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

To: Rob S. who wrote (11455)	7/23/1998 2:38:00 AM
From: Dwight E. Karlsen	Respond to of 164684

The "average American" and even less so the "average European or Asian" is not an internet junkie. Exactly right. Moreover, babbling on about such-and-such cool web site you've found is about the quickest way to make virtually anyone's eyes glaze over. Real people still very much prefer to have conversations about real things, not virtual things. I suppose it's true that everyone went through (going through, will go through) that stage where the internet was so new and exciting that it was a favorite topic of conversation with fellow internet-discovering friends. These friends may use the internet (www and e-mail) exclusively from work, exclusively from home, or possibly (but not usually) from both work and home. The problem with the internet's "image" is that people use it for such varied purposes. Some use it almost exclusively to chat on AOL from home, and others use it exclusively as a business research and communication tool. Others use it mostly for research for school related projects. I have very close relatives and friends who fit into all of these catagories. And then my internet usage is different from all of theirs. Everyone's internet experience is different. The result is that the internet fades into the background as an interesting topic to discuss between people. Therein lies the "image" problem, and Amazon's chances of achieving anything remotely akin to pricing power related to "brand loyalty" that some clothing, department stores, and specialty retailers enjoy. I and others have maintained all along that the average consumer prefers to shop in real stores when possible. Therefore, if a person is going to buy something online, there is going to have to be some incentive, and that incentive is going to be price and/or convenience (hard-to-find items).