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Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
Dude Drops His Kindle 2, Convinces Amazon to Replace it and Pay Him $200 For His Troubles
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Neight
11/09/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
Am I the only one that remembers "Go-Ball" from the early 80s? Was a bright neon plastic ball about the size of a bowling ball that you could control like an rc car. #bowlingballs
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nutbastard
11/09/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
"the goal here is actually to help young children and those with physical limitations bowl better."

so make the lane shorter. or wider. or troughier. #bowlingballs
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killjohnnydead
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
who cheats at bowling?

being good at bowling is...well...is like being the smartest kid with Down Syndrome.

or even as cool as kissing your sister.

if im going to cheat, im going to do it at something cool. like "ball in a cup" now that's a manly man's sport. #bowlingballs
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dingus
11/09/09

@killjohnnydead: Remote control golf ball. Amirite? #bowlingballs
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Digo
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
He still didn't get a strike though. Maybe with the next patch. #bowlingballs
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Richard Blakeley
11/08/09

@Digo: Yeah but that was still pretty amazing! What if the ball just exploded when it hit a pin? That would knock them all down for sure I bet. #bowlingballs
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adambco
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
If you will it dude, it is no dream.. #bowlingballs
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EDFACTOR
11/08/09

@adambco: It's like Lenin says... #bowlingballs
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dingus
11/09/09

@EDFACTOR: I am the walrus? #bowlingballs
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Gordonium
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
Artie (the Strongest Man... InTheWorld) had an RC hamster bowling ball back in his glory days on The Adventures of Pete & Pete. I doubt if he'd upgrade to this newfangled hamster-less model, though. #bowlingballs
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king_saberhawk
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
So someones is paying $1500 for disabled kids to feel better by playing with a joystick and some big balls. #bowlingballs
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
The devil you say? I think not. This bowling ball doesn't shoot flames, leave a trail of smoke with the smell brimstone in its wake or steal your soul... #bowlingballs
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GitEmSteveDave_HazEnvy
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
I wonder how much you could get for this thing at Cash4BowlingBalls.com. I hope someone tries to cash one in. #bowlingballs
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pete-01
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
I am the walrus? #bowlingballs
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electricarchie
11/08/09

@pete-01: Shut the fuck up donny, you're out of your element. #bowlingballs
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dingus
11/08/09

In reply to Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption
Who's in pyjamas, Roger?
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Edited by dingus at 11/08/09 10:20 AM dingus was starred dingus was unstarred

Odin
10/21/09

In reply to Dude Drops His Kindle 2, Convinces Amazon to Replace it and Pay Him $200 For His Troubles
Guy sounds like a douche, a cunning and clever douche but one nonetheless. You can't realistically expect companies to pay for your own carelessness. That drop test is not an explicit guarantee that the Kindle can survive those kind of falls. It's a demonstration that it has a decent potential durability, not an invitation to treat your device carelessly. Unless Amazon actually explicitly guarantees that it should always survive those kind of falls that letter has no basis.

Amazon are pretty weak for giving into it but I recognise how much hassle these things are. The problem is because they gave in to this they've opened the door to all sorts of other idiots who'll look to make a quick buck off them.

Guys an idiot for dropping his gadget bag, an even bigger one for expecting Amazon to compensate him for his stupidity. #kindle2
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Branden Silva
10/21/09

In reply to Dude Drops His Kindle 2, Convinces Amazon to Replace it and Pay Him $200 For His Troubles
Interesting. A little legal jargon added in there and you can play the lawyer game.

It's cheaper for Amazon to settle then to go through litigation with this guy. Sure he might have to equally pay his lawyers but if he is willing enough to pull up the law information on this then I'm guessing he's willing to follow through with his claims to sue. Amazon pays their lawyers a lot more dough and so $400 is a drop in the bucket for them to get this guy off of their backs.

As far as common sense goes I think most of us know not to drop our electronics on the ground. As this guy stated he merely dropped his bag from 2 feet in the air. If you take Amazon's word for it then your device wouldn't have been broken.

I drop my bag on the carpet and my laptop doesn't get broken. it's not like I'm slamming it 10 feet off the ground with ninja force. I'd expect the kindle to be able to handle a small drop like that, especially if their advertising gives me the idea that it can handle that.

We all pick our battles. It just so happens that $400 was important to this man and Amazon didn't want to hassle with it. Some people who are more loaded would have just went out and bought another Kindle with 0 questions asked.
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Odin promoted this comment Edited by Branden Silva at 10/21/09 1:58 AM Branden Silva was starred Branden Silva was unstarred

Odin
10/21/09

@Branden Silva:
Actually it's more expensive to settle most of the time. Generally most legal battles end with the loser paying the winners legal fees. Amazon could have easily thrashed his claim in court and he'd be the one left out of pocket. It is significantly less hassle to settle but the problem is that it leaves others to take advantage of the fact that they let it slide.

Amazons "word" or that drop test is not an explicit guarantee, it's merely a demo that it has a reasonable level of durability. Also the conditions of his drop and Amazons demonstrated durability test are quite different.

The main thing being that it was in a bag. What I imagine happened is when he dropped his bag something in the bag impacted the screen. I don't think Amazons promise of reasonable durability covers stuff like that happening. #kindle2
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seanpat12
10/20/09

In reply to Dude Drops His Kindle 2, Convinces Amazon to Replace it and Pay Him $200 For His Troubles
As a current law student, he acted well within his rights under California's laws, and I don't see anything wrong with what he did. He is a model citizen of why people need to stay informed about their rights as a consumer so they are not taken advantaged of by multinational corporations.

Congrats to him. #kindle2
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The Lab
10/20/09

In reply to Dude Drops His Kindle 2, Convinces Amazon to Replace it and Pay Him $200 For His Troubles
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer. However, the way I understand it is that if you file a suit under the consumer protection act, the company must either respond in some time frame or you win by default. You can also claim treble damages which is 3X damages. The cost of getting a lawyer to write a letter of response is probably most of the $200 if not $400. It is also less than the $1200 he could get with no response.

IMHO, asking for the extra $200 was kind of a douchey move and really over-valued the "diminution of utility and value of the device as well as of the e-books I have purchased for that device." This is what it looks like when someone figures out how to work (cheat) the system.
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Edited by The Lab at 10/20/09 7:28 PM The Lab was starred The Lab was unstarred

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