Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and the Kindle Reader

Jeff Bezos has always intrigued me with his innovative ideas and visionary approach to his business, Amazon.com, which he launched in 1994. I previously wrote about him and his company here.

When asked in a December, 2009 Newsweek article (by Daniel Lyons) about the success and broadening of his business, Jeff Bezos stated, “We learn whatever skills we need to service the customer. We build whatever technology we need to service the customer. The second thing is, we are inventors, so you won't see us focusing on "me too" areas. We like to go down unexplored alleys and see what's at the end. Sometimes they're dead ends. Sometimes they open up into broad avenues and we find something really exciting.

Of course his latest exciting adventure is the successful Kindle reader, but Kindle didn’t happen overnight according to Bezos. He said this about the development of the Kindle: “It's been on the market for two years, but we worked on it for three years in earnest before that. We talked about it for a year before that. We had to go hire people to build a hardware--engineering team to build the device. We had to acquire new skills. There's a tendency, I think, for executives to think that the right course of action is to stick to the knitting—stick with what you're good at. That may be a generally good rule, but the problem is the world changes out from under you if you're not constantly adding to your skill set.”

You see what I mean about a visionary attitude, and the guts to take risks and move forward?

I was somewhat surprised by the stats he gave on the success of the Kindle and his comment that he was “astonished” by the success of the Kindle. “Two years ago, none of us expected what has happened so far. It is [our] No. 1 bestselling product. It's the No. 1 most-wished-for product as measured by people putting it on their wish list. It's the No. 1 most-gifted item on Amazon. And I'm not just talking in electronics—that's true across all product categories. We've spent years working on our physical books business, and today, for titles that have a Kindle edition, Kindle book sales are 48 percent of the physical sales. That's up from 35 percent in May. The business is growing very quickly. This is not just a business for us. There is missionary zeal. We feel like Kindle is bigger than we are.”

Apparently Bezos believes that physical books are on their way out...although he admits he does not know how long that will take but they have had a five hundred year run. He stated, “Given how much change there has been everywhere else, what's remarkable is how stable the book has been for so long. But no technology, not even one as elegant as the book, lasts forever.”

I personally do not have a Kindle yet....maybe one day, but I am so interested because I am now selling 10 items through Kindle (fiction and nonfiction). I am making sales in the two to four months that my works have been available in that format. To hear that the Kindle book sales are nearly half of the Amazon book sales, sounds pretty good to me.

I’ve always get a kick out of Jeff Bezos’ humor and laughter. Maybe his attitude has helped him to succeed and laugh at the obstacles, ups and downs, and challenges along the way.

He seems to be enjoying the journey...

He dares to risk...

Maybe we all need to do more of that.

~Linda

Value of Education During Civil War and Today

“Education is worth more to a man than a fortune of gold.”

~Silas Igo Shearer, (1838-1915)

My great-great grandfather, Silas I. Shearer

These last few weeks I have been corresponding with my first cousin Sylvia who lives with her husband Tom in Vienna, Austria. We are making up for many, many years of being out of touch. We’re having so much fun learning about each other and sharing details of our lives since we last saw each other. A lot has happened in both our lives and it is amazing how much alike we are and how similar our interests are. One difference though, is I am not a traveler and international person as she is. She is one year older than I am, and she has been living abroad for most of her adult years. She has just retired from teaching. Sylvia and Tom have been teachers overseas in places such as Pakistan, Germany, and Austria, and more. Tom also has a law degree but apparently most of his career has been as a school teacher. She and I have discussed education: reading, writing, and...haven’t got to arithmetic yet!

Last week she had asked about my husband, Don Pendleton, his writing, education, and reading, and I sent her three quotes by him, which she enjoyed.

This is what Don said about reading, education, etc.

"I have served many long and lonely years aboard ship in war zones, and the only thing that kept me sane during all that enforced loneliness was my access to a good library in which I read, literally, every book on the shelves, even textbooks, and which gave me access to other worlds no way open to me." ~Don Pendleton

"The only true personal power comes from the mind and that mind has to be developed the same as muscles are developed–through use." ~Don Pendleton

And Don Pendleton’s response to a young fan: "As you grow older, you will discover that your mind is the only truly limiting factor in your life. With a well developed mind you can go anywhere and do whatever. But nothing comes automatically and the best things don't come easy."

Then last night while working on my Civil War period novel I came across the written words of my great-great grandfather, Silas I. Shearer, a Union soldier from Iowa, 23rd Infantry Volunteers. He was discussing the schooling of his oldest child who would have been about four years, nine months of age, and his concern that he hoped it was not too early for the child to attend school. He told his wife, Elizabeth Jane Shearer, “I am glad he wants to go but I [fear] it will give him a disliking to it and to study, sending him so young. I want my children to have a good education and if he takes a delight in it and learns, let him go. If I should not get home I want you to give the children a good education if you live.” His letter was written in July 1864 from Union army camp at Morganzia Bend, Louisiana. He also told her: “Education is worth more to a man than a fortune of gold.” ~Silas Igo Shearer, (1838-1915)

Apparently his son in question, Lewis D. Shearer became a barber and lived to be 90 years of age. Silas was in the Union Army from 1862 and was discharged out of the army as a sergeant at the end of the war in 1865. In addition to being a farmer he was Assessor, Justice of the Peace, a member of the Board of Supervisors in Collins Township, Story County, Iowa.

Silas and Elizabeth Jane Shearer

My great-great grandparents

~Linda