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To: doug doan who wrote (1927)	3/5/1998 10:19:00 PM
From: BelowTheCrowd	Respond to of 164684

It's interesting that he keeps bringing up Microsoft and Wall-Mart as examples. I note a few things: Both of these organizations were profitable and GROWING their profits at the time they went public. Both of them developed NOT by being first in the market, but by refining a product initially developed by others. I actually see a parallel to VisiCalc. First business software to run on a PC, just as Amazon is one of the first workable e-commerce companies. Largely responsible for making the PC respectible as a business tool, just as Amazon has shown e-commerce to work. Died a long and prolonged death when innovative and better funded competitors (mostly Lotus) came along, incrementally improved the concept and left them in the dust. Bertelsman (aka "Books Online") is the biggest threat here. Unlike BKS, they have extensive experience with mail-order retailing through various book and CD clubs around the world. Run very tight, keep very little inventory and have about 30 million names and addresses to promote their new service to, while offering discounts and tie-ins to existing services. mg