ZiaLink Ink

Years ago I should have reviewed Amazon.com the company the way we review products on their site. If enough of us had, maybe this 2016 SuperBowl ad would truly usher in an Alexa /AI Echo revolution, the way the old 1984 Apple ad introduced the world to the Mac (Macintosh computer.) Better late than never:

I give Amazon.com ($AMZN) 5 stars ***** for its unparalleled customer service and innovative CEO Jeff Bezos who knew from the beginning Amazon represented everything from A to Z (look at their logo.) Amazon.com incorporated in May of 1996 as an e-commerce company. It was always going to be more than a book store and never limited to just a retail or re-sale company like the so-called competitors. Amazon.com has no competitors. It’s always been and still is unique! First the company description and then I’ll explain why its stock price skyrocketed from $17 per share to nearly $700 (Dec 2015) since I invested back in 1998. From the investor page:

Amazon offers its own products as well as third-party products across various categories, through its retail Websites and through its mobile Websites and applications. It manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo and Fire phones.

And that summary doesn’t even mention the famous multi-billion dollar AWS (Amazon Web Services) that not only lets anyone run sites and services in “the Cloud”, it offers a variety of computing, networking, and database services for every size business.  See for yourself: Amazon.com AWS site.

That same level of sophistication with simple interfaces is available for people who read, or want to publish eBooks, or both;  for people who want to buy music and videos and keep them in the cloud, OR store their own content online in a safe, secure way– whether it’s music, videos, photos or files. Yep, Amazon customers can keep eBooks and audio books in our account, along with music, movies, and more. With a Prime membership its basically all you can “eat” (or absorb) of whatever digital services you want! That’s a lot more than what Wally World wants to offer you with “free shipping.” Of course, Amazon has that too, with packages delivered in two days or less to your home.  (Last I checked you might pick up a Wally order in a week at a local store.)

For years, Amazon was considered the world’s largest bookstore, even though it had no retail “brick and mortar” stores. Buying books online expanded to buying eBooks in 2007 when the first Kindle eReader sold out in a few hours. Amazon reported in July 2010 that sales of eBooks was exceeding that of printed books. (I published my novel as both trade paperback and then as an eBook in September of 2010, using Amazon services of course 😉  )

Since then Amazon.com has created more elegant devices and an ecosystem that would blow Steve Job’s mind: Fire tablets, Fire TV, Fire phone and now the incredible AI Echo system, which is unlike anything you’ve seen! They all work together seamlessly, intuitively and are fun! The truth is while Apple actually is turning into the plodding corporation it railed against in the 1984 Super Bowl ad, Amazon.com is still innovating and bringing us the “must have” products and services for the future. So, if you haven’t been on Amazon.com recently, or haven’t seen the Echo, check it out. First, here’s one of the possible #SB50 Amazon Echo TV ads with Alex and Alexa 😉   Here’s a customer review of Echo /Alexa features on Youtube and here’s the official Amazon.com echo product page … once you’re there, look around at all the other amazing stuff, too.

All that and I didn’t even mention that I’ve stashed away an extra Fire phone (which was designed with VR in mind) and has features other smartphones can only dream of. Right, Siri?  😉