Inside the Giant Machine: An Amazon.com Story - Optimized for Kindle on Android Devices

by S. Kalpanik, Pamela Traphagen (Editor), Neha Talreja (Translator)

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. Revision 2.7: A new chapter was added on the Amazon Warehouse scandal which is based on the report first published by Morning call, a newspaper in Pennsylvania in 2011 which described on the horrendous work conditions at Amazon's warehouse in the region. 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. And yes, this book is half about Amazon, half about my trajectory in time and space (aka my life) which intersected with Amazon. Of course, you have my permission to skip the portions about my life :) This book evolved from a blog which I authored as and when I interviewed & joined Amazon, moved to Seattle, and then "exited" both Amazon and Seattle. While half of the material was added afterwards based on my recollection, 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 Doing Time @ Amazon.com, written by Mike Daisey, a fellow Amazon alumnus–turned “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! And don't drive or operate heavy machinery immediately after reading this book. Kalpanik S.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Biography, Memoir, History

159 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 9, 2010

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uhg. This was the most disappointing book I've read on my Kindle. Not even a full-length book, but longer than an amazon short. Reads like a series of blog posts, with very little insight into the workings of the company.

Not recommended.

[Cliff Hays · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of the sections were interesting (the ones that actually talked about the inner workings of Amazon). The author had a tendency to digress into strange memoir-like tangents. Not bad if you're into that sort of thing, but I am not.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak sauce. Poorly written, jumped around a lot, and didn't actually provide much insight into working at Amazon.

[Valentin Chirosca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel in Dhaka not Washington so I'v stopped using Kindle.

[Patrice Sartor · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Stars.

This tale of the author's time at Amazon seems to me an example of a negative aspect of the proliferation of self-publishing. I feel this would be better served as a series of blog posts instead of a book. Maybe they even were on a blog at some point. *shrug*

Kalpanik explains how and why he left a high-powered job in Silicon Valley to join Amazon, in rainy Seattle. He mentions his family here and there. He attempts to exude charisma, wit, and cleverness, and he failed for me on all counts. His metaphors were eye-rolling at best. His reflections on the growth of his daughters felt awkward. I didn't connect with him as a character (or person), and scenes like the one where he danced with a stranger only distanced me further, instead of drawing me in.

Beyond all that awkwardness, there's not enough information to fully understand why Kalpanik turned so vehemently against Amazon. I get it, kinda. I guess. Yet more detail seemed to be given to what the inside of the Amazon warehouse looked like than just why it went from love to hate so quickly. The end of the book describes the working condition in one of those warehouses during the summer of 2011, which I get, it was appalling. But it happened after he had left the company, so it didn't add enough depth for me.

In the end, I finished it, but only out of an obligation.

[Peter Heinrich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here's a hodge podge of reflective observations, Amazon.com corporate history, and strange personal anecdotes, many approaching TMI territory. As long-form casual writing, this book is uneven and its style distracting. As an exposé or true history of Amazon.com, its corporate culture, well-known CEO, or his metrics-driven management, this book is little better than that story you heard about the guy who wrote that blog—you know, he was on NPR, talking about that thing—and feels about as authoritative.

I don't have a problem with Kalpanik's insights or personal impressions (full disclosure: I work for Amazon.com); I'm just not sure what to do with them. They don't rise to the level of investigative journalism, but neither are they a compelling memoir, even though I can relate to a lot of the details. What better illustrates this than my glacial progress through this slim volume? It took a long time to read because Kalpanik couldn't hold my interest.

This was a CreateSpace (self-published) book, and perfectly makes the case for old-school publishing. Sure, publishers may sometimes stand in the way of a refreshing outlook or stifle the little guy's unique creativity, but that would have saved me some time in this case.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, and this one is probably my favorite edition. It was such a fun read - the author's really witty and takes what might otherwise be a boring biography of Amazon into a complete story about the company's growth and how his own life was altered by that. It about Amazon changing as a company, but it's also about the author's transformation in response to that. This book was great because you're bound to learn something new about Amazon, and you also get the opportunity to reflect on the author's life and how it relates to your own. Really a great combination of information and inspiration. I highly recommend it!

