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Mighty Amazon
theodp writes "Fortune reports that the patent-pending practice of selling partners' used and new goods next to Amazon's own was CEO Jeff Bezos' response to the emerging threat of eBay. Seeing an opportunity to overtake the online auctioneer as well as a way to slow the need to add warehouse capacity, Bezos 'bet big and put hundreds of his best people on it.' While Bezos' decision caused a lot of discomfort at the time, including the Authors Guild protest and the subsequent e-mail campaign in Amazon's defense, today almost 20% of the e-tailer's unit volume is sold through others, yielding revenue that is almost pure profit."
It's good to see the small guy win one.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
I think we've got enough "???/Profit" jokes to make a decent Beowulf cluster now :D
They aren't patenting basic life processes. They're patenting basic live processes online. That's completely different.
Jon Stewart should start patenting doing things on weed. He'd make a fortune.
"But dude, we're patenting one click ordering on weed! "
"Dude, have you ever sold books? Well, what about selling books online? Oh. Well, what about selling books online on weed?! Let's patent that, dude."
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Is there anything Amazon isn't going for a patent on?
Relevant documentation here and here.
How many warehouses in the world have people with doctorates making boxes?
Two points:
1. It would amaze you how many academic subjects there are these days that you can earn a doctorate in.
2. Not everbody has the skills needed to work the till at a McDonalds.