Amazon.com - Business Exchange

Amazon.com - Business Exchange Most Active Articles 2009-11-25T06:46:50.994-05:00 Business Exchange Business_Exchange@businessweek.com urn:com:businessweek:bx:topic:most-active:amazoncom Peter Elstrom pelstrom077 For Wal-Mart and Amazon, the First Round of a Price Fight urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:2623774682611583161-5b3b075725234233b9873f564527448e 2009-11-24T20:42:45.534-05:00

Wal-Mart and Amazon have both cut prices on his new book. Now Wal-Mart, the mightiest retail giant in history, may have met its own worthy adversary: Amazon.com.

Wal-Mart and Amazon have both cut prices on his new book. Now Wal-Mart, the mightiest retail giant in history, may have met its own worthy adversary: Amazon.com. New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/24shop.html

Thomas Huynh thuynh381 1 0 0 1 Glyde Debuts New Online Marketplace. E-Commerce 2.0? urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:16327052532000250159-a091a981ea655bcda6cec1accc737328 2009-11-16T09:52:55.661-05:00

You wouldn’t think the world would need another place for people to buy and sell used media such as DVDs, books, video games, and CDs. eBay and Amazon.

You wouldn’t think the world would need another place for people to buy and sell used media such as DVDs, books, video games, and CDs. eBay and Amazon. BusinessWeek Online -- Tech Beat

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/11/glyde_debuts_ne.html

Robert Hof rhof604 12 9 2 1 Online Luxury Retail Remains Elusive urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:14895192547490039412-411cbd70db2a722d7821d75d897ffd50 2009-11-20T08:59:29.440-05:00

Many luxury brands still treat the Internet with caution, worrying an online presence will dilute a sense of exclusivity. Are they missing out?

Many luxury brands still treat the Internet with caution, worrying an online presence will dilute a sense of exclusivity. Are they missing out? BusinessWeek

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/nov2009/bw20091116_196617.htm

Charles Dubow cdubow602 1 1 0 0 Is the eReader Financial Model Upside Down? urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:8699844815871168656-ddbe825cf7e6e875cdfd56c4a4a96491 2009-11-10T10:40:39.509-05:00

Why can't a device vendor go with more of a cell phone model, where the low price of the device is subsidized by the longer-term commitment to buying content? How many Kindles do you suppose Amazon could sell if they priced it at $99, or $49? The device costs more than that to make, not to mention the cellular charges they pay Sprint, so why would Amazon price device so low? Hoping that they "make it up in volume" won't help...they'll just lose that much more money in total. But what if all the ebook editions Amazon sells for the Kindle weren't $9.99 but something much closer to the print book's price on Amazon? So a $30 book at 33% off would be $20 for the Kindle edition (as opposed to $9.99 currently), pretty much the same as what you'd pay for the print version. Now there's a bigger margin left over for Amazon to keep part of (to cover the loss on the sale of the device), share some with the publisher/author and even pay Sprint. And oh, btw, we'd put an end to the model where some publishers are delaying the e-version so as not to cannibalize the print version's sales. Publishers would be indifferent, if not prefer the e-version since there's no cost for manufacturing, inventory or returns...

http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/2009/11/is-the-ereader-financial-model-upside-down.html

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 6 5 0 1 Blogging Innovation: Amazon Gets an 'A' for Innovation urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:8682283629336228756-34858f8e81201e2f09dff301692f9bbb 2009-11-08T21:50:31.270-05:00

Retail sales are projected to decline this holiday season for the second year in a row, an occurrence unprecedented in the entire history of the federal government keeping statistics on such things. Online retailers will continue to face stiff...

http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/2009/11/amazon-gets-a-for-innovation.html

Michael Arndt marndt561 12 12 0 0 Does BN Nook Compete with Amazon or Starbucks? urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:15543406970105236956-794e6380688a74bce72c1f8111142910 2009-11-01T10:29:46.566-05:00

There has been a flurry of news lately about Barnes & Noble's new e-reader, the Nook. It will compete head on with Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader, offering additional features such as limited book sharing and newspaper subscriptions.

http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/2009/11/does-bn-nook-compete-with-amazon-or.html

Braden Kelley bkelley034 18 18 0 0 Amazon Profits Soar, Sees Strong Holiday urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:7275531389739127016-f54cced5300b97ccdca5ddb32ff9debc 2009-10-23T10:58:43.217-04:00

