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Inside the Giant Machine - An Amazon.com Story
 
 

Inside the Giant Machine - An Amazon.com Story [Kindle Edition]

Kalpanik S. , Colin Zheng , Pamela Traphagen
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £8.50
Kindle Price: £0.00 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £8.50 (100%)

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Paperback £8.54  


Product Description

Product Description

To celebrate the international success of this eBook - it is at #1 in its category in Kindle stores in several countries, we are offering it £0.77 in UK (€ 0,89 in Continental Europe) for for one week. The price will revert to £6.99 in UK (€ 9,50 in Continental Europe) after the promotional period is over.

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DESCRIPTION

This third Edition has gone through extensive professional editing based on feedback on the previous editions. The chapters have been reorganized to give the book a more cohesive flow. Most of the photographs have been removed from the Kindle edition because of formatting and rendering issues, so any references to nice photographs apply to the color interior print edition.

Many of the reviews for this book are for the previous editions. The digital Kindle allows content providers to do an in-place replacement of the content, but there is no easy way to do "version" matching for reviews.

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Behind Amazon's quirky smile logo lurks a cold and calculating giant machine. Author Kalpanik S. reveals his own smile as he tells the somewhat quirky story of his complex, and often hilarious, relationship with Amazon. From the sophisticated wit in his portrayal of the courtship period in "How To Get Hired By Amazon In Ten Days", to the dark humor of the disillusionment period in "The Cold, Calculating Machine", Kalpanik's story is more than just an insider's view of the giant machine known as Amazon.com. It's a modern, universal story of the uneasy relationship between an individual and today's gargantuan corporations. In the end, it is also a story of redemption for creative and freethinking individuals that define America.



CONFESSIONS OF A FOREIGN BORN AUTHOR

I must confess that English is my third language, and even though I have employed three professional, native English editors, it is obvious-—even to me—that this book is written by a Foreign-born author.

Foreign-born or not, I believe I have a talent for storytelling, and I have converted a dull topic—the transformation of Amazon from a retail website to a marketplace—into an interesting, humorous and lively story.

This is more of a little book than a big one. Being a technologist, I tend to be concise. The printed edition of this book is 221 pages on an 8-by-5.25-inch paper size. This may be too little for a few readers, too much for others, and just right for some.

So, If you are looking for a 1,000-page treatise on Amazon written using ornate language, then this book may not be the right book for you. But you want a book which describes my unique personal experiences in a witty, clever and yet easy read, this is what you need.

Please note that this is AN Amazon Story, not THE Amazon Story. Only one Amazon employee can write THE Amazon Story - Jeff Bezos, but he is kind of busy, so you will have to settle for this eBook.

A book about Amazon can be pretty dry, so I have tried to add some humor. In my attempt to make this book funny, a few facts may have been stretched. I quote this passage from 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com, written by Mike Daisey, a fellow Amazon alumnus–turned author:

“Some facts were injured in the telling of this story. The truth, however, remains unharmed.”

That applies to this book as well.

Enjoy!

Kalpanik S.

ACCLAIM

As the author moves to Seattle to work for Amazon, he makes us feel that we are traveling with him, making us feel the vitality of the fast moving Tech world, we read the words on the page but live them in the theater of our imagination, feeling his every feeling. From author’s very emotional yearning for acceptance in a new city, his second immigration, to the hilarious piece on Seattle's slacker sun, I found this story to be funny and yet poignant .....John Lehman, Author

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 1040 KB
  • Print Length: 182 pages
  • Publisher: Center of Artificial Imagination, Inc.; r3.1 edition (2 Sep 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B003BNZPSK
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,078 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Look into Amazon! 25 April 2011
By Mark
Format:Paperback
Inside the Giant Machine is a book about the author's move to Seattle to work for Amazon. This book is written in a conversational fashion as if I was sitting down having coffee with a good friend. It's an interesting business and personal account of a manager trying to adapt to the corporate culture at Amazon. We usually only know about companies from what we read in the newspaper it's great to have a real, honest, personal description of how it was like to work at Amazon. The book takes you through how Kalpanik got the job, worked on the job and how he came to leave the job. This book is a great read and learning experience.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Short and enjoyable, well worth the money 16 July 2011
By Polina
Format:Kindle Edition
I've got a job offer from Amazon and wanted to familiarize myself with the culture of my potential employer. So I bought two books: this one and Amazon.com: Get Big Fast by Robert Spector, both on Kindle. I finished this one in a couple of hours - it resembles a blog rather than a book. Author has an enjoyable and humorous style and it is hard to put the book down. He has certainly shed some light on Amazon culture, well worth the money I spent.
Read it if you are interested in Amazon and considering taking a job from them. Don't expect the interview tips though.
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4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read 3 Sep 2012
By Monty
Format:Kindle Edition
I have to say that I downloaded this when it was free and read it on my phone, it is short and I would agree with previous comments that it is like a personal blog or a chat over a cup of coffee. Having since read up on the author I see that he has indicated that he kept journals and this is what the book is based on.
Having never been to Seattle I enjoyed his observations and have to say that I felt that he portrayed the city and people in a positive way, with the stark warning of the long winter months.
There is some insight into the Amazon recruiting process, the long hours, the reliance of metric etc, though it does not go into the deep inner workings of Amazon generally.
I would suggest if you are after a quick read on a commute, as I was, this is definitely worth a download.
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