Tuesday Talk: Up the Amazon Without A Paddle?

Amazon

Love it? Hate it?

Can we do without it?

Do we want to do without it?

 No not this Amazon...
                                            ... this one >

Yesterday evening I watched a BBC TV current affairs programme, Panorama, billed as:  "A Panorama investigation into the multinational company's rise to corporate superpower, asking whether there is a dark side to the public's love affair with the firm. Former high-level insiders reveal that its customer obsession has led to a huge data-gathering operation, enabling the company to use what it knows about us to shape not only the future of retail, but the workplace and technology too. The programme also hears from senior executives who say the company is a force for good."

Now, let me make this clear before you read on (or hit delete in disgust), what I'm writing here is MY opinion, MY view.

The programme was interesting but I felt uneasy while watching it - and still feel uneasy. Why? The programme title was unsettling: "Amazon: What They Know About Us"

According to what was said, Amazon collects data. Our data. Our personal data. What we buy, what we watch, what we read, what we're interested in - and, apparently, via Alexa even everything we say.

So, is it this that made me feel uneasy? Actually, no. 

Virtually everything on line collects our personal data - Google and Facebook, Microsoft and @UncleTomCobblyAndAll.com ... it's a fact of life, computers are not safe places for personal info. But we still use them. Amazon is not alone, therefore.

The programme came over, very much, as a sinister 'Big Brother Is Watching You' viewpoint. But nor is it that which worries me. 

Maybe Amazon does have it's sinister side. Maybe the staff are overworked and underpaid (who isn't?). Maybe you do buy one thing from Amazon then get inundated with 'You might like this' ads... (I love it when Amazon recommends to me my own books!) Maybe Amazon is causing the death-knell for bookstores  - but what is making me uneasy is that the entire programme was very much a 'Let's bash Amazon, get a few disgruntled people to put the boot in - yeah! Kick kick..."

There was no balance to the programme. No other side of the coin, nothing about why we like (love?) and therefore use Amazon. What little bits werein defence of the company were immediately pooh-poohed by someone sneering or belittling or accusing. Are all the staff working there unhappy then? In which case maybe the TV ads showing happy workers should be inspected by Trade Description (or whatever the TV ads watchdog is called) for misrepresentation. I guess there are as many disgruntled overworked staff working in Asda or Tesco; as Care Workers, Nurses, Doctors, Police... 

Without Amazon thousands of authors would not be authors.

Alternative places for us indie and self-published authors almost don't exist. We sell our books via Amazon. Bookshops, on the whole (not all but most - and the Big Chains are the worst) very rarely support us indies. Maybe our local shop out of kindness (or pity) will stock one or two of our books but a good indie author being stocked in nearly all branches of Waterstones? Highly unlikely. Indies cannot compete  with traditional mainstream publishers where bookstores are concerned. That isn't Amazon's fault, nor the writer's fault - it's the bookstores' fault. How many of the big chains openly and actively embrace the prospect of stocking good indie fiction? I'll tell you. Very, very, very few.

Even when I've attended conferences as a speaker the participating bookstore organising the bookstall is reluctant to take my books. I have to arm-wrestle and negotiate - usually end up taking my books along myself, not bothering, or setting up a quick link to Amazon so an interested reader can order a book on Amazon via the QR code and their phone, which has the added advantage of not having to carry the book home with their luggage. Why on earth don't conferences, book fairs etc embrace this idea more?  Come to that why don't bookstores have some sort of similar system? But I digress...

Bookstores are struggling but it isn't just because of Amazon. Nearly all the High Street chains are struggling because of on-line shopping. Stores need to think outside the box... OK outside the Amazon packaging box.

photo: © Rene Reinsdorf

And Alexa. Boy did the programme kick Alexa! She sits there in the corner listening to every word you say, taking note of the most private, sensitive, intimate things... Oh come on Panorama! Talk about scare-mongering!

Alexa only works when activated.

Example:

"Tell me the time."

Nothing.

"Are you listening to me?"

Nothing.

"Alexa: Tell me the time."

"It's 3.30 p.m."

"Alexa: are you listening to me?"

"I only listen after you say the wake word" [Alexa - or whatever]

Although I did chuckle while watching TV because every time someone on the programme said 'Alexa' she came alert ready to answer. In the end I turned the poor girl off. Which is quick and simple to do. The off button is the off switch where you plug her in. 

There was no mention of the good things Alexa can do - and no I don't mean tell you the time, or the weather, or the traffic or turn the lights on or off. Did you know...

For me with my fading sight Alexa is like a personal assistant - yes she keeps data, my calendar fixtures for instance, BUT I haven't linked her to add the shopping to Amazon or Asda or Sainsburys. In fact I turned off the link to Amazon shopping. And that's another point that the programme only mentioned as a passing whisper ... you CAN turn off these things you know!