In a sign the holiday period could be good to online retailers, Amazon.com Inc. posted a 69% increase in third-quarter profit and offered a rosy outlook for the current quarter. The results were driven by a 44% rise in sales of electronics and general merchandise, including TVs and office supplies, which now account for 43% of the retailer's sales. Amazon also reported a 17% spike in sales of media, which had dragged on earnings in the second quarter because of sluggish video-game sales. Results were bolstered by the debut of several popular books, including Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703816204574489750561367182.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Jenn LaRocco jlarocco496 14 13 0 1 Amazon Associates can now Tweet Amazon Product links | twitter urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:8958538694225496042-9ca0ee4c442a16a4ce640b305a68578e 2009-11-07T14:14:45.978-05:00

Big news for users of the Amazon Associates system you can now generate a link directly from the Amazon Associates tool bar....

Big news for users of the Amazon Associates system you can now generate a link directly from the Amazon Associates tool bar.... technicavita.org

http://www.technicavita.org/social-news/twitter/amazon-associates-can-now-tweet-amazon-product-links.html

John Carnell jcarnell640 2 2 0 0 Internet Archive Dishes up BookServer as Digital Books Market Heats Up urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:16474017837671801181-b009bf39851a679a2e6db9c0f8df2c23 2009-11-03T09:17:39.834-05:00

The Internet Archive (IA) formally announced the BookServer initiative www.archive.org/bookserver which will use an open architecture and open ebook formats to see that ebooks are available-for free or a fee-that will work on any device-whether a laptop, PC, smartphone, game console, or dedicated ebook reader. While it is still in development and probably years from completion, the BookServer project is intended to allow users to search book indexes across the web-whether it be on publishers' sites, libraries, bookstores, universities, or other sources-to identify content, compare vendor offerings, and easily download titles. According to the IA's website, BookServer is "a growing open architecture for vending and lending digital books over the Internet. Built on open catalog and open book formats, the BookServer model allows a wide network of publishers, booksellers, libraries, and even authors to make their catalogs of books available directly to readers through their laptops, phones, netbooks, or dedicated reading devices. BookServer facilitates pay transactions, borrowing books from libraries, and downloading free, publicly accessible books." The initiative is interesting not only in its breadth and scope, but it represents the first major effort to create a noncommercial, standard distribution system for online books and other publications based on clear, open technical standards. BookServer is intended to be easy-to-use, while respecting authors' and publishers' interests in controlling the pricing and market channels for their products. In that sense, this announcement is pointing to a potential 21st-century web-based digital distribution system for information that is more inclusive and far-sighted than Google's controversial scenario.

http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/Internet-Archive-Dishes-up-BookServer-as-Digital-Books-Market-Heats-Up-57760.asp

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 2 1 0 1 Amazon Blasts To New All-Time High Of $700 A Share! (AMZN) urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:3988966421006958325-94fb013ca9eee4b0433ac8a6b8c093ed 2009-10-23T22:47:46.700-04:00

When splits are accounted for, that is.

When splits are accounted for, that is. businessinsider.com

http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-amazon-blasts-to-new-all-time-high-of-700-a-share-2009-10

Thomas Huynh thuynh381 10 9 0 1 Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 Available for $100 from Amazon urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:15050035784828930317-c09694ef8840a38f17702993d0ad7dff 2009-10-29T21:07:05.225-04:00

mobilewhack.com

http://www.mobilewhack.com/garmin-asus-nuvifone-g60-available-for-100-from-amazon/

Paul Briggs pbriggs473 8 8 0 0 More strong tech earnings expected this week (Dealscape urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:3593675531745855783-b07d8c763764fae1f5de4884a1605d52 2009-10-26T14:33:03.584-04:00

Better-than-expected quarterly earnings from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) earlier this month bode well for technology firms announcing results this week, say analysts from Jefferies & Co.

http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2009/10/more_strong_tech_earnings_expe.php

Brennen Wysong bwysong598 5 5 0 0 HP BookPrep delivers access to nearly 500,000 out-of-print library books urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:9864260009745997905-cb2e20104e8287ace4e278a5ab1f25d1 2009-10-27T14:16:59.885-04:00

HP BookPrep is a cloud computing service that enables on-demand printing of books and brings new life to the traditional publishing model by making it possible to bring any book ever published back into print through an economical and sustainable service model. As part of a growing movement to preserve and digitize historic content, major libraries are partnering with technology leaders to scan previously hard-to-find works using high-resolution photography. HP’s process transforms these scans prior to printing by cleaning up some of the wear and tear that often is present in the originals. HP BookPrep significantly drives down the cost of republishing books by eliminating the manual cleanup work that would otherwise be required. Based on imaging and printing technology from HP Labs, the company’s central research arm, HP BookPrep automates the creation of high-quality, print-ready books from these raw book scans by sharpening text and images, improving alignment and coloration, and generating and adding covers. People can now purchase high-quality print versions of public-domain, out-of-print books through HP BookPrep channels, including traditional and online retailers such as Amazon.com.

