2001-02-07 21:15:35+00 by Dan Lyke 1 comments
After the recent layoffs, Amazon rips off Pay Pal's business model, then Amazon charges publishers for book recommendations. Hmmm... Given that the publishers my local bookstore can't get are happy to sell to me over the 'net, I wonder if the real revolution is going to be fewer middle-men siphoning off money?
[ related topics: Interactive Drama Web development Books ]
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#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:31:05+00 by: ebradway
It's kind of interesting watching culture catch up to technology. What we are seeing with Amazon and MP3.com is, as you said, removal of layers of middlemen (societal change). At the same time, there is increased need for quality portals (technological change) in order to bring the right customers to the right creators. How long ago did the web industry recognize the need for good portals? After all, that's really what AOL sells and why they were so willing to buy Netscape. So you now have four components involved int he business deal: 1. a customer with a browser, wap device, etc. 2. a portal (yahoo, excite, netscape, AOL) 3. the creator's site - where the actual information is 4. a distribution/fulfillment network Amazon has been successful becuase they have been providing all three elements possible - the portal which gives you constant recomendations based on your buying habits, creator related content - usually not direct links to the creators' sites but does provide ways for the creators to link back into Amazon, and a distribution/fulfillment network that is second to none. There is a local Chattanooga company, Online Direct, that for decades has been a catalog order fulfillment house. Now they mostly distribute goods sold in the boutiques in AOL.