Kindle sold out in hours despite largely negative customer reviews

The initial stock of the Amazon Kindle sold out within six or eight hours yesterday, which is 
interesting considering that so far it's received largely negative customer reviews on 
Amazon's own website.  So far it's tallied 280 negative or neutral reviews vs. 130 positive 
ones, giving it a 2.4 star rating.  The two most useful favorable and critical reviews are 
showcased side by side on the customer review page.  By far the largest number of reviews 
(146) are in the one-star category.  Some of the negative reviews are quite scathing, 
particularly concerning the $399 price and DRM'd content.  Of course, most of these reviews 
are based on reaction to the announced product details rather that reports of purchasers' 
actual experience, since few people actually have one yet.  The Amazon website says that the 
Kindle will be in stock again on Nov. 29.  

I suppose one interpretation of strong sales in the face of negative reviews is that purchasers 
of the Kindle tend to discount critiques by people who haven't actually owned one.  Another 
possibility is that long-time Amazon customers have confidence in Amazon's return policy if 
they find themselves disappointed with their Kindle when they receive it.  A third is that 
purchasers find some specific aspect of the Kindle, like the free wireless Internet connectivity, 
so useful for their own particular needs that they don't pay much attention to the overall 
product rating.



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