Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
Amazon will act rationally on a cost/benefit basis. It needs to worry about anti-trust law, first in the strict sense and if that is okay then in an expanded sense of just how difficult an environment they will face from complaints, allegations, enquiries etc.
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No one really knows how much they need to worry about being punished for destroying competitors, low pay, opposition to union organizing, or taking tax benefits from hard-pressed states and municipalities. So far, it hasn't hurt them. But, as the mutual funds are forced to disclose, past performance doesn't guarantee future results. And often it isn't at all predictive. So the Amazonians can't make those kind of decisions rationally. Deciding how much emphasis to put, in making business decisions, on ethical precepts, can't be done with a spreadsheet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
Also, given the bad decisions and lack of vision shown since Amazon came on the scene, there is absolutely no reason to believe they could run it successfully.
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If you want to look at the effect of bad decisions, read more about the
New Republic, one of whose articles you linked in #7. Every big publisher I know of has been far more successful at keeping their headline writers from bolting than has that sadly diminished former national treasure.
The
New Republic is a good example of an organization that had the vision to go all out for digital while alienating long-time key writers. I no longer subscribe. Since I am just one person, this means nothing. But they've lost so many other subscribers, while going from weekly, to biweekly, to, now, ten times a year, that I can't even find them owning up to their current circulation figures.