Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
CBS News / CBS Evening News / CBS This Morning / 48 Hours / 60 Minutes / Sunday Morning / Face The Nation / CBSN Log In Search
Episodes Overtime Topics The Team Connect with 60 Minutes:
RELATED VIDEO
60 MINUTES - BUSINESS Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future
60 MINUTES: SEGMENT EXTRAS Bezos recalls Amazon's riskiest move
60 MINUTES: SEGMENT EXTRAS Why Bezos bought The Washington Post
60 MINUTES OVERTIME The Jeff Bezos of 1999: Nerd of the Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future Recent Segments Amazon is the world's largest online retailer, serving 225M customers. What's next for the company that prides itself on disrupting tradition? Remembering Bob Simon 2013 CORRESPONDENT COMMENTS FACEBOOK TWITTER STUMBLE MORE Dec 01 Charlie Rose 68 1.7K 1.4K
Like 5k The following script is from "Amazon" which aired on Dec. 1, 2013. Charlie Rose is the Bradley Cooper on correspondent. Draggan Mihailovich, producer. 60 Minutes
There has never been a company quite like Amazon. Conceived as an online book seller, Amazon has reinvented itself time and again, changing the way the world shops, reads and computes. Amazon has 225 million customers around the world. Its goal is to sell everything A new kind of to everyone. The brainchild of Jeff Bezos, Amazon prides itself on disrupting the traditional terrorist way of doing things. A few weeks ago the company announced it was launching Sunday delivery.
Tonight, for the first time, you will be introduced to perhaps Amazon’s boldest venture ever. ZMapp and the fight against Ebola
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 1 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
60 MINUTES OVERTIME AMAZON UNVEILS FUTURISTIC PLAN: DELIVERY BY DRONE DARPA: Nobody's safe on the Internet
Safari Power Saver Click to Start Flash Plug-in Over the last month, 60 Minutes was granted unprecedented access inside Amazon’s operations. If you have ever wondered what happens after you’ve clicked and placed an order on Amazon, take a look. If there is such a thing as Santa’s workshop, this would be it.
A 1.2 million square foot distribution center, the size of more than 20 football fields, gearing up for the holiday shopping season.
There are 96 of these warehouses worldwide, what Amazon calls fulfillment centers. Tomorrow, on what is known as Cyber Monday, it’s expected that more than 300 items a second will be ordered on Amazon.
Jeff Bezos: If you go back in time 18 years, I was driving the packages to the post office myself, and we were very primitive. 60 Minutes App
Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon, with an estimated worth of at least $25 billion. He sold his first book on Amazon in another era, back in 1995. "If you go back in time 18 years, I was driving the packages to the post office myself, and we were very primitive."
Charlie Rose: Part of what Amazon customers expect—we want it now. What’s happening at the fulfillment centers that have made that possible? New Look. New Season. The 60 Minutes app for Jeff Bezos: The secret is we’re on, like, our seventh generation of fulfillment centers. And we iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch! have gotten better every time. When I was driving the packages myself, one of my Download Now visualizations of success is that we might one day be big enough that we could afford a forklift. And…
Charlie Rose: You’ve got a forklift.
Jeff Bezos: We’ve got forklifts.
There’s very little Amazon doesn’t have.
Dave Clark: Right now we’re really in the center of what is the physical manifestation of Earth’s biggest selection.
Amazon vice president Dave Clark showed us how the process begins. After the products arrive into the building, they are immediately scanned. The products are then placed by stackers in what seems to outsiders as a haphazard way…a book on Buddhism and Zen resting next to Mrs. Potato Head…
Charlie Rose: Here’s what I want to know. This is a Swiffer.
Dave Clark: It is a Swiffer.
Charlie Rose: It’s sitting next to the Encyclopedia of World History.
Dave Clark: Of course.
Charlie Rose: That doesn’t make any sense to me. Does it make sense to you? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 2 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
Dave Clark: It, it does.
Charlie Rose: What?!
Dave Clark: Can those two things, you look at how these items fit in the bin.
Charlie Rose: Yeah, oh!
Dave Clark They’re optimized for utilizing the available space.
