Amazon's Prime and punishment

Technology - Tuesday, February, 21 2012FORTUNE -- Launched in 2005, Amazon Prime aimed to get customers to spend more. For $79 a year, members got complimentary two-day delivery on an limitless number of items. Amazon sugared the pot from there. Last year, it introduced Prime Instant Videos, an limitless movie and TV flowing service like to Netflix. It also created the Kindle Owners Lending Library, a appendage public library that makes choice ebooks uncommitted for complimentary. Only Prime members got access. Then, the company proclaimed that each of its Kindle Fire tablets would come with a complimentary month of membership in the box. Prime's existent purpose is now open: it has become the retail giant's Trojan horse into a wide range of businesses, from tablets to flowing media. As CEO Jeff Bezos doubles down on an challenging growth strategy, Prime may very well be Amazon's riskiest gamble in the company's 17 year history. Not to mention its most bright.

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