As for Amazon making note of what you buy and then bombarding you with 'You bought this... so you might like this..." Again, Facebook, Google etc all use the same tactics but no one is forcing you to buy these recommendations. I ignore them, to the extent that I don't see the ads. (One useful aspect of poor sight! *laugh*)

Then the programme switched to an invasion of privacy because of the videocam doorbell as offered by Amazon. Yes it will show who is knocking at your door but apparently, like c.c TV, its an invasion. It's debatable whether these camera devies are a good thing or bad thing but don't most of us feel safer knowing they ARE there? And again, Amazon doesn't have a monopoly of spying on you as you walk down a street!

And then there's the huge invasion into our lives of the Amazon idea to use drones to deliver packages. Oh that's a bad thing ... yet almost in the next sentence came the accusation of Amazon was bad for the environment because of all the delivery vans. I'd guess that Sainsbury, UPS, Asda, Hermes, the Post Office has even more vans than Amazon...

Yes, Amazon CAN be an enormous thorn in the backside - especially where leaving comments to review a book are concerned, (it's often hit or miss whether Amazon accepts a comment or chucks it out for no obvious reason whatsoever. VERY annoying.)  But Amazon is quick, cheap and usually, (not always) efficient. 

I guess, the Computer and On-Line Revolution is the equivalent of the Industrial Revolution where Cottage Industry was swamped and taken over by the rich manufacturers and the huge mills. Was that progress? Again, debatable, but how mayn of you reading this would be wholeheartedly willing to go back to the pre 1700s where commerce and trade were concerned? Change and transformation, love it or hate it, it's here to stay.

So sorry BBC and Panorama, maybe some of your points were worth considering, but on the whole I found the entire programme nothing more than biased scare mongering. Amazon, to many of us is the best thing since sliced-bread. Without it I'd be up the creek without, not just a paddle but the boat and the whole caboodle. I'd not be able to sell any books, ergo I'd not be writing them either. 

And I love my Alexa. Even if she is ear-wigging. (Although I might change my mind if Dr Who does a scary episode about the Amazon Echo / Alexa system...)

(Images via Pixabay)

A Novel Conversation with Susan Grossey and Martha Plank

Today is Valentine's Day so you would expect a romance right?

Well no romance - today's special guest is the wife of  a police constable involved with solving a murder mystery... But.. this couple has been married for many years, are still very much in love and are - 
very romantic!

Join Us Every Friday!
#NovConv

To be a little different from the usual 
'meet the author' 

let's meet a 
character...

Martha
from

Q: Hello, I’m Helen, host of Novel Conversations, please do make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee, wine – something stronger? You’ll find a box of chocolates and a bowl of fruit on the table next to you, please do help yourself. I believe you are a character in Susan Grossey’s novel Heir Apparent. Would you like to introduce yourself? Are you a lead character or a supporting role?  

A: What a generous welcome – thank you so much.  A dish of tea would be wonderful – here, let me pour one for you too.  My name is Martha Plank, and I am married to Samuel Plank, the narrator of Miss Grossey’s series of books.  Sam is a magistrates’ constable – a very responsible job, I can tell you – and he and I have been married for, oh, more than a quarter-century now.  And as for my status in the books, well, it depends on who you ask.  I see myself as a supporting character – both figuratively and literally, as Sam often relies on my advice and comfort – but I am told (and I do not mean to boast when I say this) that many readers consider me their favourite character.

Q: What genre is the novel and what is it about?

A: “Heir Apparent” is the sixth novel in the series.  They are all set in consecutive years in the 1820s and they all reflect Sam’s particular interest in financial crime and the damage it can do.  “Heir Apparent” tells the story of a young man who returns from the Caribbean – heavens, how far away that must be – to be at his father’s deathbed and collect his inheritance.  But Sam is not entirely convinced that the young fellow is who he says he is – and my Sam has very good instincts in these things.  So there is mystery and crime, but also a good dash of love.  And a wedding – how I love a wedding.

Q: No spoilers, but are you a ‘goodie’ or a ‘baddie’? (Or maybe you are both?)

A: What an impertinent question – although how interesting that perhaps you are also spending time in the company of people of low moral character!  I’m not one of those on her knees to God all the time, but I do try to live according to his scriptures.  Mind you, I’ve met some scoundrels in my time – no wife of a constable can be too prudish, I can tell you.

Q:  Tell me about another character in the novel – maybe your best friend, lover or partner … or maybe your arch enemy!

A: You probably expect me to tell you about Sam, but he can sometimes be a little bit vain and so it will do him good to see me talking about someone else for a change.  And I have a soft spot for a young lady called Miss Lily Conant; she is the daughter of Sam’s magistrate and lost her mother many years ago.  She’s grown into a beautiful young woman but has her father’s brains and – like me – knows perhaps more than she should about the darker side of life.  I hope she finds a husband worthy of her, and not one of those ridiculous dandies we see strutting about London nowadays.  I don’t mind telling you that I was flattered when she had a bit of trouble recently, as you can read in “Heir Apparent”, and her first thought was to come to me and Sam.