Charlie Rose: Oh I see.
Dave Clark: And we have computers and algorithmic work that tells people the areas of the building that have the most space to put product in that’s coming in at that time.
Amazon has become so efficient with its stacking, it can now store twice as many goods in its centers as it did five years ago.
Dave Clark: Anything you want on, on Earth you’re gonna get from us.
Charlie Rose: Anything you want on Earth you’re gonna get from us?
Dave Clark: Yeah, that’s where we’re headed I believe.
Once your order is placed, a so-called pick ambassador walks the aisles, plucking and scanning your items before placing them in bins. Those bins eventually wind up in front of a packer, who knows exactly how big of a box to use based on the weight and amount of items, your address is slapped onto the box and then a picture is taken of your address label, gadgets known as "shoes" sort and divert the boxes to the appropriate spiral chute, based on the postal code. This accelerates the delivery process. The boxes are then loaded onto awaiting trucks, which are assigned to particular regions -- Raleigh, North Carolina, in this case. Amazon uses more trucks than planes because so many distribution centers have been built near customers.
60 MINUTES: SEGMENT EXTRAS BEZOS RECALLS AMAZON'S RISKIEST MOVE
Charlie Rose: If you can do this with all these products, what else can you do? You guys can organize the world?
Dave Clark: Well, you’ve gotta start somewhere…
But the company has also started same day deliveries of groceries in two cities -- milk, vegetables and dry goods, to name a few items. Amazon Fresh began in Seattle and only after five years has it expanded to Los Angeles.
Charlie Rose: What is it you’re trying to learn that’s taken you five years to learn?
Jeff Bezos: How to make it make financial sense. You know, what’s not to love? You order the groceries online and we deliver 'em to your door. But that’s very expensive.
Charlie Rose: But is this the Holy Grail for Amazon? I can deliver it on the same day?
Jeff Bezos: It’s a possibility. If we can make this model work, it would be great because it extends the range of products that we can sell.
Amazon is now flowing into other areas far removed from its original mission as an online http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 3 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
book seller.
Amazon Fashion, launched this fall, sells high-end clothing…
Charlie Rose: Tell me what is Amazon today?
Jeff Bezos: I would define Amazon by our big ideas, which are customer centricity, putting the customer at the center of everything we do, invention. We like to pioneer, we like to explore, we like to go down dark alleys and see what’s on the other side.
On the other side of Amazon’s online retailing is a business customers know little about.
It’s called Amazon Web Services, AWS, and may soon become Amazon’s biggest business. To keep track of its massive online orders, Amazon built a large and sophisticated computing infrastructure. Amazon figured out it could also expand that infrastructure to store data and run websites for hundreds of thousands of outside companies and government agencies on what is known as the cloud. "We like to pioneer, we like to explore, we like to go down dark alleys and see what’s on the other side."
Charlie Rose: How much of the Internet, do you run? Jeff Bezos: It’s a good question. It’s a lot though. And people…
Charlie Rose: Well, what’s a lot? What’s the neighborhood?
Jeff Bezos: I could tell you this. Most Internet startups and a lot of big Internet companies run on top of AWS. Netflix very famously, and you could say, "Oh that’s very odd because Netflix in a way is a competitor of Amazon."
Charlie Rose: Other than Netflix, who else uses AWS?
Jeff Bezos: Oh, big enterprises, big government institutions…
Charlie Rose: Like the CIA?
Jeff Bezos: The CIA.
Charlie Rose: Does that present any conflict for you, the fact that, that you provide the cloud that the CIA uses for its data?
Jeff Bezos: We’re building what’s called a private cloud for them, Charlie, because they don’t want to be on the public cloud.
But the company continues to branch out in areas the public can see and touch. People read books the same way for centuries until Amazon introduced the Kindle e-reader and Amazon has just released its Kindle Fire HDX tablet - in typical Amazon style, without making a profit on the device.
Charlie Rose: So you sell this at break even?
Jeff Bezos: We sell this at break even and then we hope to…
Charlie Rose: That’s a very thin margin.
