BIG TECHNOLOGY

‘It Just Felt Wrong’: Ex-Amazon VP Tim Bray on Why He Left.

Bray talks to journalist Alex Kantrowitz about how Amazon treats workers, regulation, and more

Alex Kantrowitz
OneZero
Published in
18 min readAug 27, 2020

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Tim Bray
Photo courtesy of Tim Bray

OneZero is partnering with Big Technology, a newsletter and podcast by Alex Kantrowitz, to bring readers exclusive access to interviews with notable figures in and around the tech industry.

This week, Kantrowitz sits down with Tim Bray, an ex-VP for Amazon and distinguished engineer who quit after the company fired employees who spoke up about working conditions in its warehouses. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

To subscribe to the podcast and hear the interview for yourself, you can check it out on iTunes, Spotify, and Overcast.

In May, Amazon VP and distinguished engineer Tim Bray said he was leaving the company. Amazon had just fired employees who spoke out against its working conditions, and Bray couldn’t tolerate it. He handed in his resignation and published an astonishing blog post detailing his decision — an unprecedented move for an executive inside the tech giants. “I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison,” he wrote.

By listening to Bray, we can learn a bit more about how people inside the tech…

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OneZero
OneZero

Published in OneZero

OneZero is a former publication from Medium about the impact of technology on people and the future. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Alex Kantrowitz
Alex Kantrowitz

Written by Alex Kantrowitz

Veteran journalist covering Big Tech and society. Subscribe to my newsletter here: https://bigtechnology.com.