« The Sarbox molehill | Main | Dell's Lexus »
The two Amazons
June 09, 2005
Remember that old Certs ad - "it's two, two, two mints in one"? You could say something similar about Amazon.com. With both a big retailing operation and a growing business selling a software platform to other retailers, it's become two, two, two companies in one. That's rarely a good thing, either for a business's investors or its managers. Maybe it's time for Jeff Bezos to break Amazon in two, as I suggest in a new BusinessWeek Online column.
Advertisement: Are you ready for "The Big Switch"? Nicholas Carr's new book "is the best read so far about the significance of the shift to cloud computing," says the Financial Times. Fast Company calls it "compulsively readable." Order now from Amazon.com.
Comments
Very interesting - and a quick qn: do you think Amazon's platform biz can thrive without the millions of visitors that visit Amazon? The split would certainly require the 2 companies to work very very closely together - and as Palm Source finds, that does not always work out.
Posted by: Steve at June 10, 2005 03:21 AM
"2 mints in one" was a Wrigleys ad, wasn't it??
Great blog. Boy, have I got to re-think my IT carreer...
Posted by: Bill S at June 28, 2005 10:28 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
The Atlantic article:
Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
Nick's new book:
"Future Shock for the web-apps era" -Fast Company
"Ominously prescient" -Kirkus Reviews
"Riveting stuff" -New York Post
Greatest hits
Avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians
The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock's avatar
Flight of the wingless coffin fly
Other writing
The end of corporate computing
Nick's last book:
Order from Amazon
Visit book site