Jeff Bezos: It’s a very thin margin. But we hope to make money when you…
Charlie Rose: Sell all the stuff…
Jeff Bezos:…buy books and movies… http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 4 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
Charlie Rose: That’s always been your philosophy.
Jeff Bezos: Exactly.
Bezos believes low costs ensure customer loyalty to Amazon, even if it’s at the expense of profits. Amazon is one of the rare companies that on a quarterly basis shows little profit and yet is beloved by investors.
Jeff Bezos: In the long run, if you take care of customers, that is taking care of shareholders. We do price elasticity studies. And every time the math tells us to raise prices.
Charlie Rose: But why don’t you do it?
Jeff Bezos: Because doing so would erode trust. And that erosion of trust would cost us much more in the long term.
That long view, Bezos believes, gives Amazon a distinct edge.
Jeff Bezos: The long term approach is rare enough that it means you’re not competing against very many companies. 'Cause most companies wanna see a return on investment in, you know, one, two, three years.
Charlie Rose: You don’t care about that?
Jeff Bezos: I care, but I’m willing for it to be five, six, seven years. So just that change in timeline can be a very big competitive advantage.
For example, Amazon’s profits are redirected to building more distribution centers, like this one in New Jersey. The more centers it constructs, the closer the customer and the faster the delivery. And every time a new one goes up, publishers and traditional retailers shudder…
Charlie Rose: A lotta small book publishers and other smaller companies worry that the power of Amazon gives them no chance.
Jeff Bezos: You gotta earn your keep in this world. When you invent something new, if customers come to the party, it’s disruptive to the old way.
Charlie Rose: Yeah, but I mean, there are areas where your power’s so great and your margin, you’re prepared to make it so thin that you can drive people out of business and, and you have that kind of strength. And people worry: Is Amazon ruthless in their pursuit of market share? "When you invent something new, if customers come to the party, it’s disruptive to the old way."
Jeff Bezos: The Internet is disrupting every media industry, Charlie, you know, people can complain about that, but complaining is not a strategy. And Amazon is not happening to book selling, the future is happening to book selling.
Amazon is also pouring money into original television programming that can be streamed to Amazon customers…like its first series, Alpha House, a comedy written by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau about four Republican senators who live in the same townhouse. Amazon didn’t select the show the conventional, Hollywood way. Alpha House was picked out of thousands of scripts, with the help of Amazon customers who reviewed the shows. Charlie Rose: You are using your customer base to tell you rather than the opinion of some…
Jeff Bezos: That’s exactly right.
Charlie Rose: Hollywood programmer?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 5 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
Jeff Bezos: We’re changing the green lighting process. Instead of a few you know studio executives deciding what gets green lighted…
Charlie Rose: So-called tastemakers?
Jeff Bezos: Yes. We’re using what some people would call crowd sourcing to help figure this out.
What other industry will Amazon disrupt? At Amazon’s secret Lab 126 in California, designers and engineers are experimenting on next generation devices, the contents of which are eagerly speculated about.
Charlie Rose: Are you working on a set top box that will allow people to watch streaming video and not need to have cable television?
Jeff Bezos: I can’t answer that question (laughs). I don’t wanna talk about the future roadmap of our devices. So I’ll have to just ask you to stay tuned.
Charlie Rose: Soon?
Jeff Bezos: Charlie!
But during our visit to Amazon’s campus in Seattle, Bezos kept telling us that he did have a big surprise, something he wanted to unveil for the first time…
Jeff Bezos: Let me show you something.
Charlie Rose: Oh, man…Oh, my God!
Jeff Bezos: This…
Charlie Rose: This is?
Jeff Bezos:…is…these are octocopters.
Charlie Rose: Yeah?
Jeff Bezos: These are effectively drones but there’s no reason that they can’t be used as delivery vehicles. Take a look up here so I can show you how it works.
Charlie Rose: All right. We’re talking about delivery here?
Jeff Bezos: We’re talking about delivery. There’s an item going into the vehicle. I know this looks like science fiction. It’s not.
Charlie Rose: Wow!
Jeff Bezos: This is early. This is still…years away. It drops the package.
