardback and the ebook. Admittedly, there's £3 postage on top of that, but I'm still getting two versions for what Amazon wants for just the print version.

A minute or so later, I have the ebook happily in my iPad and the print edition to follow later on. Lovely.

A timely reminder that some of the power of the major tech companies is facilitated by our own laziness, rather than a competitive price.