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2009/091021xc.html

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 4 3 0 1 Amazon: Turning Consumer Opinions into Gold urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:9782429799970014039-77c8da7103ee97b61bd6a6bf98bccdcc 2009-10-19T10:37:07.488-04:00

When Amazon.com (AMZN) first began letting customers post reviews of products in 1995, many people thought the Internet retailer had lost its marbles. Letting consumers rant about products in public was a recipe for retail suicide, critics thought.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_43/b4152047039565.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

Jenn LaRocco jlarocco496 13 12 0 1 Amazon's Early Holiday Cheer urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:11336179682198362761-5348b42f25907ce42bb901c167f33fd4 2009-10-23T12:19:43.157-04:00

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Booming sales of e-book readers and material to read on them brought early holiday cheer to online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN) in the third quarter. And judging from the company's...

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2009/tc20091022_081314.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

Tom Giles tgiles603 7 6 0 1 Gartner: Brace yourself for cloud computing urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:16600195857559504794-a53bef46d63be0e162463b20eb80c2d3 2009-10-20T19:26:47.371-04:00

Cloud computing isn't going to be vapor much longer, Gartner said Tuesday. The general idea--shared computing services accessible over the Internet that can expand or contract on demand--topped Gartner's list of the 10 top technologies that information technology personnel need to plan for.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10378782-264.html

Thomas Huynh thuynh381 6 4 0 2 E-Book Fans Are Proving to Be Enthusiastic Readers urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:10016681069238501750-a5df821bcf3d841e0e70ab53a685c248 2009-10-22T09:21:36.691-04:00

Sellers and owners of electronic reading devices are making the case that people are reading more because of e-books...

Sellers and owners of electronic reading devices are making the case that people are reading more because of e-books... New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/technology/21books.html

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 5 4 0 1 Does the Brain Like E-Books? urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:11408056857679793766-450b63325fee648f59e18fec3955718c 2009-10-20T10:45:42.658-04:00

