Amazon's Thriving

So it despite the tough economic environment, Amazon.com's business is doing quite well (holiday sales were up 9% from last year). I've been kind of amazed by Amazon over the last year. As a website, they have figured out every way to make the process so easy for me that I don't really care whether it's a few dollars more somewhere else. The Slate article specifically points out Amazon Prime ($79 for a year of free 2-day shipping), perfectly explaining my own feeling about the service: "Be warned, though, that Prime membership will alter how you think about shopping. These days, whenever I become cognizant of some need that would ordinarily require an unplanned trip to the store--when I want a bathroom hook, a shelving system for my closet, a new wireless router, or a discount pack of kitchen sponges--I check Amazon first. It's usually faster to order the item there and get it shipped for free than to add the thing to my shopping list. With Prime, you don't really need a shopping list." What's more, since downloading the iPhone app I've had a few funny Tuesday evenings where I'll come and be surprised by a UPS box from Amazon, only to find out that I had ordered something late Saturday night at a bar and forgotten all about it. Good stuff.