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Interview with Jeff Bezos of Amazon
slakdrgn writes "Wired has an interview with Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon.com) with some interesting information on how he approaches the market, why they stopped doing TV advertising three years ago and hints at what might be coming in the future."
Or dose that interview seem to be rather empty?
but its nice to see the adversisting budget went to free shiping, I think there right, if companys focused more on the product and less on the hype, we'd all be happyer.
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The interview states that Amazon sells 20 million different articles. What I'd like to know, is this the number of articles in their catalogue or is this the number they really sell? Because when I search for something usually only the first two pages of results are available from Amazon while the bulk of results aren't available from them!
He just tells about the advantages of online bookstores over conventional bookstores. He doesn't say much about what advantages Amazon can offer over other online bookstores. I guess there aren't many.
And I know, because I sell science fiction first editions in my spare time.
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
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I'll risk the bad karma in agreeing with the parent. Slashdot is very slanted in most of its news. Anything new from Apple, Wired, or any piece of hardware running Linux is big news. Oh, and any flaw in an MS product is big news.
It's not quite as bad as Fox News yet though, so I can't complain too much. When I start seeing Bush/Cheney ads instead of Thinkgeek ads at the top of my page, I'm outta here.
I've used a few different online retailers for various products. The best two I have ever dealt with is amazon and newegg.
Not once has either screwed up my order: always on time, with the correct contents, and well packaged. Which is why I keep coming back. They both have ease of use, with reliability. Perhaps they don't offer any unique in and of themselves. Perhaps their prices are the same as elsewhere. But the fact is, if I know I can trust them to not send me the wrong damn fan, or that my dvd will arrive and they case won't be cracked, then I'll always go with them.
Just an example, I ordered an old PC game some time ago, and when I got it, I noticed that it was lacking a CD (it was one of those 4 CD games of old age). I write to Amazon, not knowing what to expect from them. But, to my surprise, they wrote back, saying that they would ship another package, no charge, and that I could keep the first one and do with it whatever I chose to! (they sugested giving it to charity)
It was really a surprise to me, I'm not used to this kind of service, not even on "live" stores, let alone on online ones!
Anyway, I'm prety happy with my relationship with Amazon and I'll continue to buy from them whenever I can.
Keep up the good work, guys!
"A sysadmin is a cross between a detective, a police officer, a gardener, a doctor and a fireman"
Two were 50% more expensive for Used version and one about the same.
So why should I care about Amazon's share of the sales if it provides me a better overall price in addition to dealing with a known entity?
By the way having a long Wish List at Amazon and checking Usd Prices from time to time is an excellent way of getting good deals. New books drops to 1/3 or so often less than two mothn after release.
Help fight continental drift.
I can tell you that right now. More stupid strangle patents, like the infamous one click patent.
Bezos is a tool.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
People come to Slashdot to get coverage of non-Microsoft platforms, with a special focus on open source.
Therefore, it should not be at all surprising that anti-Microsoft news is covered, nor that most of the stories are about, well, non-Microsoft platforms.
Wired happens to be a publication which reports on issues dear to Slashdot readers, including "your rights online" stuff and online business. Since these are subjects of interest to Slashdot readers, I'm not at all surprised or disappointed that these articles are posted.
Slashdot is, in my opinion, biased in the same way its readers are biased. I'm actually surprised at how balanced it is; positive Microsoft news, for example, is still covered. Even if we don't like Longhorn, we find out about it here.
There is too much technical news to not have some kind of bias or focus. If you really want pro-Microsoft news, well, read one of millions of sites devoted to Windows.
D
Well, not just anything. Slashdot passed on Dvorak's most recent bashing of Apple! Elsewhere, there is plenty of heat (but little light) elsewhere.
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
Has Amazon made a profit yet? I'm not talking about profitable quarters. Has Amazon made more in revenue over its lifetime than the money invested?
On the Netflix question, what he didn't say was that amazon.co.uk is already offering that service. I didn't realise that the US branch wasn't, actually. I'm sure they will do it in the US soon.
He's probably right that Amazon wouldn't need to market it, and in the UK, it's much cheaper than the competing services (£7.99 per month for up to four rentals, two at a time; or £9.99/six/three).
11.0010010000111111011010101000100010000101101000
Do physical bookstores have anything to offer that Amazon doesn't?
Actually, one thing I find easier (and more enjoyable) in a physical bookstore is actually browsing for different titles along a shelf (or shelves). You might be looking for a particular title, but it's always interesting to see what other titles are stacked up next to it. Yes, you can "browse" online, but it feels more cumbersome to me and doesn't match the pleasure of browsing in a real bookstore (or library). What's more, Amazon's website has quite a cluttered feel to it. There are so many bits of information on a single page (including adverts from other vendors), it sometimes feels as if you're being bombarded with the hard sell.
