This article was published in 2013 and updated in October 2026.
Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world. Jeff Bezos founded it in 1994 and famously started the business in his garage in Bellevue, near Seattle. From these humble beginnings grew a company that changed how we shop, read, watch TV and even how websites are hosted. When we first wrote this article, Amazon reported revenue of $13.2 billion for the first quarter of 2012; for the full year 2024 it reported net sales of about $638 billion.
How did Amazon become such a big company?
When Amazon.com went online in 1995, it sold only books. Music and videos followed in 1998, and the catalogue soon grew into almost everything. In May 1997 the company went public at $18 per share; the stock closed its first day at about $23.50, and the IPO raised around $54 million. The money helped Amazon expand abroad: in 1998 it launched its first international stores in Germany and the United Kingdom.
Important moments in Amazon’s history
- 1998 – IMDb: Amazon bought the Internet Movie Database, one of many acquisitions that later included Audible (2008), Zappos (2009), Twitch (2014) and the film studio MGM (2022).
- 2001 – “Look Inside the Book”: customers could read sample pages before buying, bringing the bookstore browsing experience online.
- 2005 – Amazon Prime: free two-day shipping for a yearly fee; streaming video was added in 2011 and grew into Prime Video.
- 2006 – Amazon Web Services (AWS): Amazon started renting out computing power and storage. AWS became the world’s largest cloud provider and Amazon’s biggest source of profit.
- 2007 – Kindle: the first Kindle e-reader turned e-books into a mass market; the Kindle Fire tablet followed in 2011.
- 2014 – Echo and Alexa: the smart speaker and voice assistant brought Amazon into millions of living rooms.
- 2017 – Whole Foods: Amazon bought the supermarket chain for about $13.7 billion, a big step into physical retail.
- 2021 – new CEO: Jeff Bezos handed the CEO role to Andy Jassy, the long-time head of AWS, and became executive chairman.
Why do people love shopping at Amazon?
Amazon combines a huge selection with competitive prices, fast delivery, easy returns and millions of customer reviews. It also helps people find items that aren’t available locally, and the Marketplace lets independent sellers reach customers worldwide — today they account for more than half of the units sold in Amazon’s stores. All of this, together with the convenience of shopping from home, made Amazon the default online store for many people.
How Amazon changed our daily lives
- Shopping: same-day and next-day delivery are normal in many cities, and they have pushed other retailers to speed up too.
- Reading: Kindle and Audible changed how millions of people read and listen to books.
- Entertainment: Prime Video produces its own films and series and streams live sport.
- The internet itself: many apps and websites you use every day run on AWS servers.
- Smart homes: Alexa devices control lights, music and shopping lists by voice.
The other side
Amazon’s success also attracts criticism: working conditions in warehouses, its impact on local shops, its market power over sellers, and the environmental cost of fast delivery and packaging. Competition authorities in the US and the EU have investigated its practices. As with any company this size, it’s worth comparing prices and supporting local businesses where you can.
What does the future hold?
In 2013, we predicted that sales tax and same-day delivery would shape Amazon’s next steps. Both happened: Amazon has collected sales tax in every US state with a sales tax since 2017, and same-day delivery is now widespread. Today the company is betting on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics in its warehouses, delivery drones and its own satellite internet network — so it is likely to keep changing our daily lives for years to come.
Jerry
Jan 24. 2013
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Sep 16. 2013
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May 10. 2014
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May 30. 2014
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Kelly Hubbard
Sep 15. 2021
I think there are good arguments from both sides here.
I do believe responsive design should be a consideration on a case by case basis, depending on purpose and budget etc. My only problem is with Tom’s view in user expectations. I don’t think a user expects a mobile version of a website to mimic the layout of the desktop version. What they expect is to be able to perform the same functions in a similar manner. As long as I can do what I want on the mobile version and it’s as easy to do as in the desktop version, I’ll be happy. And responsive design is one really good way to do that.
For example, I’m reading this article on my iPhone, I could read it fine without any dramas ( double tap the column of text to fit it to the screen), but leaving this comment was a bit of a pain. You don’t have to go gung-go and make a super responsive design for every project, but just have a quick think about how it functions across different devices and if you could use responsive techniques ( or something else maybe ) to help your users do what they want on your site. This site would be greatly improved with a Mobile friendly comment form, but I don’t think a fully responsive overhaul is necessary. I’m sure a lot of your traffic would come from mobile devices, donut would make sense to allow a tiny but extra for that. Having said all of that I do agree with Tom that responsive is definitely not necessary on every job and I’m sick of articles trying to push it as the only way to do things. Responsive design is awesome, but like any web technology lets use it wisely so it doesn’t start to suck! *cough* flash *cough*.
Harold Burton
Oct 04. 2021
Web designer programs like adobe web tools have a single platform which allows multiple devices interfaces(tablets, PC, mobile) all to be automatically created during design phase thus eliminationing any concern for redesign for each individual device as designer will have an over view about how information ids displayed and then decides whether this is what the wanted from the beginning
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Dec 09. 2021
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