Its origins as a bookstore are incidental. Amazon started out as an online bookstore because Bezos knew the web (or web commerce, I'm not sure which) was growi

Its origins as a bookstore are incidental. Amazon started out as an online bookstore because Bezos knew the web (or web commerce, I'm not sure which) was growing at 2300% a year and wanted to get in on it in the best possible area. That area turned out to be books, because they were cheap to ship; required catalogs too large to print, but easy to browse through online; and had a large profit margin. It then expanded from there. It was and always will be about general online commerce.