Web 2.0 - A Conversation with Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos started off by demonstrating the future of Amazon with it’s recent launch of Web Services 4.0 and Alexa Web Information Services. He gave an example of a site that utilizes Amazon's Web Services - www.musicplasma.com

Bezos then walked thru a demonstration of A9.com and highlighted the different types of searches you can conduct (web, books, movies etc). He also showed how you can drag any result to the "bookmarks" tab and instantly add that link to your favorites. By searching the content of books, A9 is also able to display content that would not normally be found by Google or Yahoo.

Bezos then sat down with Tim O'Reilly and answered some questions:

* Alexa Web Services are currently free, while in beta, but they will ultimately charge a fee for access.

* Asked whether Amazon had considered selling its "1-click" technology to other companies, Bezos answered that he did not know how they could charge for that technology.

* Amazon has a strong incentive to keep on inventing. "Customers are loyal right up until someone else offers them a better service."

* They can measure accurately any changes to their search algorithms and see which generate more sales. "Search inside the book" has improved the search process for Amazon customers. By allowing customers to sample the content of a book, Amazon is able to mimic a physical bookstore and allowing sampling "does increase sales".

* Bezos also believes that we will see more sophisticated applications that work within a normal web browser. A9 allows you to drag most content to folders using JavaScript, but is still within a simple browser.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |