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

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (158943)	8/4/2003 4:17:14 AM
From: hueyone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

I think Dell is a poor comparison to Amazon. Dell is a manufacturer; Amazon is not. I think Sears is a better comparison. After all, Jeff Bezos is merely chasing after Richard Sear's late 1800s business model, except that he has an online catalogue instead of a print catalogue. Whether Amazon can ever accomplish with its online catalogue what Sears did with its print catalogue (Sears became the largest merchandising concern in the world) remains to be seen, but I doubt Amazon will. Two of Amazon's bigger obstacles compared to Sears are cars, meaning people mobility (Sears didn't have to worry about cars because they hadn't been invented yet) and big bricks and mortar stores within easy reach of over 90% of the populace, i.e. WMT, CSCO, HD, ODP, Sears, Fryes, Comp USA, etcetera. On the plus side, Amazon has more appeal in selling America's products overseas than Sears did, because the delivery time is faster than it was by ship in the late 1800s.<g> Two day domestic delivery in the 22 century also negates somewhat the appeal of bricks and mortar here domestically, but for many people, getting out to view, touch, and feel the products before they buy will always be a more satisfying experience than ordering products through an online catalogue. Another downside for Amazon---any manufacturer can easily throw up its own online catalogue and make its catalogue available to everyone---doing the same in Sear's day was costly and impractical. The four inch thick Sears catalogue is considered an important historical event in American business history; Amazon still has a long ways to go before it can claim a high place in American business history itself. Turning a profit would be a start. google.com pbsvideodb.pbs.org Regards, Huey