→ The Amazon Effect | The Nation

An exhaustive and fascinating article by Steve Wasserman in The Nation about the history and the future of Amazon. Any book fan should have a read:

Jeff Bezos got what he wanted: Amazon got big fast and is getting bigger, dwarfing all rivals. To fully appreciate the fear that is sucking the oxygen out of publishers’ suites, it is important to understand what a steamroller Amazon has become. Last year it had $48 billion in revenue, more than all six of the major American publishing conglomerates combined, with a cash reserve of $5 billion.