Amazon is a charity run by the investment community

nickdouglas:

jkottke:

I love this description of Amazon by Matthew Yglesias:

That’s because Amazon, as best I can tell, is a charitable organization being run by elements of the investment community for the benefit of consumers. The shareholders put up the equity, and instead of owning a claim on a steady stream of fat profits, they get a claim on a mighty engine of consumer surplus. Amazon sells things to people at prices that seem impossible because it actually is impossible to make money that way. And the competitive pressure of needing to square off against Amazon cuts profit margins at other companies, thus benefiting people who don’t even buy anything from Amazon.

That’s the beauty of low margins. (via @tcarmody)

A charity that’s an absolute dick to warehouse workers, small businesses (ironically proving the value of physical stores), the government, publishers, and the American taxpayer. I mean come on, in many ways this is just Wal-Mart for nerds. The more I hear about the business, the less I feel entitled to the superior prices and the more I feel I’m just cheating.

Amazon has innovated brilliantly, and they’ve provided surprising new revenue sources for the small businesses that were ready to innovate with them. But it’s important to remember that they’ve been assholes about it.