amazon.com

According to a recent survey, if you're looking to buy something online, you're most likely to be pleased with the outcome if you make the purchase on Amazon.com.

The world's largest Web retailer tops the list of online vendors in ForeSee's Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index with a rating of 88 on a scale of 1 to 100. This marks the eighth consecutive year Amazon has finished atop ForeSee's annual holiday survey of online shoppers; the results of this year's survey were released on December 27, 2012.

Overall customer satisfaction with Web retailers has … Read more

California's tax collectors are preparing to open a new front in their battle to collect sales taxes from Amazon.com customers.

A deal inked last year between Amazon and Sacramento means that, for most items shipped from the online retailer's warehouses, sales tax will be collected at checkout starting tomorrow. But, as CNET reported earlier this week, that doesn't apply to hundreds of thousands of items "fulfilled" by Amazon from its warehouses on behalf of other sellers.

That means a New York camera shop could have inventory located in an Amazon warehouse outside of San … Read more

Amazon.com's agreement with Sacramento officials means that, starting Saturday, it will collect sales taxes on items that it sells to California residents.

But Amazon will continue to not collect taxes on hundreds of thousands of items that it lists for sale on its Web site, stores in its warehouses, and packages for quick shipment to California residents.

Those orders -- called "fulfilled" by Amazon -- amount to a tax loophole that has left Sacramento tax collectors a tad unhappy. California sales tax rates are among the highest in the country, topping out at 9.75 percent, … Read more

Is the future of book selling going to hinge on making a choice between a big corporation and a national treasure?

Earlier today the government released hundreds of e-mails received by the Justice Department in the aftermath of announcing its price-fixing lawsuit against Apple and some of the nation's largest book publishers. The e-mails, now available on the DOJ Web site, offer a window into the angst felt by bookstore owners, literary agents, and authors who worry that the government may be paving the way for Jeff Bezos' coldly efficient juggernaut to wipe out a generations-old way of life … Read more

Quite a lot has already been conjectured in the wake of Microsoft's decision to invest $300 million in a new joint venture with Barnes & Noble. Is a Windows Nook on the way? Are we witnessing a sly move to poke Google in the eye by fostering Android fragmentation? Or is this part of a longer range effort to help users e-books and articles across myriad devices?

Yes to all of the above. But there's not much sense in overthinking this. If you're Steve Ballmer, there's no way that you don't do this deal.

First, … Read more

Remember how much money e-readers were supposed to save book buyers? It was among the big reasons why 20 million Americans decided to take the plunge.

So why is it that consumers are still paying through the nose for e-book titles that ought to cost a fraction of the price charged for the used hardcover version?

A lot of readers fuming over that question reminded me of their frustration in the aftermath of the latest flare-up between Amazon and the publishing industry. On Wednesday, more than 4,000 e-titles sold by Independent Publishers Group, one of the nation's biggest … Read more

Hard ball by Amazon or simply part of the normal warp and woof of business? Probably a bit of both.

The Independent Publishers Group says Amazon has decided not to renew an agreement to resell electronic titles offered by the book distributor's client publishers in an apparent dispute over wholesale discounts on books. About 5,000 Kindle titles will be affected, though the print editions of the books remain available for sale on Amazon.

The group's president, Mark Suchomel, said in an interview that Amazon "wanted better margins" suggesting this was part of a pressure campaign … Read more

After years of patiently waiting until the technology matured and pricing dropped, I decided to put the Kindle Touch on my Christmas list this past holiday season.

Overall, the experience has been excellent, but even with all the prepurchase research I did, nothing brings to light imperfections faster than real-world use. There were the disadvantages I knew about before making the jump to an e-book reader (e-book pricing can be steep for a die-hard library patron), but there are also a few nitpicks that turned up that I wasn't expecting.

The following aren't necessarily criticisms of the Kindle Touch, which I still think is a great device, but rather a few of the recurring thoughts I've had during my first month of heavy use of an e-book reader.

1. No 'until end of chapter' meter The overall progress percentage along the bottom of the Kindle is helpful, but I'm generally more interested in how many pages are left in the chapter I'm reading.… Read more