Amazon.com: it's more than just books (and always has been!).

Searcher, June, 2004 by Hamilton, Denise

When Jeff Bezos launched Amazon.com in July 1995, he was but one in a field of optimistic entrepreneurs who recognized the World Wide Web as The Next Big Thing. Bezos, a summa cum laude Princeton grad with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, was a 28-year-old Wall Street wunderkind yearning to be in business for himself.

He spent some time doing meticulous research on the kinds of items that might sell online and eventually decided on books. He reasoned that nearly every book in print was already catalogued electronically; his business, a virtual bookstore, ...