Inside the Giant Machine: Confessions of a Former Amazon.com Technologist
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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 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 free thinking individuals that define America.
This edition of the book was revised in Jan. 2011, & a new chapter was added on the Amazon Warehouse scandal. In 2011, Morning call, a newspaper in Pennsylvania published a lengthy expose on the horrendous work conditions at Amazon's warehouse in the region. That report is covered with author's unique perspective based on his prior work experience at Amazon.
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. . . . not only does the author makes us feel the vitality of the Hi-Tech worlds of California & Seattle but his very emotional experiences as an immigrant, as father and a former executive relocating to another city & take a first level management position.
I love his leaps of imagination, and the words which hook us in, make us think this is our story.
For example, here is what it means to yearn for acceptance:
"I looked at Seattle's glistening skyline on one side and its beautiful waterfront on the other and asked it the same questions I had asked San Francisco sixteen years ago: will it accept me? Or will its people treat me as someone different, not one of them? And will I accept it, call it my home? “
Overall, a hip, funny and yet very poignant story!
…. …..John Lehman, author
CONFESSIONS OF THE AUTHOR
I must confess that English is my 3rd language. Even though this book was edited by 3 professional 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 converted a dull topic—the transformation of Amazon from a retail website to a marketplace—into an interesting and lively story.
This is more of a little book than a big one. Being a technologist, I am trained to be concise. The printed version of this edition is 221 pages. This may be too little for a few readers, too much for others, and just right for the rest. So, If you are looking for a 1,000-page treatise on Amazon that can be used as an example of perfect grammar in the High school English grammar class, then this book may not be the right book for you. There are several other books on Amazon with perfect grammar, which are also perfectly boring!
Oh, and this is not THE Amazon Story, just AN Amazon Story. Only 1 Amazon Employee can write THE Amazon Story – Jeff Bezos, and he is busy doing other things.
This book evolved from a blog which I shared with friends as I interviewed & joined Amazon, moved to Seattle, and then "exited". While 60% of the material was added afterwards, the core of this book remains the original blog entries and still has that feel.
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. In that regard, 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.
Ready to buy? Proceed with caution 
Kalpanik S
Product Details
- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 1071 KB
- Print Length: 107 pages
- Publisher: Center of Artificial Imagination, Inc.; r2.4 edition (January 20, 2012)
- Language: English
- ASIN: B004RJ42JA
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Lending: Enabled
Customer Reviews
Taught me things about Amazon.com — my favorite website
This short e-book taught me things I didn’t know about Amazon.com, my favorite website The author was born in India and has lived the American dream as a computer technologist, first in Silicon Valley and later for Amazon.com. He and his family moved to Seattle after a long and grueling interview process. He was paid well but the job required as much as 80 hours of work a week. He describes Seattle well, its’ warm and bright summers and its’ cold and rainy winters. He also describes the impact that living there had on his wife and children. Especially interesting to me was the Amazon.com working culture, which was indeed hard on the employees as Amazon created the mammoth business that it is today.
The book is fast-paced and easy to read, the author a likable guy. Amazon is a hard place to work for and many of his opinions are certainly not complementary although I could easily see the business genius of Jeff Bezos. Eventually, Mr. Kalpanik left the company but his recollections depict a time and a place and an industry that is indeed unique and will certainly be applauded as a business model for many years to come.
Entertaining and Surprising View of Amazon
This inexpensive book was written by a former Amazon employee who worked in the Silicon Valley prior to Amazon. The writing is easy reading, very entertaining, and certainly sounds authentic. What was surprising to me was that the author began with a pretty positive description of Amazon that suddenly turned very sour and negative. Something must have happened to destroy the author’s situation with the company. I really valued learning about how Amazon was created. Not surprising that the CEO expected extremely hard work. Would you say that the author became a “disgruntled” ex-employee? Thank you for the book AND photos!
Humorous and entertaining, highly recommended
Humorous and entertaining, the author has a unique view as he describes his journey to the reader. He shares the path he weaves from the Silicon Valley, to Amazon in Seattle, and beyond in a distinctive way of storytelling. I found this easy to read book witty, and his funny stories about Amazon more than a little entertaining. His mood and tone easily transfers from the pages, and I have to admit I caught myself smiling. Wonderful Book! I would highly recommend it to other readers looking for a lighthearted book with personality, amusing observations on Amazon, and smiles along the way.
High entertaining value, yet faithful to reality
This is a non-technical book about a very technical company. Reader can really get a sense on how Amazon operates without having to deal with all the technical jargons. The author unveils what drives the success of Amazon by using personal experience and humor.
Being an ex-amazonian, I can relate to many of the stories told by the book.
Amazon-Taking over the world
I have recently become interested in all things Amazon and I got this book to get a better understanding of the Amazon culture. It seems as though Amazon is now providing EVERYTHING from video streaming, to Groupon like offers and retail sales which include electronics, appliances, health food items and office supplies. To think that this company started as an online book store is absolutely mind blowing.
The author gives you a good background that explains how they got to where they are today. Much of what he describes as the corporate culture is eye opening and horrible. The fact that a high level hire, such as the author, would have to work in the kind of conditions that he describes in the book makes you want to think twice about making any purchases at Amazon.
The author, however, is not at all bitter. He calmly reports that he happily used the easy book publishing interface at Amazon to help with the publishing of this very book. He offers a very fair, in my opinion, analysis of what it is that Amazon does particularly well. I enjoyed this inside look at Amazon immensely. Recommended.
Tagged with: Amazon • Amazon story • BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / E-Commerce / General • Center of Artificial Imagination • ebook • Inc. • Jeff Bezos • Kalpanik S. • Neha Talreja • PHOTOGRAPHY / Photoessays & Documentaries
Filed under: Internet Marketing News • Internet Product Reviews
