Tablet UML News


News and commentary (and whatever else catches my eye)
from Martin L. Shoemaker, author of Tablet UML
and UML and Tablet PC instructor for The Richard Hale Shaw Group

Sunday, April 30, 2006

And the award for most confusing eBay listing goes to...
...this listing for 40 Years Of The Amazing Spider-Man - *NEW for $20.54.

Why did it win the award for most confusing (nominated, selected, and awarded by me, and I'm not interested in doing any actual research to find anything even worse)? Was it because 11 CDs of Spider-Man comics are listed under Books > Nonfiction Books? No, lots of eBay listings are filed under the wrong category.

No, the problem is that the category is right. It's the title that's wrong. Here's the revised description of this book:


Description (revised)

The Spirit of Islamic Law
Item Specifics - Nonfiction Books
Author: Bernard G. Weiss Category: Law & Government
Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr
ISBN: 0820328278
Format: Softcover Condition: New
Publication Year: 2006
Special Attributes: —


And then there follows a great-big splash page that describes the book in detail; and trust me, Spider-Man is not mentioned anywhere on that splash page.

Look, I know it probably costs, like, a dollar to cancel an eBay listing and create another one. But there's just no reason I can see to leave this listing up under such a misleading title. No one who wants The Spirit of Islamic Law will find the book under that title; and anyone looking for 40 Years Of The Amazing Spider-Man is not going to be happy when they open this listing. Amused, perhaps, but not happy: you see, the asking price for this book is half the original price of 40 Years Of The Amazing Spider-Man; and since the CD set is now out of print (drat!), secondary sellers on Amazon are charging $90 and up. $20.54 is a really exciting bargain... and then you find that you're looking at the wrong book.

P.S. And yes, Epee Bill, they have issued this title as well. And since it's in PDF format, it should work on that niche computer platform you prefer (though there are some user comments that indicate problems on Macs, including possible incompatibilities with Mac's built-in PDF reader).