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

To: Don Westermeyer who wrote (13503)	8/13/1998 10:01:00 PM
From: Rob S.	Respond to of 164684

Whether Amazon.com has won some early advantage or not remains to be seen. What is clear is that the internet world will be one in which there are a large number of competitors and the barriers to competitive entry is much lower than in "bricks & mortar" business. Take bio-tech for instance: Although the several years it takes to get a payback in profits may be viewed similarly, an e-tailer with a fair business plan and so-so management team can start doing business with extreme ease. This is not rocket scientist stuff in terms of qualifications, regulatory hurdles, years of development, and all the other crap that is typically found for "high tech" business. E-tailing realy isn't a high-tech business at all. Compare the difficulty of putting a start-up e-commerce business together to starting a leading edge semiconductor, bio-tech, aerospace, computer, telephony, ad nauseum company together, and an e-tailing business boils down more to having a fairly knowledgeable group of managers and technical people who have done their homework and kept up with the internet. That group of people is growing rapidly out of the computer, software and communications fields. What Street misses the mark in basic ways - they are thinking much too hyarchically. They are grossly assuming the barriers of entry are similar to other categories of "new tech" businesses that have come before. Compared to building the Boeing 777, or a new bio-engineered drug, this e-tail thing is kindergarten level. Wall Street (Journal) wake up!