Charlie Rose: And there’s the package.
Jeff Bezos: You come and get your package. And we can do half hour delivery.
Charlie Rose: Half hour delivery?
Jeff Bezos: Half hour delivery/and we can carry objects, we think, up to five pounds, which covers 86 percent of the items that we deliver.
Charlie Rose: And what is the range between the fulfillment center and where you can do this within…
Jeff Bezos: These…this…this…these gener…
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 6 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
Charlie Rose: 30 minutes?
Jeff Bezos: These generations of vehicles, it could be a 10-mile radius from a fulfillment center. So, in urban areas, you could actually cover very significant portions of the population. And so, it won’t work for everything; you know, we’re not gonna deliver kayaks or table saws this way. These are electric motors, so this is all electric; it’s very green, it’s better than driving trucks around. This is…this is all an R&D project.
Charlie Rose: With drones, there’s somebody sitting somewhere in front of a screen.
Jeff Bezos: Not these; these are autonomous. So you give 'em instructions of which GPS coordinates to go to, and they take off and they fly to those GPS coordinates.
Charlie Rose: What’s the hardest challenge in making this happen?
Jeff Bezos: The hard part here is putting in all the redundancy, all the reliability, all the systems you need to say, ‘Look, this thing can’t land on somebody’s head while they’re walking around their neighborhood’…
Charlie Rose: Yeah, that’s not good.
Jeff Bezos: That’s not good.
Jeff Bezos: And, you know, I don’t want anybody to think this is just around the corner. This is years of additional work from this point. But this is…
Charlie Rose: But will ‘years’ mean five, 10?
Jeff Bezos: I think, I, I am, I’m an optimist Charlie. I know it can’t be before 2015, because that’s the earliest we could get the rules from the FAA. My guess is that’s, that’s probably a little optimistic. But could it be, you know, four, five years? I think so. It will work, and it will happen, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun.
With the drones possibly taking flight in the not too distant future, Amazon is raising the stakes in the race for faster delivery. Jeff Bezos believes the company has no choice.
Jeff Bezos: Companies have short life spans Charlie. And Amazon will be disrupted one day.
Charlie Rose: And you worry about that?
Jeff Bezos: I don’t worry about it 'cause I know it’s inevitable. Companies come and go. And the companies that are, you know, the shiniest and most important of any era, you wait a few decades and they’re gone.
Charlie Rose: And your job is to make sure that you delay that date?
Jeff Bezos: I would love for it to be after I’m dead.
© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Charlie Rose ON TWITTER » Charlie Rose is a co-host of "CBS This Morning" and "Person to Person." Rose began contributing to 60 Minutes in 2008.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 7 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM MORE FROM 60 MINUTES
Remembering Bob Simon ZMapp and the fight against A new kind of terrorist FEBRUARY 23, 2015 Ebola FEBRUARY 16, 2015 60 Minutes remembers and celebrates the life and FEBRUARY 16, 2015 Clarissa Ward reports on the French extraordinary career of friend and colleague Bob neighborhood and prison that gave rise to the Simon In his final story for 60 Minutes, Bob Simon terrorists who carried out the two deadly attacks reports on the long and complicated development in Paris last month of ZMapp, a promising drug to combat Ebola
68 Comments
68 Comments / 60 people listening SIGN IN The Republican Leaders: Boehner 108 and McConnell
Boehner and McConnell respond 46 to Obama
+ FOLLOW Share POST COMMENT AS... The Swiss Leaks COMMENTING FAQS / GUIDELINES 24 NEWEST | OLDEST | TOP COMMENTS Remembering Bob Simon ELAINE SMITHEE RULES February 13, 2014 7:7AM 15 Would like to see this on 60 minutes: Small publishers and authors could be loosing intellectual property rights to Amazon thru Daily Deals. Buyers of books are complaining they are getting ripped off thru reseller Daily Deal via Amazon. If your a small publisher with a published book with Amazon search on Amazon marketplace and see who is A new kind of terrorist selling your book and how. This thread might give you some insight on Amazon reseller Daily Deals tactics: 14 http://badbookseller.blogspot.com/2011/09/dailydeal-usa-meet-spider.html
LIKE / REPLY
ERBOGAN January 8, 2014 3:3PM Great Pr but they can not even get my Amazon Prime 2 day deliveries in two days. The carrier in Scottsdale has been abysmal. We sure do not need more junk flying around any place I want to live. Drone delivery is a disaster waiting to happen! And I can see it now, bandits hijacking drones and packages.
