Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Jan Crawley who wrote (41407)	2/20/1999 1:22:00 PM
From: Sarmad Y. Hermiz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

Jan, >> The only problems is the "April 15" headache, I am "dying doing" it!! << There are software pkgs that will prepare schedule D for you. You do have to enter all your trasactions in, but they do the calc and print report. I use a pkg from Schwab. You don't need an account, but the software is free if you go through them. -Sarmad

To: Jan Crawley who wrote (41407)	2/20/1999 3:09:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

9 which placements and books are paid-for features. Then, going one step further (and again widening the gap between traditional and web merchants), a new return policy was implemented - any featured book can be returned for a full refund (even after it has been read, dogged-eared, and torn) if the customer is not satisfied. Of course, this is not the first time that consumers have negatively reacted to comparable off-line marketing practices being executed in the online environment. Remember back when AOL customers complained about AOL selling its customer list (again, a common practice for companies off-line)? How did AOL handle the situation? Did they explain to their “shocked” customers that this information is sold every day by most of the companies with which you do business? Nope; like Amazon, AOL reacted to the consumer outcry with a new policy. This medium is different and marketers are being held to a higher standard than ever before. It is both the blessing and the curse of first-mover advantage that AOL and Amazon are forced to absorb these lessons first. AMZN Dips A Toe in Wireless This week, Amazon agreed to purchase a 7% stake in tiny software maker Geoworks Corp (GWRX) for $5 million (1.2 million shares at approximately $4.17 a share). Geoworks specializes in operating systems for cellular phones and other wireless devices. New technology from Geoworks will transmit information, for instance, to read-outs on cell phones, pagers and wireless laptop computers. Great, now we can order CDs from the back of taxis. America Online (AOL): It Just Keeps Growing and Growing and… The laws of increasing returns are becoming almost laughable at AOL. On Feb. 9 th , the company announced that it had crossed the 16M subscriber mark, vaulting from 15M to 16M in a mere 41 days. Let's back up for a little perspective: AOL went from 13M to 14M in 77 days; 14-15M in 48 days and now 15- 16M in 41 days. Of course, it would be foolhardy for us to get too giddy with these data points and begin projecting out how quickly, at this pace, AOL will be adding subs. As we approach the spring and summer months (many new computer users have already made their computer purchase for the year and thus are already signed up for Internet service), and with U.S. PC penetration at >50%, this pace is not likely to be sustained. Like most single points of data, these should not be analyzed in a vacuum. Also, bear in mind that the true beauty of these sub adds, have more to do with the S&M dollars (as a% of revenue) that have been spent to acquire the customers, as well as AOL's ability to leverage that growing subscriber base. Leveraging The Subscriber Base: New Deals With CNET and Columbia House Although not quite on the level of the recent First USA $500 million dollar deal, AOL announced some respectable multi-million dollar marketing and commerce agreements this past week. First, CNET became the exclusive provider of co-branded buying guides (for computer hardware and software) on AOL. AOL will receive guaranteed payments of $14.5M over the next 27 months, with additional payments possible if certain performance measures are met. While this is a good deal for AOL, we think it is an even better deal for CNET. As we discussed in the last issue of The Internet Capitalist (2/5/99), in 1999, we believe that certain content will come into its own and rightly be valued as a key component of the development of the Web as a medium for