Amazon started out as an online bookstore, constantly making news with the number of titles it offered for sale. In the late 1990s, Amazon had more than four million titles after adding CDs, videos, DVDs and games. It continued to add new lines of business including toys, consumer electronics, software, power tools, home improvement products, online auctions and datacenter services (see EC2).
![]() | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Peek releases $99 gadget just for Twitter
- Dedicated Twitterers (Tweeters?) have a new option for posting their 140-character thoughts to the web: the TwitterPeek. Looking a tad like a very thin Blackberry, Peek's Twitter-friendly gadget features a QWERTY keyboard, color screen and click scroll wheel. Available only on Amazon.com for $99, users get...
- Blog posts 2009-11-06
- Wal-mart preempts Black Friday with HDTV specials this Saturday
- Every year, retailers' ads for Black Fridaythe day after Thanksgiving and the unofficial starting of the holiday shopping seasonmanage to leak out a few weeks beforehand this year being no exception. And every year, said retailers freak out when the ads appear online, perhaps fearing that competitors could...
- Blog posts 2009-11-04
- Headline 2010: e-Reader device failure
- The market knows best, right? Markets are bloody paths to progress. At this writing there are approximately 52 e-reader devices coming to market in the next 12 months. Fifty-two different devices coming to market (Here's what I wrote about Steve Jobs' approach to reader devices when there were just 45...
- Blog posts 2009-11-02
- Water, water everywhere. So why not use it to create steam?
- Here is a lesson on how little we can put in the blog...and still call it our own. Could you write less and still get paid ???sheshEver heard of Nuclear powered ships? They heat water that flashes into steam and thus turns the turbines.This short article.I think the...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-02
- Making a foundation a real solution to the mySQL mess
- Sounds good. Too good?This sounds like a great solution to a problem that is probably costing Oracle, destroying what little credibility Sun has as a brand, while ensuring that every website on the planet virtually retains access to a free, secure and efficient database. If we don't do something, the...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-30
- E-book reader news and releases round-up
- Why e-books ?Using a "normal" paperback book I have indefinite battery life and extreme portability. I have no need to carry a hundred books at one time and can take along a few books for an extended read time just about anywhere and in any travel bag. I...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-28
- How to find a quality film scanner
- ConfusedV500: 6400dpiV700: scan speed(?) from 300 to 600dpi8800F: maximum resolution of 4800?9600Am I ignorant or is this full of errors and inconsistencies in data/spec presentations?More quality film scannersCertainly there are many more than just those three. Microtek, for instance, currently offers five models, all of which support transparencies up...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-28
- E-book reader news and releases round-up
- The last two weeks have been especially busy for the e-book reader industry and probably pretty frightening for Amazon. Here's a quick round-up of what's been released and what we have to look forward to this holiday season: 1. Barnes & Noble Nook:...
- Blog posts 2009-10-28
- Amazon launches relational database service: Think MySQL in the cloud
- Three reasons this is a bad paradigm...Security, security and...let's see, what was that other thing...oh yeah, security. The comment "enterprise customers are likely to take their time moving sensitive data into Amazon?s RDS effort" should be nominated for the understatement of the year award. What's more likely is...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-27
- Get a charge out of this (or, more solar power to go)
- i.Tech Dynamic has added another mobile solar charging gadget to its steadily growing line. Actually, it has taken the solar charger part of its i.Tech SolarSet 905 carkit and broken it out as a separate product that carries a suggested list of $59.99. The latest product is...
- Blog posts 2009-10-26
- Survey: cloud interest grows triple-fold; cost may not be main factor
- buble bust...anyone learns from 2000 and so IT burst?Current interest in private cloudsHi Joean interesting piece, and thanks for the link to my post? This current enthusiasm for private Clouds is also interesting? and I am left wondering how long it will continue.It's presumably a mix of security concerns (real...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-26
- Glims 1.0b23 (Mac)
- Glims adds a cocktail of features to Safari ( Tabs, Thumbnails, Full Screen, Search Engines, Search Suggestions, Type Ahead ... ) Current features list: Adds thumbnails to Google.com search results Adds thumbnails to Yahoo.com search results Adds search engines to the default Google search tab Adds full-screen browsing capability...
- Software downloads 2009-10-26
- Finally, some answers to Windows 7 upgrade questions
- Except that most software is not 64-bitnor are most drivers. Also, you have a nasty Microsoft enforced warning screen if you are trying to use non-signed drivers each time you boot. Not a killer, but stupid and annoying.Also, as someone else pointed out, if you don't have at least 4...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-25
- Iconix eMail ID 3.87.3.9 (Windows)
- Iconix eMail ID lets you see what's real before you even open the message. Iconix eMail ID works with your current email service such as AOL mail, AIM mail, Yahoo mail, Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail, Earthlink, Outlook Express all on IE or FireFox. Iconix eMail ID double checks the source...
- Software downloads 2009-10-24
- Updating Kindles-sold estimates: 1.072 million
- Based on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' comments on the third quarter results for the company, Kindle sales are accelerating. Bezos is quoted: “Kindle has become the #1 bestselling item by both unit sales and dollars â€" not just in our electronics store but across all product categories on Amazon.com. It’s...
- Blog posts 2009-10-23
- Amazon delivers strong Q3; shares skyrocket after hours
- Amazon easily beat Wall Street's estimates for its third quarter, reporting a net income of $199 million, or 45 cents per share, on sales of $5.45 billion, a 28 percent jump from the year-ago quarter. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 33 cents on sales of $5.03 billion. Statement ...
- Blog posts 2009-10-22
- Kindle books come to the PC -- a Nook counterpunch
- Platform expansion is the logical counter to new competition at the device level. Amazon, facing the introduction of BN.com's Nook and other e-readers this week, has announced it will support reading of Kindle books on Windows 7, Vista and XP Service Pack 2 PCs in November. The...
- Blog posts 2009-10-22
- Relax, kids...Windows 7 is just another OS
- finally...someone with sensefor all this noise and fireworks, finaly someone here says something reasonable7 is just another OSand yes it is.amen.give this man a raiseIt doesn't have to rock to be successfulIt merely needs to be fast, stable and secure. If that's all it does, then there's no reason to...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-22
- Nook Clarified: Really solid progress for e-readers
- Yesterday, I posted a long analysis of what I thought was right and strangely wrong about the Barnes & Noble Nook. Matt Miller today got a clarification about my main concern, which was that Barnes & Noble seemed to have said, according to several published reports, that Wi-Fi would work...
- Blog posts 2009-10-21
- Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora Linux updates prepped as Win7 release nears
- another nail in M$ coffinThe upcomming failure of windoze 7 and M$ going under will not leave the users exposed.Linux is here to save the day!Wrong Answerhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/21/windows-7-breaks-amazon-uk-pre-order-volume-record-ousts-harry/DesperationGuess it shows how desperate Vista users are to get onto Win7Windows 7 a failure?Didn't it already surpass Linux's market share? BEFORE it's GA?Failure...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-21
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
SmartPlanet
- Thought-provoking progressive ideas on diverse topics that intersect with technology, business, and life, and matter to the world at large. Visit SmartPlanet
- More from IBM
- Innovate your business' process model, play against the market, compete against others on our scoreboards and WIN! Try INNOV8 2.0: A BPM Simulator
- Enabling Real-World Business Transformation through IBM Service Management Read the EMA Analyst Report