LIKE / REPLY
EMILYPETER389 December 27, 2013 4:4AM The man is a genius, he has a CGPA of 4.3 out of 4, how is that even possible? Look at the infograph to confirm
http://bit.ly/PerfectGPA
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 8 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
LIKE / REPLY Recommended
12BAMISH December 8, 2013 10:10AM Manhunt for alleged kidnapper of girl, 3 What kind of power would supply the drone? None. This will never happen. There is no way to power such a thing any more than a flying car.
LIKE / REPLY Note indicates killing of teen daughters was premeditated HY_TEK December 6, 2013 6:6AM I don't see how the skies being full of package delivering drones is either possible or safe. I can see the headlines now airliner crashes hit by Amazon drone. AP source: Bobbi Kristina Brown has tracheostomy
LIKE / REPLY Oscars 2015: Melissa Rivers responds to "In Memoriam" snub of Joan Rivers THEBIGD37 December 4, 2013 8:8PM The strategy (instead of the complaint) is vote with your dollars. How you spend your money shapes the quality of American life. Buy from local stores and from people who care about their craft. Buy quality over price. Appreciate Data Rush Hour without a Traffic people who do quality work. There's a place for big and large firms, but the more diverse the economy is, the more Jam. likely we are to have good jobs with greater job stability. T-Mobile Sponsored
Learn more Powered by LIKE / REPLY
GLASSKEYS December 4, 2013 3:3PM Discounting the brazen PR stunt that Charlie Rose fell for hook, line and sinker. Amazon really is great: They know how to trade at multiple times miniscule earnings, literally drive workers insane, and how to dodge paying taxes.
LIKE / REPLY
PLANTASTICONE December 4, 2013 0:12PM I wish I could get the Zombie Plant Grow Kit on amazon in 30 minutes. I can't wait to grow and see the Zombie Plant PLAY DEAD when you Touch it and then come back to life!! Go amazon! http://www.amazon.com/ZOMBIE-PLANT-Planting-Touch-PLAYS/dp/B00EXR9O76
LIKE / REPLY
TUPPENCECAT December 3, 2013 7:7AM I've seen these things at outdoor event, and everytime I see them I find myself wishing I had a baseball to throw at it. I know it's childish, but if I see one buzzing around my home, I'm going to start throwing old produce, etc., just to see if I can hit one. Also, I am 100% convinced that Amazon will put cameras on these for some stated business purpose, but then they will also sell the data much along the lines that cars park and gather license plate information and sell it.
LIKE / REPLY
RISEUPANDFIGHT December 3, 2013 4:4AM If that's the future business plan for Amazon, may I suggest stockholders dump the stock now.
LIKE / REPLY
STANCO55 December 2, 2013 10:10PM ONE Giant Commercial for Amazon and Multi-Billionaire Bezos that he didn't have to spend one single red cent on from his 24 BILLION Dollars... And NOT ONE WORD about workers' wages, conditions (eg- no air conditioning in 100+ degree heat)- NADA. HEY--- Is today CYBER MONDAY??? WHAT A COINCIDENCE!!! IF those drones ever become a reality, dollars to donuts not one of their "fulfillment" workers will be able to afford the price of their pie in the sky deliveries- they won't even fly into their neighborhoods...