Is there a difference in the way the brain takes in or absorbs information when it is presented electronically versus on paper? Does the reading experience change, from retention to comprehension, depending on the medium? Initially, any new information medium seems to degrade reading because it disturbs the balance between focal and peripheral attention. It takes time and adaptation before a balance can be restored, not just in the “mentality” of the reader but in the social systems that complete the reading environment. Current forms of digital media behave nothing like books and cause users to swing between two kinds of bad reading. Networked digital media do a poor job of balancing focal and peripheral attention. We suffer tunnel vision, as when reading a single page, paragraph, or even “keyword in context” without an organized sense of the whole. Or we suffer marginal distraction, as when we glance at feeds or blogrolls in the margin (sidebar) of a blog. Online technologies behave nothing like a book, edition, or library. Digital reading may be better described as a social experience rather than in terms of a containing structure such as "book." Reading environments should be seen more like the historical coffeehouses, taverns and pubs where one shifts flexibly between focused and collective reading and debate. The trick will be to harness such attention and distraction. ----- People read 20-30 percent slower on screen. Distractions abound online — costing time and interfering with the concentration needed to think about what you read. Reading on screen requires slightly more effort and thus is more tiring. Paper retains substantial advantages for types of reading that require flipping back and forth between pages, such as articles with end notes or figures. To a great extent, the computer’s usefulness for serious reading depends on the user’s strength of character. Distractions abound on most people’s computer screens. Delays include clicking away from the text to see the new email that just arrived or check out what’s new on your favorite blog. Workers tend to switch tasks about every three minutes and take over 23 minutes on average to return to a task. All this interferes with the concentration needed to think deeply about what has been read. ----- Humans have to learn to read--it does not come natural like speaking or watching. The ability to read is more or less developed depending on the particulars of the learner: e.g., instruction, culture, motivation, educational opportunity, and the medium (e.g., digital online reading, book, etc) utilized. No one really knows the ultimate effects of an immersion in a digital medium on the young developing brain. We do not know whether they will develop the sophisticated set of comprehension processes that allow readers to connect the decoded words to inference, analogical reasoning, critical analysis, contextual knowledge, and finally, the apex of reading: our own thoughts that go beyond the text. The reading circuit of our youngest members may be short-circuited, figuratively and physiologically. The young brain may never have the time (in milliseconds or in hours or in years) to learn to go deeper into the text after the first decoding, but rather will be pulled by the medium to ever more distracting information, sidebars, and videos. The child’s imagination and children’s nascent sense of probity and introspection are no match for a medium that creates a sense of urgency to get to the next piece of stimulating information. The attention span of children may be one of the main reasons why an immersion in on-screen reading is so engaging, and it may also be why digital reading may ultimately prove antithetical to the long-in-development, reflective nature of the expert reading brain as we know it. Aristotle worried about the three lives of the “good society”: the first life is the life of productivity and knowledge gathering; the second, the life of entertainment; and the third, the life of reflection and contemplation. The formation of the “good reader” follows a similar course. Digital immersion of our children will provide a rich life of entertainment and information and knowledge. But will they learn, with their passive immersion, the joy and the effort of the third life, of thinking one’s own thoughts and going beyond what is given? We need to count the cost and bring our best thought and research to preserving what is most precious about the present reading brain as we add the new capacities of its next iteration. ----- So long as books are cheap, tough, easy to mark up, and beautiful, they will remain the best of all word-delivery vehicles. Technology will soon start moving in the natural direction: integrating chips into books, not vice versa. Users may want to make a book beep so that it can be located, to search its text online, to download updates, or to keep an eye on reviews and discussion. Technologists have decreed the disappearance of the printed book without bothering to understand it. People like books. The most important ongoing change to reading itself is the cheapening of the word in a world where you can practically see the text messages bounce off the walls and the narrowing time required to publish on the Web is helping to kill the art of editing. While “cloud” computing will soon offer readers the chance to consult any text in any library anywhere, it is up to us to insist that onscreen reading enhance, not replace, traditional book reading and to remember that the medium is not the message; that the meaning and music of the words is what matters, not the glitzy vehicle they arrive in. ----- People switch activities online an average of every three minutes and switch projects about every 10 and a half minutes. Ebook readers can search the text, skip to a juicy section, or to go back and reread a memorable part. Hypertext allows readers to go directly to an online source to investigate any unfamiliar word or topic. Each additional link takes the reader further away from the original text. Each document is one of many in a networked maze containing an unfathomable amount of information. It’s just not possible to engage in deep thought about a topic when we’re switching so rapidly. Reading a printed book is both an escape into a world of literature and an escape from digital devices where the temptation to surf the Internet is removed due to the inconvenience.

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/does-the-brain-like-e-books/

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 3 2 0 1 Sears' MyGopher.com lets you pick up at drive-through urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:15428911183138579348-4e464bacee59197ac5ae2314660d6fc2 2009-01-15T23:43:00.000-05:00

portal. The prototype, slated to open by this summer, is expected to fill a niche between Wal-Mart and Amazon.com and could provide a model for the giant retail chain to eventually operate with fewer stores and lower overhead. Sears and Kmart, both owned

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r1774196993&f=9791

151 151 0 0 Booksellers Association Challenges Retailers’ Price Plan urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:15781642957764971941-a81b1cb8d7112022964d6a03720ed257 2009-10-22T19:36:00.538-04:00

The American Booksellers Association, which represents independently owned bookstores, has sent a letter to the Justice Department asking it to investigate what it describes as “predatory pricing” by Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/books/23price.html

Thomas Huynh thuynh381 2 1 0 1 In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing? urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:13937179429453985447-06ca76e03a034e616d15f0b08d6c0b01 2009-10-20T13:43:08.261-04:00

Apple now allows extra content to be sold through free iPhone apps. Newspapers and magazines are reportedly in talks with Apple about repurposing their content onto a “new device,” presumably the rumored touchscreen tablet. Previously, free apps were not permitted to sell content. Charging for apps cuts off potential customers so by allowing commerce within free apps Apple creates the opportunity for a free media app to serve as a gateway for readers to get hooked. The key for publishers now is to create a convenient experience that readers will pay for after sampling. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet?

