Tag Archives: Amazon

Free or Fast: WiFi on the Plane

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Internet access has become so ubiquitous to many of us that we barely notice it until we don’t have it. At home, cable broadband or DSL quietly connects our phones, computers, TVs, and even—for some of us—our light switches to the world-wide-web and the vast wealth of information it holds. While out and about, our phones are connected through the cellular network to that very same informational hub. Even when all else fails, Starbucks and its ilk will happily keep you connected. However, one of the few remaining places where we seem to surrender our entitlement to the net is… Continue reading Free or Fast: WiFi on the Plane→

Amazon: “I am the law!” (in Seattle and D.C)

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(Judge Dredd 1995) Rather than back down from the rising national and international antitrust scrutiny put upon Amazon for its continued acquisitions and online-sellers’ growing dependence on the site, the company is preparing for a long fight. Amazon’s in-house lobbyists hires have tripled in the last 3 years, an addition to the 13 lobbyist firms it employs. And while Amazon’s total lobbying amount of $14 Million lags behind Google’s $21 Million. Amazon’s rate of investment into lobbyists is growing far faster than any other tech company, at 460% since 2012. Amazon’s relationship with D.C has become very intense as the Continue reading Amazon: “I am the law!” (in Seattle and D.C)→

Amazon.com Continues to Expand into Europe Amidst Business and Legal Difficulties

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(Photo Made in Powerpoint) Amazon continues to dominate in the US with 50% of e-commerce going through its marketplace but, it is finding resistance abroad in Europe. The super-company retains 22% of Western Europe e-commerce and finds an even greater discrepancy between its clothing department with 35% of the US market and 8% in Europe. European companies have been successful in holding onto their market share through a combination of promoting their own online stores and producing high quality goods and customer service only single industry brick-and-mortar stores can provide. Amazon is not focusing on being a purveyor of specialty Continue reading Amazon.com Continues to Expand into Europe Amidst Business and Legal Difficulties→

Amazon Terminates NY HQ2 Plan

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Just today it was announced that Amazon has ended all plans to continue with developing its second headquarters (HQ2) campus in New York. After facing weeks of complaints and aggressive questioning from locals online, in public, and in-person the Mega-Corporation has decided the $3 billion in subsidies and access to New York’s rising tech industry are simply not worth the harassment. This is only the latest in the long saga that is the creation of Amazon’s HQ2 that began in late 2017 with the promise of 50,000 (wow!) new jobs and plans to spend $5 billion dollars on local construction Continue reading Amazon Terminates NY HQ2 Plan→

Amazon and Monopsony

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On Sunday of this week, Paul Krugman posted a now-much debated op-ed entitled: Amazon’s Monopsony is Not Okay. For those unfamiliar with the article or the debate that surrounds it: it is about Amazon’s enormous market power, and the impact that power is having on the publishing market as a whole. Specifically, publisher Hachette is currently in a dispute with Amazon, who are pressuring Hachette to change their rates for e-book prices by cutting off the supply of Hachette’s authors’ books to the public: making them either delayed or completely unavailable. Most of the experts, regardless of their political leanings Continue reading Amazon and Monopsony→