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For now. It is textbook monopoly management to resist squeezing the customer until you’re dependent on them.

tehlike 9y ago
Potentially. But there is always someone else to disrupt them. Amazon took the r&d cost, and showed what worked. They didnt reinvent the whole thing, they took prime membership from others (costco membership is similar, frequent flier programs are similar), packaged with a great customer service. They raised my expectation from online commerce. An example, my wife buys clothing from a european brand. Their website is borderline useless, customer service cannot locate orders. At some point they "paid" us to buy something by not properly marking returned item. Amazon is just there, it works for things i buy every single time.
- AstralStorm 9y ago
  Ha, the fallacy that deferring the correction (potentially indefinitely) makes the situation better? What if nothing disrupts their entrenched market position? What if it happens in 5 generations or more? Will you want to tell your grandchildren you were waiting for the problem to resolve itself while they now suffer the consequences? What if, even worse, the disruption will not be a positive change but further race to the bottom?
  - lmm 9y ago
    Make hay while the sun shines. At the moment, Amazon offers consumers a great deal. If and when that ceases to be the case, we can do something about it at that point.
    - AstralStorm 9y ago
      Consumers, yes. But consumers are not everything to a business. How about, say, employees?
      - lmm 9y ago
        Employees should demand better conditions and stronger protections than they get in most US states. I'd encourage Amazon employees to unionise and fight for those things, and politicians to support that (my own country tends to do better on those fronts already).
- throwawayhzm 9y ago
  > But there is always someone else there to disrupt them. Like how the market broke up Ma Bell? Oh right, I’m sorry, that was the government.

Potentially. But there is always someone else to disrupt them. Amazon took the r&d cost, and showed what worked. They didnt reinvent the whole thing, they took prime membership from others (costco membership is similar, frequent flier programs are similar), packaged with a great customer service. They raised my expectation from online commerce. An example, my wife buys clothing from a european brand. Their website is borderline useless, customer service cannot locate orders. At some point they "paid" us to buy something by not properly marking returned item. Amazon is just there, it works for things i buy every single time.

AstralStorm 9y ago
Ha, the fallacy that deferring the correction (potentially indefinitely) makes the situation better? What if nothing disrupts their entrenched market position? What if it happens in 5 generations or more? Will you want to tell your grandchildren you were waiting for the problem to resolve itself while they now suffer the consequences? What if, even worse, the disruption will not be a positive change but further race to the bottom?
- lmm 9y ago
  Make hay while the sun shines. At the moment, Amazon offers consumers a great deal. If and when that ceases to be the case, we can do something about it at that point.
  - AstralStorm 9y ago
    Consumers, yes. But consumers are not everything to a business. How about, say, employees?
    - lmm 9y ago
      Employees should demand better conditions and stronger protections than they get in most US states. I'd encourage Amazon employees to unionise and fight for those things, and politicians to support that (my own country tends to do better on those fronts already).
throwawayhzm 9y ago
> But there is always someone else there to disrupt them. Like how the market broke up Ma Bell? Oh right, I’m sorry, that was the government.