Q: Is this the only novel you have appeared in, or are there others in a series?

A: As is entirely fitting, whenever you read about Sam, I am there alongside him.  We have told six of our stories so far, with one to go – although Miss Grossey has decided to wait a year or two to tell that one, as she cannot bear to say farewell to us.

Q: What is one of your least favourite scenes you appear in?

A: There is one scene in this latest book where Sam is felled by stomach trouble and spends a couple of days between the bucket and the privy.  You can well imagine who has to do the clearing up and the soaking of the linens.  And a man is never an easy patient.

Q: And your favourite scene?

A: Sam knows how I like to accompany him if he goes to interesting places, and in “Heir Apparent” he decides to consult a gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden.  What a marvellous place that is, and how clever the gardener is, knowing all about the properties of the plants and how they can cure (and kill…).  Poor fellow – he’s a widower with daughters, and I shall put my mind to finding him a new wife.  Women can survive alone, but men are hopeless without a wife.

Q: Tell me a little about your author. Has she written any other books?

A: Miss Grossey is quite busy, yes.  She has a day job – advising businesses about money laundering and how to avoid it – and then she spends her spare time with me and Sam.  She is also planning another series of books, set in the same historical period, but this time in Cambridge, where she lives.  Can you imagine preferring that chilly outpost to the excitement and variety of London?  Sam went to Bury St Edmunds recently, and you should hear what he has to say about life in the provinces.

Q: How do you think authors can be helped or supported by readers or groups? What does your author think is the most useful for her personally?

A: I know that Miss Grossey loves talking to other independent authors – well, it’s more of that computer-talking that she does.  She is quite experienced now at publishing her own books, and is happy to share her advice with others who are starting out.  However, there is always something new to learn, and if the writing is going slowly – sometimes Sam can be a bit awkward, as well I know – she likes to computer-talk with other authors to get herself started again.

Q: If your author was to host a dinner party what guests would she invite and why? Maximum nine guests – real, imaginary, alive or dead.

 Sam Plank, of course

 Martha Plank – 

as if I would let Sam go out carousing alone!

No spoilers but
These gloves feature in the novel

 Elizabeth Fry 

one of the early campaigners for prison reform 

and a most compassionate woman

 Arthur Wellesley, 1^st Duke of Wellington – 

he looks so sad in the 1814 Goya portrait 

that we would like to know why 

(I believe he had an unhappy marriage,

 which would explain it)

 An actress called Claudie Blakley – 

Miss Grossey says that she would be 

ideal to play me in the theatre

 Sir Richard Mayne – 

a barrister who was one of the first Commissioners 

of the Metropolitan Police

 (I’d like to have a word with him too,

 about my Sam’s future)

The composer Mr Handel –

 he could entertain us with his music

Thank you Martha, it was a pleasure talking to you. Would your author like to add a short excerpt? meanwhile, chatting is thirsty work, would you like another dish of tea - and I think I will join you... milk? Lemon? Sugar?

Salute! Here’s to writing a best seller!

CONNECT WITH SUSAN

www.susangrossey.wordpress.com

www.susangrossey.wordpress.com/current-project-blog

Twitter: @ConstablePlank

Heir Apparent universal link: mybook.to/Heir_Apparent

EXCERPT 

Twenty minutes later the three of us were sitting at a small table in the tiny dining area of the celebrated confectionery shop.  It was true that I had once rashly promised to bring my wife here – Martha had overheard two ladies of consequence in Oxford Street talking of the “incomparable cheesecake” they had sampled and had since longed to know how a cake can be made of cheese – but I had not envisaged putting my hand in my pocket for two dining companions.  But I need not have worried: a combination of grief and unfettered access to her own larder meant that Mrs Godwin’s appetite was small, and she asked only for a pot of tea.  Martha requested the longed-for cheesecake, and for myself I chose a sugared bun.  Our refreshments arrived quickly and Martha made sure that our guest had been furnished with tea before turning to her and again placing a calming hand on her arm.

    “Mrs Godwin,” she said gently.  “I think there is something you would like to tell my husband, and that is why you came across to us at Bunhill Fields.  You will both forgive me, I hope, if I tell you that Sam – Constable Plank – has already told me what the butler said to you about Mr James Foster.” 
    The housekeeper’s eyes widened but she said nothing.
   “Sam is a good man, Mrs Godwin,” continued my wife.  “He has not forgotten what you said and is doing his best to uncover the truth of the matter.  If there is something more troubling you, there is no-one better you could tell.  You must trust me in this.”

Reviewed by Discovering Diamonds

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