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1.  

   

   freakengine, Dec 17th, 2007 @ 5:38pm

   
   

   I don't think Amazon has been innovative

   If adding a slew of e-tailers to their marketplace so as to cloud their brand is innovation then perhaps Amazon qualifies, but in my view all they've done is dilute their image and confuse customers with these actions. They also refuse to back purchases made with outside vendors that they rep which makes me wonder why I should ever buy from them that way. Why wouldn't I just go to those vendors directly?
   
   Oh, and don't get me started on the Kindle. A $400 e-book reader? Is that some sort of joke?

    

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2.  

   

   Nick (profile), Dec 17th, 2007 @ 5:43pm

   
   

   Here is an idea: eBay should hire Amazon to re-make their entire service from the ground up and include new Amazon-like features and an easier to use API, and then Amazon should buy eBay if/when the upgrade makes a difference. Win/win for both companies and customers. Then Amazon will integrate Skype into their web services somehow. As for Stumbleupon, I', not sure how it can be added to the strategy of either company.

    

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3.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Dec 17th, 2007 @ 5:58pm

   
   

   Ebay is dead in the water. I think Amazon has enough brains to stay away from it.

    

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4.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Dec 17th, 2007 @ 6:19pm

   
   

   I say they should go for it. If it ends up a huge success, then we have a great thing. If the they crash and burn, someone else will step to the plate.

    

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5.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Dec 17th, 2007 @ 6:20pm

   
   

   Re:

   Sorry. If they crash and burn.

    

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6.  

   

   Thom, Dec 17th, 2007 @ 8:13pm

   
   

   Red

   Ebay is like the redneck hillbilly shooting arrows into a flock of birds directly over his head in hopes of scoring a meal. On a rare occassion he gets fed, but most of the times he misses, and eventually one of his arrows comes down and kills him.
   
   Ebay's throwing money at stupid ideas that can't work. It's ignoring and driving away both the buyers and sellers that make it money in failed attempts to attract others. It's going to die soon anyway or at least mortally wound itself. Amazon doesn't need to buy Ebay, it just needs to sit back until Ebay's exhausted all the stupid ideas and is on it's death bed. Then Amazon can pick Ebay up for a song or implement a competitor, that doesn't face what marginal competition Ebay is now, and put Ebay to sleep.

    

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7.  

   

   brandon, Dec 17th, 2007 @ 9:11pm

   
   

   ummm..

   i'll admit, I didn't read the article above, just the headline.
   
   bad service + bad service = dumb idea

    

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8.  

   

   moe, Dec 18th, 2007 @ 12:40am

   
   

   Re: I don't think Amazon has been innovative

   In general, I don't agree with most of what you said but I just had to comment about the Kindle. Sure, if you look at it as just and e-book reader then it is overpriced (maybe). But let's look at the whole picture, here. The amount of content available is very impressive, including numerous major news outlets. The ease of use for purchasing and receiving the content makes it unique among all other e-readers. And the fact that Amazon picks up your connectivity charges means no additional data plans and associated costs for you.
   
   If you don't see that as innovation, then I'm curious as to what would satisfy your narrow definition of the word.

    

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9.  

   

   mkam, Dec 18th, 2007 @ 5:49am

   
   

   half.com vs amazon

   The other question I would ask is what would happen between half.com and amazon. I don't ebay much but use half.com all the time for naming my price and selling, and buying stuff at a fixed price. It is consistently lower than amazon on most duplicate items. Ebay, in my mind, doesn't really complete with amazon (at least they have vastly different approaches to selling). I could see ebay staying the same and amazon merging towards a more open format like half.com which would potentially drive more sellers and buyers to amazon.
   
   mkam

    

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10.  

    

    Tarditi, Dec 18th, 2007 @ 6:16am

    
    

    It's worth it for Half.com and PayPal alone...

     

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11.  

    

    moe, Dec 18th, 2007 @ 7:43am

    
    

    Re:

    There's something I hadn't considered. Amazon could eliminate it's service charges for PayPal purchases and add the revenue stream from other services processing PayPal payments. I'd love to look at the cost/benefit analysis on that aspect.

     

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