It's rare to see a straightforward public apology with nary a weasel-word in it, but that's precisely what Jeff Bezos has produced. Good for him. Not that my concerns are assuaged, but good for him.
Friday, July 24, 2009
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Commentary on technologies of reading, writing, research, and, well, knowledge. As these technologies change and develop, what do we lose, what do we gain, what is (fundamentally or trivially) altered? And, not least, what's fun?
Alan Jacobs
Alan Jacobs is a professor of English at Wheaton College and the author, most recently, of The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. His online commonplace book is here.
How to Read Well in an Age of Distraction
Watch video of Alan Jacobs discussing his new book in a Washington, D.C. lecture in June 2011.
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He admitted fault! Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of litigation!
Hmm. On reread, I see that he did no such thing. He says they were "stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles" which sounds humble and all, but he doesn't actually name anything that they did wrong.
I'm not sure this is materially different from a weasel apology of the "I'm sorry you were offended by what I did" genre. I'm tempted to say that an apology that doesn't make you vulnerable to a lawsuit is not a real apology. A real apology ought to demonstrate you understand what harm you did and why it was wrong.