WEB: Amazon [0710.1998]

Another advantage is that it doesn't have to order most books from publishers or wholesalers until a customer actually wants them. A bookstore in the real world has to do things the opposite way: It orders a stack of books and hopes customers will want them. If they don't, the books get sent back to the publisher, a ruinously expensive process for everyone.

- David Streitfeld, in The Washington Post (via [jorn])