LIKE / REPLY
TMITTELSTAED December 2, 2013 9:9PM Frankly I don't see the problem with screwing over retailers who sell items with a unit price of over $50 per. The http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 9 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
retailers today add nothing of value except for small items. Try asking a salesperson in any of them a hard question and watch them run. Most manufacturers of anything that costs any real money would sell direct if they could. Value is created by the manufacturer, and they should be getting the bulk of the customer's money. Not the middleman. We have far too many people today in between the manufacturer and the customer and they contribute nothing of value. But don't fall for the baloney that Amazon gives great deals. for example Xbox 360 E 250GB Holiday Value Bundle from them is $249.00 The exact same product from BestBuy is the same $249 Best Buy is a brick and mortar store so their overhead is higher. So Amazon's price should be lower for the same profit - but it's not. It's the same. So why would you buy one from them? The fact is that Amazon has created the myth that they are cheaper, when for a lot of stuff they are not.
LIKE / REPLY
SABERGUY13 December 2, 2013 9:9PM What they won't tell you in a visit to "Santa's workshop" is that its absolute living hell to work there. I about shot myself after about four months there...
LIKE / REPLY
60 MINUTES SINKS December 2, 2013 8:8PM A new low for '60 Minutes' putting on a 14-minute free ad for Amazon and daring to call it a news story. Mike Wallace is rolling over in his grave. I also thought Charlie Rose actually had integrity. Not anymore. Just another corporate huckster. Shameful! .. Also, did the cat (Bezos) have Charlie's tongue when it came time to ask how these contraptions will navigate around helicopters, blimps, power lines? And what about Homeland Security? I'm sure it would eagerly approve of drones in the air carrying packages that could contain a blender -- or a BOMB!.
LIKE / REPLY
KOMODO55 December 2, 2013 7:7PM The idea is completely asinine.
LIKE / REPLY
PAYASYOUGO December 2, 2013 6:6PM Returns by drone - that would be better.
LIKE / REPLY
HARRISONAR December 2, 2013 4:4PM This is complete b***s***. This will not happen.
LIKE / REPLY
ALDRICH617 December 2, 2013 4:4PM You don't have to be a confirmed Luddite to recognize the difference between good and evil nascent technologies. This mini-copter delivery system for parcels proposed by Bezos is both a threat to privacy and jobs, and thus deserves to be strangled in the cradle. As much as the image of the fragile looking Amazon mini-ihelo being blasted by a skeet gun has mass appeal, there are perhaps more effective strategies of resistance available. If a paint-ball enthusiast with one of the rapid fire automatic guns should ambush a Amazon drone just after it made its drop, it could probably disable it without actually damaging it. It could then be examined physically to ascertain other vulnerabilities. Perhaps a laser could blind it, a kamikaze fighter explode it, or - the big one - the electronics aboard hacked to ground the entire fleet.
LIKE / REPLY
PP1029 December 2, 2013 2:2PM
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 10 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
Great interview
LIKE / REPLY
OPINIONATEDGAL December 2, 2013 2:2PM good news!: "It's an interesting day when Amazon's efforts to build delivery drones look more promising than its efforts to fight state tax laws." http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/02/idUS349964429420131202
LIKE / REPLY
December 2, 2013 0:12PM I look forward to the day I can order a cup of coffee ad have it delivered on a flying saucer!
LIKE / REPLY
OPINIONATEDGAL December 2, 2013 9:9AM "States' online 'Amazon tax' fight may land in U.S. Supreme Court: lawyers" - "Seattle-based Amazon has been fighting one-on-one battles with the 50 states for years over sales tax." http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/21/net-us-usa-tax-amazon-idUSBRE99K0T620131021 WHY WAS THAT NOT MENTIONED?! Shameful. The fact that amazon does not charge taxes is an unfair advantage. Should have asked about his political donations, too. I will never order from them again.
LIKE / REPLY
ENLIGHTENU December 2, 2013 1:1PM @OpinionatedGal That's the only reason I order from them.
LIKE / REPLY
TELLFELL December 2, 2013 9:9AM Headlines of the future: 1) Thieves working in gangs are shooting down Amazon’s Prime Air Octocopters as they attempt to deliver customer’s purchases throughout major metropolitan across the country.Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said losses so far this year are approaching $150 million. 2) Two Amazon Prime Air Octocopters collided this afternoon over I-95 outside Boston causing a chain-reaction crash involving 45 cars and trucks.While there were no fatalities, several drivers needed medical attention. 3)Hackers crack into Amazon’s the Prime Air Octocopter GPS guidance system and redirect scheduled deliveries to unintended locations allowing them to steal customer’s purchases, film at 11:00.So far, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said losses are under $1 million, but expects them to grow unless the tech savvy air pirates are caught.
