A technical breeze

I'm ill-at-ease with Amazon. And the latest Bezos idea of super-sized mosquito shaped drones to deliver packages does nothing to change my ambivalence. I am trapped and am also being hypocritical. However in the spirit of goodwill for the newly arrived 2014, I acknowledge my two-facedness with a smile. I should perhaps be kinder on myself as well. So I prefer to say I am torn, between acknowledging that the technology that supports the Amazon empire is simply a continuation of the industrial revolution, and my sense of social responsibility.

I use Amazon all the time, largely because of my Kindle, and occasionally for selling as well as buying. Despite the global concept, there are some favourite products that are only available in France through ordering on the internet.  It's not a question of being 'Mrs. Safety-pants' and just sticking with the tried and tested. I have tried and tested alternatives across a range of items. But they've not measured up and I've quickly slipped into the easy option of web ordering. These days life is such a technical breeze.

Looking at my track record, I've never been a true shopper. I'm not a natural high street girl prepared to battle my way through crowds for the latest anything. Until recently, my clothes were bought from an independent boutique near to where we were living in London. Food mainly comes from smaller, independent outlets. And it was the same with books. Bath has a fantastic independent bookshop Topping & Company . I do still wander into Waterstones, when I'm near a branch, such as in November, when I went into the Bath store, while Mike was having a tooth à tooth with the dentist. A happy hour wading through books, noting the titles, so that I could download them later on to my Kindle. Unscrupulous behaviour or what. 

When we moved from London to Bradford on Avon, we downsized to a house where the amount of space available for keeping books was severely restricted. Similarly in France. Although we have a fair bit of space here, it was never our intention to use that space for book storage. The Kindle was first introduced I think in 2007, which strangeIy coincides with our change in lifestyle. Perhaps subconsciously I needed a Kindle before it even appeared.  These days thanks to the internet, I buy all my clothes online, CDs, DVDs and even my camera equipment. Food shopping I prefer to do in person, but certainly in the past when I was immobile for a long time after an accident, online shopping from the local supermarket was a godsend. In other words I make good use of online services.

Here in France, our best local book shop which is really quite extensive, is within the Leclerc complex, just outside the centre of Chinon. There used to be an independent in Chinon, but it was rather disorganised and inevitably closed.  Books are also very expensive here or at least it feels like it. I've become used to the book discount concept - in whatever form, which is an intregal part of the British book buying scene, although I'm not sure how much the authors benefit from the arrangement. Kindle of course offers a  price reduction and classic novels can frequently be downloaded at nil cost. In this fiercely competitive book market, Topping & Company somehow continue to thrive. The staff are great and so knowledgeable about the book stock which is extensive. And the atmosphere is ideal - not just the cup of coffee, as you browse or read in the compact square meterage that Topping has at its disposal. But there's an extended literary life with talks and events throughout the year, that feature many of the best authors around. I do miss it.

So why do I feel ill-at-ease with Amazon when I've always had such good service.
As a customer there's no question the company is excellent. But the same standards don't appear to be applied to their own HR and PR. The company has run into problems here in France, as the government attempts to protect independent bookshops. The Guardian has cast doubts on Amazon's PR skills particularly towards its staff in an article that appeared early December 2013: www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/01/week-amazon-insider-feature-treatment-employees-work.  Panorama got in on the act last year as well, with a journalist planted undercover in the main Swansea depot. The inference from what I've seen is that Amazon isn't looking after its staff.  It's a David v. Goliath moment. Not just in terms of what constitutes good business practice, but whether as thirsty on-line consumers we allow what is reasonable and fair to become obscured, to the extent that there are some who must feel their working lives are straight out of a Dicken's novel.