I've ordered many times from Amazon and have no complaints about their customer service. However, they've grown so large (and continue to grow), I do worry about their influence and how they might exert it over other vendors, publishers, writers etc.
And speaking of the hard sell, is the recent "Amazon Theater" a foretaste of things to come? Product-placement taken to a new level i.e. films designed primarily to sell products. Not something to look forward to. How long before we see weblinks on a DVD that take you direct to an Amazon page where you can buy product X as featured in the movie you just watched?
What about videos? Netflix says it believes you're going to enter their rental-by-mail business.
Amazon UK have already started a DVD rental service. Perhaps it's a way for Amazon to test the waters before launching the service in the US?
For instance a year or two ago they had a good selection of chinese and japanese action films. Hell, from every country. Now its just a couple of 'popular' ones that made it so US cinemas alredy.
And where the hell is Von Triers The Kingdom series 2 Amazon? You have the woefully bad Stephen Kings abortion, yet dont have the second part of the original.
What I thought was most interesting was his comment about search-inside-the book. When that feature debuted, I remember reading a highly-rated comment here on /. by someone who's spouse was in the book biz who thought that it would be death for cookbooks and reference works since people could get the info piecemeal instead of buying the book. And yet Bezos says they were worried a little about that, too, but relative sales in those categories increased the most!
Yes of course we value Slashdot because of "coverage of non-Microsoft platforms". But in case of Wired, there is a definite pattern in how they post stories from there trying to cover the slow news days I guess. If it was truly news-discussing site we would see all 3,4,8 Wired stories at the same time after the issue is available and we would discuss it fresh.
They take a cut which seems reasonable to me, and they give you some money for shipping.
The people selling used books set the price, which in my experience, is almost always lower unless it is rare. Read: supply and demand; you can't get it anywhere else except used anymore.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Bookfinder:
1) is slow
2) has a terrible ui
3) doesn't sort results well
4) doesn't find the best prices
5) has no seller ratings
6) has no reader reviews
All in all I'm not sure who would ever use this service. On every level it seems second rate.
Half.com (owned by eBay) is a much, much better service and includes reader reviews, and seller ratings.
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It's not quite as bad as Fox News yet though, so I can't complain too much. When I start seeing Bush/Cheney ads instead of Thinkgeek ads at the top of my page, I'm outta here.
And oddly enough, without including this in your description of Slashdot's bias at all, you exemplified it as a very strong part of Slashdot's bias.
We wondered about things like cookbooks and reference titles - would people just take the snippet they need and not buy the book? In fact, by letting people search inside, sales of these types of books have gone up more than average.
I used to take my books to Half-Price Books but stopped once I sold a few on Amazon and made 6x what Half-Price Books would offer me. So, as a small time seller (I just sell personal stuff I no longer need, such as hiking books from a place I used to live or programming books which didn't pan out), selling on Amazon is awesome. I've made $100 in the last month selling things I had laying around on Amazon.
Similarly, I've bought a ton of used stuff on Amazon and have never had a problem.
If you're interested in Jeff Bezos and the interview has left you wondering more still, check out the conversation with him posted at ITConversations from the Web 2.0 Conference. Jeff talks about Amazon and entertains questions from the audience.
IT Conversations - Jeff Bezos
Visit BobtheKing.com it's perhaps the best thing I've ever made to waste your time with.
You have the audacity to whine about a commercial bias at /., when you have a "Free iPod link!" in your .sig? Wow. Mr Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.
/.'s editing.
Nobody makes you read the articles. Nobody makes you post. You don't get "cooler" when you bitch about the quality of
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
I have no problem with commercial articles on Slashdot. In fact, I enjoy reading about Apple's new toay, and I enjoy reading about Microsoft's promise of new and exciting technology just as much. The problem is the disproportionate amount of CERTAIN types of these commercially biased articles. I think if you read my original post, I wasn't so much complaining about the fact that these articles advertise, it was a complaint against the bias.
If you really want to get me on being a hypocrite, point out that I have an Apple advertisement in my signature...and yes I am well aware of this bit of irony. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't really have a competing product that I like better.
Hmm...so an online media outlet has an editorial slant? WOW. Stop the presses.
It's silly to think you're going to get unbiased, evenhanded info from ANY single source.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
I am surprised he didn't mention Amazon's new references feature. It notes which other books reference the one you're browsing in their footnotes or bibliography. This feature was introduced quietly but has made a world of difference in my search for technical & academic works.
I'd imagine they've seen a slight rise in purchases by self-study students and researchers as a result.