LIKE / REPLY
ENLIGHTENU December 2, 2013 1:1PM @TellFell You're a regular Nostradamus. But i doubt anyone would shoot one down to steal something. Most likely kids will shoot them for sport.
LIKE / REPLY
GILLYALA December 2, 2013 9:9AM Are these expensive flying delivery machines bullet proof? I predict someone will attempt to shoot them like skeet.
LIKE / REPLY
MAJSTONE December 2, 2013 7:7AM Amazon's advantage is that it doesn't have to charge taxes and it pays no cost for any type of showrooms/store fronts. While there is convenience with Amazon, the down side is the huge number of retail jobs that are lost. When internet retail first started, Congress intentionally avoided sales tax on the internet. This needs to change, especially for big companies like Amazon. Amazon has an unfair advantage and is becoming a monopoly--and do you think
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 11 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
Amazon will charge the lowest prices with a monopoly? No way. They already don't and keep in mind, Amazon's goal "to sell everything to everyone." You can pay more for a product through a retailer that uses Amazon to sell its products, or go directly to the retailer and pay less. But those retailers are going away. Tax internet retail and you will put a huge dent in reducing the US debt. It's fair because everyone pays and it levels the playing field for retailers.
LIKE / REPLY
ST247 December 2, 2013 9:9AM Good points, majstone. Amazon is just the latest iteration of "big box" retail, except in Amazon's case there is no big box (except their ship-on-demand warehouses); or, put in metaphoric terms, what box there is, is cyber. And we all know what big box retail did to Main Street USA - it wiped it out. It seems that now, even the big boxes that exist are surely looking at Amazon and what it means for them - they could be the next victims themselves. And as for the US Postal Service, it's dead - and I suspect UPS and FedEx are paying attention as well. What all of this means for the mainstream American worker is probably not good, certainly in the near term. Technology has "compressed" jobs to the extent that a machine, a software program, or something else has simply eliminated the need for millions of "workers."
LIKE / REPLY
FEDERALIST10 December 2, 2013 7:7PM @st247 And yet Amazon is also helping small retailers stay competitive with those big box retailers by letting Main Street stores use Amazon as an online storefront.
LIKE / REPLY
SABERGUY13 December 2, 2013 9:9PM @st247 the ironic part is that amazon owns none of its own transportation. Its all brought in and delivered through ups, fed ex, USPS, etc.
LIKE / REPLY
ENLIGHTENU December 2, 2013 1:1PM @majstone retail sucks
LIKE / REPLY
THELASTVOTER December 2, 2013 7:7AM The CBS Charlie Rose “drone delivery” story covering Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was brilliant and reminiscent of the American “Can Do” creative spirit that existed in America when John F. Kennedy was president and declared that the United States would send men to the moon and return them back to earth safely by the end of the decade. Jeff won’t be able to launch his highly creative drone delivery project successfully unless he has a lot of help by Americans who are tired of seeing American values decline. Unless ordinary crime in America’s streets are cleaned up, teenage and organized criminals can’t wait to pounce on his proposed high technology delivery drones as they land on someone’s front lawn or sidewalk. Perhaps CBS can initiate an investigative report and look into how ordinary and violent crimes in America are affecting both the advancement of technology and our economy. Creativity has no limits in a society like America. Successfully launching products of that creativity, however, is another question.
1 LIKE / REPLY
PINCOLORADO December 2, 2013 6:6AM That's pretty utopian. The technology may be flawless but the nature of Wyle Coyote humans will bring that to a grinding halt in a hurry. People will find ways to either bring down or follow the drones to their destination to pick up free goodies, and brag about doing it.
1 LIKE / REPLY
MECURY69 December 2, 2013 9:9AM @PinColorado Good point!
