While I don't like some of the directions the company is edging into, I have to admit that Amazon and its Prime membership does offer value to its customers and users. I'm not a member anymore (not much benefit when living in Central Asia), but about once a year I still take shameless advantage when they offer me a new free trial... usually around Xmas time when I'm in the US.
As long as it's not the ONLY place you shop (and hence you become overly dependent on it), on the scale of "selling out" I say it's only like a '3' out of '10'. Overall, I think Amazon is just a tool... and you can take that however you wish ;)
yeah, it's not a good feeling making the richest person on the planet even richer, but it's so damn convenient, it's like a drug really. but of course i notice that now I signed up for a month of Prime I am buying too much... or am i just catching up on some thing i should have been buying? Consumption is addictive..... we are surrounded by that culture. Peace