caption Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. source Chip Somodevilla/Getty When Amazon first launched in 1995 as a website that only sold books, founder Jeff Bezos had a vision for the company’s explosive growth and e-commerce domination. He knew from the very beginning, he wanted Amazon to be “an everything store.” In author Brad Stone’s 2013 book on the origins of Amazon, he paints a picture of the early days of the company and how it grew into the behemoth that it is today. Jillian D’Onfro contributed to an earlier version of this story. “Amazon” wasn’t the company’s original name. source Amazon / Villages Web Design Jeff Bezos originally wanted to give the company the magical sounding name “Cadabra.” Amazon’s first lawyer, Todd Tarbert, convinced him that the name sounded too similar to “Cadaver,” especially over the phone. Bezos also favored the name “Relentless.” … [Read more...] about 15 fascinating facts you probably didn’t know about Amazon
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Before-and-after Google Street View photos of ‘Amazonia’ reveal why Seattle residents are calling it ‘Amageddon’
A decade ago this year, Amazon moved from Seattle’s Beacon Hill to South Lake Union, a neighborhood that locals now call “Amazonia.” City planners predicted that Amazon might have 6,000 employees in Seattle by the time it completed its campus. Today, the company dominates South Lake Union and much of the city, where it employs over 40,000 people and has over 37 offices. And its campus is still growing. Since Amazon arrived, South Lake Union has seen a 50% jump in the number of people working there, contributing to a construction boom. And Amazon has continued to spur an influx of high-skilled tech workers. South Lake Union’s transformation is easy to see. Buildings have gotten higher and fancier, independent businesses have shuttered, and run-down parking lots have turned into shiny redevelopments. Some residents have given a name to this phenomenon of surging housing prices, unrelenting traffic, overcrowding, and culture clash: … [Read more...] about Before-and-after Google Street View photos of ‘Amazonia’ reveal why Seattle residents are calling it ‘Amageddon’
Spotify considers flagship smartphones and smart speakers from Amazon, Apple, and Google a threat to its business
source Andrew Burton/Getty Images Music streaming service Spotify outlined its main sources of competition in paperwork for a direct public offering filed Wednesday. Spotify is worried about the added visibility given to rival music services in hardware that comes pre-loaded with other music apps, which would include devices like the iPhone, Google Pixel, Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, and Google Home. “Apple, Amazon, and Google, have developed, and are continuing to develop, devices for which their music streaming service is preloaded, creating a visibility advantage,” the filing says. Spotify considers outside devices that come pre-loaded with rival music services threats to its bottom line, which would include everything from smartphones, like the iPhone and Google Pixel, to smart speakers, like the Amazon Echo and Apple’s new HomePod. The Swedish music streaming service filed … [Read more...] about Spotify considers flagship smartphones and smart speakers from Amazon, Apple, and Google a threat to its business
7 scandalous things tech companies like Facebook, Apple, and Amazon have done that sound made up — but are actually true
Major tech companies like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Uber, and Google have an enormous amount of access to, and influence on, the average person’s life. In some cases, the companies have admitted to using their access in data in ways that tend to make people uncomfortable. Most recently, Apple apologized for slowing down the performance of batteries on older model iPhones. Tech companies have done a lot of questionable things over the years, from slowing down old batteries to collecting data on users’ sex lives. Chris Gilliard, a professor who researches privacy and tech policy, provided several examples in a December Twitter thread featuring some of the most notable companies in the world, including Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Read on to see some of the things tech companies have done that sound too strange to be true: In 2009, Amazon removed books people had purchased from their Kindles, including … [Read more...] about 7 scandalous things tech companies like Facebook, Apple, and Amazon have done that sound made up — but are actually true
JPMORGAN: Amazon’s ready to take on the Google-Facebook duopoly in advertising
Amazon’s ad revenue could reach $4.5 billion in 2018, according to an analyst note by JPMorgan. The company is set to emerge as a challenger to Facebook and Google’s dominance of online advertising. Its scale and data, fast growth, investments into developing advertising channels and reputation among advertisers make it well-positioned to emerge as a big player. Advertisers are not the only ones betting on Amazon’s rise as a crucial ad vehicle countering Facebook and Google’s dominance of digital advertising. Wall Street is too. Amazon is well-positioned to emerge as the third scaled digital ad platform after Google and Facebook, with its ad revenue set to surpass $4.5 billion in 2018, according to a note by JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth. Here is why JPMorgan thinks Amazon’s ascent is inevitable: Amazon’s sheer scale and data makes it a considerable alternative to the duopoly. … [Read more...] about JPMORGAN: Amazon’s ready to take on the Google-Facebook duopoly in advertising