What Went Down With Amazon Half 1

Former Program Supervisor at Amazon and Comixology, Scott McGovern, has beforehand been very frank concerning the circumstances behind the mass firings at Amazon and Comixology in January earlier this 12 months. Now he’s ready to be simply as candid, or extra so, concerning the omnishambles that went down over the merging of Comixology with its proprietor Amazon’s Kindle service.

Final 12 months, Bleeding Cool reported on issues concerning the Comixology change to the Amazon web site and construction. We reported on the dropping of the Comixology web site comedian ebook reader, Comixology App solely on cell gadgets and tablets or utilizing the Kindle reader on the desktop – which was not designed for studying comedian books. One other massive concern is for the non-Individuals solely, they had been not in a position to subscribe to digital collection for some undisclosed purpose which can have result in diminished revenue for publishers and creators. However because the Comixology App was additionally up to date, a stream of different complaints got here in, speaking about how individuals’s libraries had been eliminated, downloads deleted, the velocity of studying delayed, definition degraded, ease of use decimated and we reported an account from a Comixology Beta Tester wanting on the circumstances behind among the modifications. However there have been many extra accounts of what went all the way down to share. And even when it received a bit higher, it did not get significantly better. As we speak, Scott McGovern posted a Half One to Twitter, replicated under. He writes;

“Comixology merged with Kindle a couple of 12 months in the past, so I assumed I might share some behind-the-scenes of what led as much as that. Seize a drink. Disclaimer: I do not converse for Amazon, Comixology, or anybody however myself. That is all based mostly on my expertise. I could gloss over a pair issues as a result of I a: wasn’t within the room b: am defending co-workers c: do not know all the small print So, hold that in thoughts going ahead. Word to any of my Comixology co-workers: please be at liberty to leap in with your individual ideas, too add context, or to right me if I get one thing improper. Or simply to say hello, as a result of, y’know.”

“So, Comixology and Kindle. We at Comixology had recognized for some time that we had been going to have to maneuver to Kindle. FYI, one of many phrases used for this transfer was migration. There have been quite a few causes for this, one in all which Todd Allen highlighted at The Beat:

“”Incompatible tech stacks.” (Todd/Heidi, when you see this, can somebody @ me with Todd’s twitter? Cannot discover it wherever, and I wish to credit score the place I can.) (Says the man with an @ of cocktailsandink)”

I replied with a tag to @real_todd_allen – previously of Bleeding Cool. He continued;

“This has been publicly talked about a pair occasions over the past 12 months or two, however Comixology’s tech != Amazon’s tech. It was a PROBLEM. So the answer devised a number of years in the past (3? 4? I do not know anymore, time’s a flat circle), was to maneuver the whole lot to Kindle and Amazon. In spite of everything, Amazon has an enormous buyer base. So, let’s do that. We are able to faucet into this large viewers and develop the market. So between some tech incompatibility (frequent with tech acquisitions, so I’ve heard) and the potential massive viewers, it made sense to maneuver.”

“Me, I wasn’t paying an excessive amount of consideration to migration. I used to be accountable for the gross sales web page and dealing with publishers on planning gross sales, and I had different stuff occurring that saved me lots busy. However actually, it appeared like the best resolution. When doubtful, swing massive. *Insert Joker snort right here* I did not begin to hear any warnings till early 2021, I believe? However it was nonetheless too far off within the distance for me to give attention to.”

“It was @ Aug ’21, that David despatched out a letter to the purchasers to allow them to know there was a change coming. It was additionally round this time that I began to listen to MANY extra purple flags concerning the new retailer/apps. The type that mentioned, “oh sh-t, we’d have an issue.”  I wasn’t concerned within the coding or technical features of the brand new apps/retailer. I labored in Advertising, and wasn’t too within the loop on most of migration. Submit-migration, that modified as a result of I saved opening my rattling mouth. (lengthy story for an additional time.) However the short-and-long of it was that by EOY 2021, some/all/few(?) CMX staff knew we had been launching a subpar (I am being well mannered) retailer/buyer expertise. And there was little or no we might do to cease it, or make issues higher. That ship had sailed. It did not assist that we had been blocked by, oh how do I put this, the fully sh-tty nature of Amazon’s instruments to do our jobs. I imply, square-peg-in-a-round-circle type-of sh-tty. For my part, in fact.”

“However earlier than we get to that nightmare, let’s take a step again. There is a vital concern, IMO, that affected migration, and It is not one which’s gotten loads of point out. If any of my co-workers wish to chime in on this one, it might be a lot appreciated. Let’s speak about Covid.  I used to be a distant worker for my complete tenure at Comixology. There have been a bunch of distant staff scatted throughout North America, however many of the firm is/was based mostly out of NYC. So when the pandemic hit, and everybody needed to work at home? Issues slowed down a “little”.  For these of us who had loads of distant expertise, we principally tailored okay. However we had been the minority. Hastily my co-workers with youngsters had been all, “hey sorry concerning the screaming” or co-workers with roommates had been all “Sh-t, the place are my headphones?” … and a few Comixology staff had been simply plain ‘ol “I must be round individuals, that is f-cking horrible.” And nobody knew what was occurring. 2020 was not loads of enjoyable, y’know? Staff GOT Covid. They GOT sick. It was not a nice time. I imply, I used to be secure up right here in my hidey-hole within the wilds of Upstate NY. However for nearly all of the individuals I labored with, it was a totally completely different story. None of us had “your complete nation works from dwelling for a 12 months or two” on our astrology charts, y’know?”

“So, work slowed, however, extra importantly, so did _communication_. That is necessary. Covid made it tough for Comixology staff to work together and do our jobs. It additionally made it tougher for a few of us to speak about or plan the transfer to Kindle. We simply did not have the time. As somebody who by no means desires to work in an workplace once more, even I can settle for that communication is healthier in-person than over audio/video calls. So these purple flags I discussed earlier? They in all probability would’ve gotten caught – and shared – sooner if the pandemic hadn’t hit. Might which have stopped and/or modified something? I actually do not know. However the pandemic made migration harder, IMO.”

“So, February 2022 rolls round, we shut down our apps, turned off our web site, and we transfer the whole lot to Kindle. And y’know, once I look again to 12 months in the past, it actually WAS like Christmas. Everybody was joyful and joyous and there was love and wonder all through the world. Lol, no. It was f-cking horrible.”

The subsequent half is anticipated tomorrow. I’ve already requested a few questions which appear like they are going to be answered then.