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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (76877)	9/7/1999 4:26:00 PM
From: Eric Wells	Respond to of 164684

>>Covey will still be chief architect of the model. I would view this as a negative - of course, I don't believe in Amazon's "growth-into-all-retail-sectors-at-all-costs" model - although I know you do. Again, for the sake of AMZN longs, I hope the new CFO institutes a fiscal policy that exhibits a bit more prudence - perhaps, reining in the debt, and realizing a few dollars in profits (although this could be bad for Amazon's stock price). Although I understand the new CFO is very skilled, the only thing that worries me is his past associations with Priceline through Delta - although Jenson's dealings with Priceline netted Delta quite a pile of cash - I just view anyone who has any association with Priceline as being cause for concern. Thanks, -Eric

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (76877)	9/7/1999 4:27:00 PM
From: Jan Crawley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Warren Jenson is being interviewed on CNBC...sounds like a boring guy for a not boring at all stock.

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (76877)	9/7/1999 5:30:00 PM
From: Eric Wells	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Galli will not be poor. Today's Wall Street Journal published the following information about Joe Galli's compensation package: 1. Galli was promised a $5 million signing bonus over two years - he has to stay at least two years to get the $5 million. 2. Galli received two option grants with prolonged 20-year terms to acquire 1.96 million shares (the article did not say whether that's "1.96 million total" or "1.96 million each - for a total of nearly 4 million". Nor did the article state the exercise price of the options). 3. The article also states: "He is also eligible for a separate bonus of as much as $20 million if Amazon's stock price is weak and certain options have little value. He can't begin collecting on the bonus until late June 2003. And Amazon won't finish paying the $20 million unless he remains employed there for 11 years." In case you felt you mis-read point number 3 (as I felt when I first read it) - it does indeed mean that Galli will get $20 million even if Amazon's stock tanks. The Amazon way. -Eric

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (76877)	9/7/1999 10:10:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

NetTrends: The threat to online shopping services SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - America Online <AOL.N>, eBay Inc.<EBAY.O> and E*Trade <EGRP.O> have all suffered system collapses and still managed to keep growing. Even mighty Intel Corp.<INTC.O> had a much-celebrated flaw in its original Pentium -- which went on to become the most successful tech product ever. Online retailers, looking at the recent history of companies that became No. 1 in their markets despite service outages and bugs, seem to be taking the attitude that speed to market, being the "first mover," is the key to success. But online retailing might be different. Two surveys released in recent days show that online buying services are suffering widespread problems in getting consumers the products they've ordered, and both surveys suggested the penalty for failing to deliver could be severe. Dataquest, the San Jose, Calif.-based market research company, said that about a third of the 37 million U.S. households with access have been hit by ordering problems. In another survey released last week, the market researcher e-BuyersGuide.com said that one in 10 orders could not be filled for online shoppers. Those are more than just scattered problems, and the surveys point to a growing restlessness among consumers with the level of service being provided. That could foreshadow difficult times for online pioneers who are concentrating more on providing the lowest prices and spending the most on advertising -- while letting service slip. "There is no second chance to win customer loyalty," said Harry Hoyle, who headed Dataquest's online survey. Everywhere on the Internet there is mad dash to get to market ahead of competitors. Internet services, influenced by the lore of Silicon Valley, tend to put a lot of stock in the view that getting "installed" first means success. Once your software is embedded in a system, the conventional logic goes, it's hard to get you out. That might work when you're talking about computer chips -- you're not likely to yank the Pentium out of your computer if it fails a math computation. It might also work for Internet providers. America Online has the advantage of owning your e-mail address, which means users won't dump the service on a whim. E-Trade is holding your money -- which also makes for a complicated mess when you try to change accounts. But that's not true with online retailers. They might be more likely to live and die by a single click of the mouse. Mary Helen Gillespie, of Burlington, Mass.-based e-BuyersGuide, in a study of over 400 online consumers, found that that fully 13 percent of online buyers would not go back to at least one site they've already used. Gillespie believes that traditional retailers might be well-placed in the ensuing battle for the online consumer because they'll always put service first. "Providing good services is increasingly going to be the challenge that any retailer has to meet -- but for the pure play Internet commerce company it could be a make or break issue," said Gillespie. Traditional retailers with well-known brand names can build up service more gradually, and take care to protect their reputation for service as they grow. What are the service problems reported in the surveys? Unfilled orders is a top complaint. Dataquest said that of households experiencing problems, 49 percent reported that they placed orders that did not arrive. In more than half the cases customers were billed anyway for the order. There was widespread dissatisfaction with the ease of communication. For a business that prides itself on interactivity, the online services left more than 60 percent of shoppers feeling they needed more information on their purchases, e-BuyersGuide's study found. Dataquest said that one-quarter of the complaints were related to the inability of consumers to reach the retailers via e-mail. Despite all the unhappine...