When it comes to certain companies, it’s a bit easier to smell the evil: It’s not like you have to look too terribly hard at Google or Apple before thinking “yeah, well, not too hard to see where that could go wrong”.

With Amazon, things are a bit less cut and dry.

Obviously Amazon’s got its issues. People have been end-is-nigh’ing books and bookstores since Amazon first got its legs in the 90s. The site made lifelong nemeses of privately-owned bookstores by basically just existing, much the same way other online retailers like Ebay had the internet-fresh world in a tizzy of what going digital meant for local businesses. Amazon then had the gall to introduce the Kindle, which, as we all know, is the death of all literature as we know it: Say farewell to that fresh book smell, kids, because that’s going the way of the VHS soon enough.

If you’re detecting some sarcasm there, you’re not wrong. Frankly, Amazon’s done a lot worse than make a book-reading tablet, and honestly, were it not Amazon filling that void for an online bookstore, some other site would have stepped in. It’s the digital era, and you can buy pretty much anything your heart desires online these days. Is it bad for small businesses? Yes, unfortunately, but then, so is Walmart. It’s hard for me to condemn Amazon for business practices that are basically becoming the status quo these days. At some point I just have to step back and think about how I personally would do things differently, and barring wagging a finger at capitalism, I can’t say I have an alternative suggestion in mind.

Aside from generally existing, though, Amazon does have a skeleton or two in its closet: The recent Amazon vs. Hachette debacle only skims the surface of that. Amazon’s not afraid to bully writers and publishers into lower prices, meaning lower prices for consumers, but less pay for authors.

So… Amazon: Evil? I can’t say for certain just yet. There’s definitely the potential as they acquire more services and branch out into more directions, but unless something truly explosive’s happened off my radar, so far, Amazon seems to not entirely live up to the evil empire its fellows happily inhabit.

Of course, something not being inherently evil doesn’t exactly mean it’s necessarily good. Ethics among these companies isn’t exactly Western-style black hat or white hat. When the entire landscape’s grayscale, what it ultimately boils down to is at what shade you draw the line.