I'm not sure either. Maybe hilarious in its frankness? Maybe the magnitude of the mistake is hilarious?
Notwithstanding that Collectorz made a bad mistake in basing part of their service on something Amazon explicitly doesn't allow, I thought it was a pretty good sorry message. He should have been more apologetic about making the mistake in the first place, but it's generally a very open and frank message.
Totally disagree. Classic case of oversharing. Even if yer inept, you don't let your custies know it at this level of detail. There's frank and there's pathetic sounding.
Oh I read it in the original post (not sure what gave you the idea I hadn't). It's does drag on although I don't find it notably horrible - the field is highly competitive. At the same time, it's hard to take 'right way to talk to ur customers' [linked post] and 'arr, yer custies' as anything other than snark fodder, especially given the topic.
From the developer's perspective, he's got Amazon about to take down a major feature of his apps. He has to tell customers something when their apps suddenly stop working.
I'm coming around to the idea that he probably shouldn't have included the message from Amazon, but a serious, honest mea culpa is certainly in order.
Well, as a customer I would definitly feel very well informed. Well enough, to know that I can sue (then again, who would do that because of a cheap iPhone app that is no more working).
We've recently been informed by Amazon, our service provider, that our products may infringe upon certain usage restrictions. As a result, the product you've purchased may experience decreased functionality. We are working with Amazon to resolve this issue before this happens.
If you experience any problems or error messages, please do not contact Amazon or Collectorz.com at this time. We will keep you updated as we learn more. Follow us on Twitter at [blah] and on Facebook at [blah].
Personally, I like more information better. If my app stops working and I get a relatively terse communication that explicitly tells me not to contact anybody about problems or error messages then I know for SURE I'm contacting someone.
I didn't find the first email hilarious, but this one for sure is less than or equal to that email in its hilarity.
This is exactly why I think the quote "I'd Rather Beg Forgiveness Than Ask Permission" should be carefully avoided when you depend on 3d parties, API, etc.
I always explicitely ask API/sites (Amazon included) owners whenever I have a doubt.
What do we have here - Amazon terms:
"The use of a mobile application
in conjunction with the Product Advertising API or the Associates Program without our express prior written approval is not permitted."
Which leads to this interpretation:
"Here's my understanding of the situation:
- Amazon does not seem to allow the usage of any Amazon data in mobile
applications, any data that was once downloaded from Amazon."
My interpretation is different: Amazon does not allow the usage of mobile xxx, unless express prior written approval.
So I really think this story tells us something: if you work with someone, get in touch, ensure the situation is clear, then go on with your project.
"Beg[ging] Forgiveness" is only better than "Ask[ing] Permission" in one-off situations, where the consequences are tolerable. It's a terrible fit here for two (2) reasons:
1) It's not after-the-fact forgiveness you'd be seeking, but forgiveness "during-the-fact". It's like indulgences - it's hard to make a sincere apology for a sin you're still committing.
2) The other party has them over a barrel. If Amazon doesn't accept the apology, it's not a broken friendship - they'll shut off the API and put the company out of business. It's only a sound strategy to Beg Forgiveness if you can survive the consequences of a refusal to forgive. Consider copyright infringement - it's better to get permission up front than trust that it's fair use or that the owner won't care, because you can't survive the multi-million dollar lawsuit they can bring.
Hi all, this is Alwin, the writer of this "hilarious" email...
I am amazed to find all this about my email :-)
I was just being frank and trying to be clear, upfront, before any possible disabling of our Amazon access (which has not happened yet).
My customers are used to lengthy, detailed emails. They respect and expect my honesty, good news or bad news.
I agree that I could (should?) have been more apologetic.
But please note that my iPhone apps are not using the Amazon API at all. Amazon claims that Amazon data is being used on a mobile device, that is, data that once has been downloaded from Amazon. Which should be rare, because we have our own online media databases and our Windows / Mac software only queries Amazon for barcodes that our not found in our own databases, as a fallback.
The "violation" of the Amazon ToS (if any) is very minor and rare.
But yes, it IS a violation and I will have to deal with the consequences. And informing my customers was the first thing on my mind. Which I did, fast and with all details.