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/tablet-print-2/

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 2 1 0 1 Why E-Reader Adoption Will Be Slower Than People Think urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:12046382881709990400-94b2defdfe01d5a5f3af22a224ffffc9 2009-10-19T17:40:14.794-04:00

Predicting ebook player sales may prove more elusive, and more nuanced, than manufacturers and early-adopters care to admit. It is time to consider the demand side of things. The tipping point for a new technology occurs at the transition from early-adopter to early-majority demand, at which point the rate of adoption increases dramatically and sales are thought to become self-sustaining as the product turns mainstream. (It also can become the graveyard of new products that fail to make the cut.) The explosion of MP3 devices and related vertical-support businesses (Napster and iTunes) in the early part of this decade clearly fit the pattern, leading to massive dislocation in the recorded-music industry. Three factors suggest that ebook players are in for more erratic and protracted growth than the MP3 market experience. First, it is not clear whether ebook players deliver greater value than paper books. Screen-reading is not the same as reading print on a page and may inhibit note-taking, immersion, and retention. Second, book purchasing is becoming more concentrated among avid book buyers who tend to be older Americans who have more leisure time for reading and browsing. These readers may not want all the features ebook players have to offer. Finally, the current pricing and distribution structures are confusing. Publishers remain deeply suspicious of Amazon’s below-cost $9.99 pricing for e-books and debate whether ebooks are cannibalizing print book sales. Pragmatic, early-majority consumers may be reluctant to commit to a $259 reading device...

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-why-e-reader-adoption-will-be-slower-than-people-think/

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 2 1 0 1 Libraries and Readers Wade Into Digital Lending urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:4856227832696590645-ba5f810e4aa31851c15429c4d13b95be 2009-10-19T17:09:46.669-04:00

Many library patrons can now check out ebooks and audiobooks and download them while on their computer at home--for free. Many of those borrower might not otherwise use the library, but the digital collections are still tiny compared with print troves. Circulation is expanding quickly with the number of checkouts growing by over 20%. That expansion could be greater but it is being slowed partly because, with few exceptions, ebooks in libraries cannot be read on Amazon’s Kindle, the best-selling electronic reader. Most digital books in libraries are treated like printed ones: only one borrower can check out an ebook at a time so patrons must wait in line. After two to three weeks, the e-book automatically expires from a reader’s account. Some publishers worry that the convenience of borrowing books electronically could ultimately cut into sales of print editions as patrons switch from buying books to checking out ebooks from libraries or downloading pirate editions off the internet. The recession has driven many new users to seek free resources, but few library patrons seem to be aware that ebook collections even exist--yet. Some librarians suggest that because digital books never wear out, take up no shelf space and could, in theory, be read by multiple people at the same time, the purchasing model for e-books should be different than it is for print. Instead of purchasing a set number of digital copies of a book, many would prefer to buy one copy and pay a nominal licensing fee each time a patron downloads it. Publishers generally charge the same price for e-books as they do for print editions, but online retailers currently subsidize the sale price of best sellers by marking them down to $9.99 so libraries end up paying more for their ebooks than consumers do. Academic publishers have been more willing to experiment with subscription models, inviting libraries to pay an annual fee for unlimited access to certain books. Some publishers believe that library ebooks, like print versions, can attract new customers. But some patrons are considering purchasing an electronic reader so they can borrow ebooks for free rather than buy print editions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/books/15libraries.html

Pete Nikolai pnikolai463 2 1 0 1 digiday:DAILY - DPAC 4 Looks at the Next Generation of Digital Platforms. urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:15169387494081897237-ca1249a17dcf01bcc3c2c44b6e3391c6 2009-10-29T07:17:32.914-04:00

Qualcomm, Sony, Apple, Google, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon are geared to shake-up the application and media delivery ecosystem. What will this mean to marketers? Moderator, Paul Sweeting an Analyst with GigaOM opens the floor to publishers looking...

http://www.digidaydaily.com/stories/dpac_4_looks_at_the_next_generation_of_digital_platforms

Andrea Muller amuller078 0 0 0 0 OnDemand Speed Links 28 October 2009 urn:com:businessweek:bx:article:4765253705325846268-ef9918178e5bc0eeb3851d42f50913a7 2009-10-28T12:45:19.206-04:00

Amazon Launches Relational Database Service Amazon this week launched its Relational Database Service.(RDS) Amazon RDS is a MYSQL 5.1 database offering that will compete directly with Joyent’s recently announced MySQL Accelerator and indirectly (but...

http://www.ondemandbeat.com/2009/10/28/ondemand-speed-links-28-october-2009/

Ameed Taylor ataylor233 0 0 0 0