[Nate Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was great, and this edition is by far the best. I thought it was just about Amazon, going back through the company's history, but it was actually made a lot more interesting by having the author's thoughts about it all in there. It's cool to see it from the perspective of someone who watched it happen rather than what the media decides to report. Great sense of humor, this guy, too - his daughters' names made me literally laugh out loud! It's a great read, definitely worth a shot if you're interested in learning about Amazon. The behind-the-scenes information you get from this is very illuminating.

[Dennis Willingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this offered as a free kindle book and picked it up. Very short, quick read. Interesting, a technocrat's view from the inside. The frustration he experesses over the best presented ideas winning out over better technical solutions is a common problem when non-experts have to make decisions on matters they don't really understand but know they need to do. I've worked in a number of technology companies and I don't think Amazon's review process, as he described it, is a whole lot more draaconian than most. In every company I've worked for, if you were in the bottom 25% on your review, you needed to find a new job, fast.

[Nate Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, really funny. If you're interested in Amazon, you definitely learn from this book. Since it's about this guy who works for them, you get to see some great behind-the-scenes action of what really went on/goes on. The guy got some laughs out of me too, like his daughter's names - ridiculous, but I guess it works for anonymity. xD I thought it was an interesting read, and since it's so short, you've really got nothing to lose if you want to chance it. Great information and funny commentary, so I don't think it really gets better than that.

[Rich Meyer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Exceedingly mediocre. The only interesting bits were the description of Amazon's warehousing operation and the postscript about the OSHA interventions in Pennsylvania. One wonders about the integrity of an employee (and a company without fail-safes) that allows a young girl to "hack" into her father's personnel file without setting off any alarms. There's no big anti-Amazon expose here ... just a lot of whining and a lot of wingeing about apparent culture shock in Seattle. Complete waste of time and money.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

While Kalpanik is obviously a mathematical genius, his talents don't extend to writing. Readers hoping to learn the down and dirty about Amazon will be disappointed, as the only two revelations are the difficulty of being hired at the company and that the CEO is a jerk. A real revelation would have been to learn that there's a CEO that ISN'T a jerk. There is an article written about the horrible working conditions in the warehouse in PA, but this isn't written by Kalpanik.

This book reads more like an outline that glosses over the interesting parts. Not recommended.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This a real mess of a book: a discursive mismatch of Seattle culture clash for the Asian outsider, Silicon Valley longing, and buyer's remorse over an Amazon career.

Kalpanik does seem to have some convincing facts that Amazon is a modern day sweatshop, at least for warehouse workers and is even a soulless metrics-driven slog of working for The Man at Keeping-The-People-Down, Inc. even for white collar personnel.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! Inside the Giant Machine is so well written - very witty and humorous, I was laughing half the time! It's just as much about the author's transition through the process as it is about Amazon's transformation into the huge company it is today. It was insightful and inspiring all at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed this!

[Darko Doko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally give 5 star to every book that I just can not put aside while reading. This is one of those books that you read in a breath of time, but the reason why I gave 4 star is that title might be misleading. The book is really well written and its really interesting but it is not that much about Amazon.
Nevertheless I enjoyed it.

[Olli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quick read. Very inconsistent and consist weird random pieces of personal stories that do not relate to Amazon in any way. Does not give any kind of even reasonably good insight to Amazon. Mainly reflects public information, and doesn't do even that too well. Can't recommend - waste of time and money.

[Urban Sedlar · Rating 3 out of 5]

somewhat mixed feelings; expected more details about Amazon, but it contains a lot of unrelated personal stories, some of which are, to be fair, fun to read. On the plus side, it's a short read and available as a free e-book

[Bill Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat disappointed by the book's lack of currency. Author left Amazon in 2005, somewhat surprised by company philosophy. Another Internet Giant caught with its pants down.

[Benscopato · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful book. Provides no insight into Amazon, poorly written, and we're subjected to the authors downright creepy, lustful observations on young women. Awful, awful, awful.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the Amazon machine we all love so much. Amazon is so amazing in its insight and customer service, but it seems they are not as concerned with their employees. Very insightful.

[Vivek Kumar]

I like the chapter where the author describes his interview for the company..