If we could charge users just a little bit of money [...] But we can’t, because we’re an academic institution. So that would be evil.
I doubt very much that the people who made this decision were considering the moral implications. Far more likely, they decided based on economics. It sounds like a good decision to me, from what you’ve presented here.
I really don’t think it’s appropriate to equate a business decision with religious craziness, not without more evidence that they’re behaving irrationally.
I didn’t say the decision was bad. (The decision hasn’t been made yet, BTW.) Even the part about needing Amazon to get around the moral issue isn’t a bad decision, since we have no control over academia’s morals.
Just pointing out another instance of a general phenomenon.
I doubt very much that the people who made this decision were considering the moral implications. Far more likely, they decided based on economics. It sounds like a good decision to me, from what you’ve presented here.
I really don’t think it’s appropriate to equate a business decision with religious craziness, not without more evidence that they’re behaving irrationally.
I didn’t say the decision was bad. (The decision hasn’t been made yet, BTW.) Even the part about needing Amazon to get around the moral issue isn’t a bad decision, since we have no control over academia’s morals.
Just pointing out another instance of a general phenomenon.