LIKE / REPLY
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 12 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
MECURY69 December 2, 2013 6:6AM It's gonna be great when people start selling devices on Amazon that shoot down and disable drones! LMAO Bozos
1 LIKE / REPLY
FEDERALIST10 December 2, 2013 7:7PM @mecury69 says the great unwashed about someone who is actually getting sh!t done. "Bozos" - keep laughing all of the way to your crappy minimum wage job. Only the weak-minded try to tear down those who are reaching for something better.
LIKE / REPLY
MECURY69 December 2, 2013 6:6AM I don't want this things buzzing over my head just so some lazy turd can get their crap in 30 minutes as opposed to a day.
LIKE / REPLY
MATT6052 December 2, 2013 6:6AM @mecury69 You'll get used it.
LIKE / REPLY
MECURY69 December 2, 2013 8:8AM They ain't gonna happen. mark my words.
LIKE / REPLY
MICHAEL BYLEBYL December 2, 2013 5:5AM What a puff piece. Charlie like Lara did not do his homework. He neglected to reveal the horrible way that Amazon treats its employees in those "warehouses" or give numbers about how many small independent bookstores it has driven under.
1 LIKE / REPLY
PINCOLORADO December 2, 2013 6:6AM @Michael Bylebyl From what I could tell it was an article about future technology, not a piece on work conditions, which could be done with it's own title and article. The technology isn't likely to get past the poaching stage.
LIKE / REPLY
SABERGUY13 December 2, 2013 9:9PM @PinColorado @Michael Bylebyl but he did ask the question about putting retailers out of business. And Bezos said its their own damn fault for not being good enough. He should be ashamed by the working conditions! I will never buy from them again.
LIKE / REPLY
CARRIMON SMITH December 2, 2013 4:4AM Too bad Charlie is gutless and didn't question Bezos about how the spy agencies use Amazon's servers to spy on Americans.
1 LIKE / REPLY
BO BOGARD December 2, 2013 4:4AM My Projected new Business in 5 years, Remote Control Helicopter Parts, Just keeping air space above my house Clear
1 LIKE / REPLY
ANNA.MCCLUNG December 2, 2013 4:4AM When it comes to the drones, as cool as the idea is that you can get your package in about 30 mins. if you live close to a distribution center, do we really want to see all of these drones flying around in the sky or do we want to see the sky untainted? I would rather see the latter. What is to stop someone from shooting a drone down and stealing the http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 13 of 14 Amazon's Jeff Bezos looks to the future - CBS News 2/24/15, 1:41 PM
package? We know this will happen. It will open up new doors for thieves. And most importantly, I have to wonder what will all of this drone traffic do to birds? There are always consequences to things that seem greater than they truly are.
LIKE / REPLY
ALDRICH617 December 2, 2013 3:3AM
One of the biggest secrets to Bezos' success, not mentioned here by CR, has been his ability to leverage the 5-10% advantage conferred on out-of-state online competitors over local small businesses by current law that exempts Amazon from paying most state sales taxes. If the Amazon model were so superior, why would they need or deserve such blatant favoritism to make their idea work, and why does the press routinely omit discussion of the topic?
True, Bezos does create jobs by the tens of thousands, but he does this by destroying brick-and-mortar jobs by the hundreds of thousands. Do the math - Bezos and his ilk are destroying all hope for future job growth in America. How can a retail space composed mainly of warehouses and mini-copters really be an improvement over what we have now? Longterm, this ongoing process for the sake of minor convenience is slow motion economic suicide.
LIKE / REPLY
MATT6052 December 2, 2013 6:6AM @aldrich617 I know, and Bezos has no plans to hire off-duty cops to direct traffic in the parking lot on Black Friday weekend.
LIKE / REPLY
SABERGUY13 December 2, 2013 9:9PM @aldrich617 you call those jobs? More like indentured servitude!
LIKE / REPLY
Show More Comments
CBSNews.com CBS Interactive Follow Us
Site Map Privacy Policy Facebook Copyright © 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. Help Terms of Use Twitter All rights reserved. Contact Us Mobile User Agreement RSS CBS Bios About CBS Email Newsletters Search... Careers Advertise YouTube Internships Closed Captioning CBS Radio News Development Programs CBS Local
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/ Page 14 of 14