I understand exactly what you're saying and that's why I don't post referral links in my/. posts any more. I post useful pricing information without any links and then a link to my site to find other book reviews, also useful information. On my site, I put a couple of content relevant ads linking to sellers of the book being reviewed around the links to books reviews. If you are calling me out on my previous practice, I agree with you and I have repented from that. If you are disagreeing with my new site, I don't think you are justified in doing so.
Amazon also has "like new" copies from the marketplace as low as 13.50. The problem with the marketplace/half/ebay sellers is that they don't have a consistent inventory. They sell one for a price and then they have to either have another listing (may be a different price) or they have to relist and there's not a standard inventory price like from a store, so it's hard to quote valid pricing in a message board (like here).
If you want to support my efforts to provide prompt Amazon pricing information, add ccats-20 to the end of the above URL. (It won't cost you anything to do this.) Thanks.
$3.75 cheaper at amazon
on
The Scar
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· Score: 3, Informative
Starting today, I will be posting non-referral links only...
No, it's informative. As I showed from the guidelines, referral links are banned from book reviews. Comments are a free-for-all. My postings are informative as to book pricing and if you want to click on my link, feel free to do so. It's clearly identified as a referral link.
Slashdot Book Review Guidelines: "Speaking of links, please do not include personalized or "affiliate" links (to online bookstores, for instance) in your reviews. Slashdot has an agreement with Barnes & Noble; this is one way that Slashdot makes money, stays in business, etc. That's why when bn.com carries a particular book, you'll see a link to it at the bottom of the review."
unfortunately, this book is too new and there aren't a lot of used copies out there. Nothing on ebay or half.com. Even froogle and addall searches only came up with slightly lower prices. Also, it's a textbook, which are always way too expense.
I've seen many books where the contents were just copies of man pages, javadocs or online documentation. (a lot of the books reviewed here on/. are anywhere between 25-75% copies of documentation with very little original thought by the authors).
People like to curl up with their book, so they don't mind paying for a printed copy of the online docs. Personally, I'm waiting for paper-thin organic displays to replace paper books before I move back from reading online docs at my computer to reading on my couch or bed.
There's more info at his site than the blurb you copied and pasted. For example:
"This new second edition of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information has recently been translated into Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. These seven editions are produced at the same elegant level of printing and design as the original English edition"
That's why I linked to it instead of copying and pasting a single blurb and making people miss additional information.
It's an informative posting. The link is just there for anyone who wants to go to Amazon anyway. (maybe they have a gift certificate they want to use up or something.) Stop being so cynical. It's not just about the link. It's about providing pricing information and a way to get directly there that also happens to give a commission for the effort. If I just posted a link without doing any research, I'd be just like Sir Haxalot.
Re:$5 cheaper and free shipping
on
Jess in Action
·
· Score: 0
boy, you're inconsistent. You complain when they're subtle ("don't hide the fact that it's a commision link") and you complain when they're obvious ("boy, you're subtle"). Make up your mind.
Slashdot Mirror
I understand exactly what you're saying and that's why I don't post referral links in my /. posts any more. I post useful pricing information without any links and then a link to my site to find other book reviews, also useful information. On my site, I put a couple of content relevant ads linking to sellers of the book being reviewed around the links to books reviews. If you are calling me out on my previous practice, I agree with you and I have repented from that. If you are disagreeing with my new site, I don't think you are justified in doing so.
...and google surrounds those links to content with content appropriate ads, EXACTLY THE SAME AS WHAT I AM DOING.
so google's not providing content either by linking to sites and not showing you the actual contents of those sites?
I provide content (book review links and pricing information) and some ads around that content. That's the way most TV shows and web sites work.
I suppose you think google is not a real business for putting ads around the search results.
Amazon has this book for $41.99 ($6 less than bn) and with free shipping.
For more reviews of this book, check out verygeekybooks.com
This book costs $2 more at Amazon. Spend $4.01 more to get free shipping.
For more reviews of this book and other information, check out my new site: VeryGeekyBooks.com.
Amazon denies charging different prices for different users
Also, both your article and this Amazon response are over 3 years old... do we know what is true now?
Amazon also has "like new" copies from the marketplace as low as 13.50. The problem with the marketplace/half/ebay sellers is that they don't have a consistent inventory. They sell one for a price and then they have to either have another listing (may be a different price) or they have to relist and there's not a standard inventory price like from a store, so it's hard to quote valid pricing in a message board (like here).
are you on bad crack? It's $19.60 at Amazon, not $24.95.
non-referral link:/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/074322504X
Amazon has this book for the same price as bn ($19.60) Spend $5.40 more to get free shipping.
If you want to support my efforts to provide prompt Amazon pricing information, add ccats-20 to the end of the above URL. (It won't cost you anything to do this.) Thanks.
Starting today, I will be posting non-referral links only...
/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345444388
Amazon has this book for $3.75 cheaper than bn
Spend $11.75 more to get free shipping.
If you want to support my efforts to provide prompt Amazon pricing information, add ccats-20 to the end of the above URL. Thanks.
No, it's informative. As I showed from the guidelines, referral links are banned from book reviews. Comments are a free-for-all. My postings are informative as to book pricing and if you want to click on my link, feel free to do so. It's clearly identified as a referral link.
Slashdot Book Review Guidelines:
"Speaking of links, please do not include personalized or "affiliate" links (to online bookstores, for instance) in your reviews. Slashdot has an agreement with Barnes & Noble; this is one way that Slashdot makes money, stays in business, etc. That's why when bn.com carries a particular book, you'll see a link to it at the bottom of the review."
unfortunately, this book is too new and there aren't a lot of used copies out there. Nothing on ebay or half.com. Even froogle and addall searches only came up with slightly lower prices. Also, it's a textbook, which are always way too expense.
Referral Link: Amazon has this book for the same price as bn ($85) and with free shipping
Some cheaper copies are available from the Amazon marketplace users.
I've seen many books where the contents were just copies of man pages, javadocs or online documentation. (a lot of the books reviewed here on /. are anywhere between 25-75% copies of documentation with very little original thought by the authors).
People like to curl up with their book, so they don't mind paying for a printed copy of the online docs. Personally, I'm waiting for paper-thin organic displays to replace paper books before I move back from reading online docs at my computer to reading on my couch or bed.
what kind of crack are you smoking? At Amazon, It's 34.99, not 39.99.
Ref: Amazon has this book for the same price as bn and with free shipping
Referral Link: Amazon has this book for the same price as bn.
Spend $10 more to get free shipping.
Referral Link: Amazon has this book for the same price as bn and with free shipping
There's more info at his site than the blurb you copied and pasted. For example:
"This new second edition of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information has recently been translated into Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. These seven editions are produced at the same elegant level of printing and design as the original English edition"
That's why I linked to it instead of copying and pasting a single blurb and making people miss additional information.
It's an informative posting. The link is just there for anyone who wants to go to Amazon anyway. (maybe they have a gift certificate they want to use up or something.) Stop being so cynical. It's not just about the link. It's about providing pricing information and a way to get directly there that also happens to give a commission for the effort. If I just posted a link without doing any research, I'd be just like Sir Haxalot.
info from the author and publisher on what's different since the 1st edition is here.
Referral Link: Amazon has this book for $12 more than bn
Even Amazon's used book marketplace is more expensive than bn.
boy, you're inconsistent. You complain when they're subtle ("don't hide the fact that it's a commision link") and you complain when they're obvious ("boy, you're subtle"). Make up your mind.