Wall Street has a habit of defining e-commerce companies as
             technology companies and vice versa. Unfortunately, this description has
             more to do with convenience than accuracy. Most technology companies have
             a large e-commerce component. Similarly, virtually all e-commerce
             companies rely on sophisticated technology to operate their businesses.
             This large overlap in the technology and e-commerce domains has led to the
             two terms being used interchangeably. This, however, ignores the reality
             that the two sectors have quite different characteristics.
             Technology companies have the goal of increasing society's
             technological capabilities. This encompasses a variety of different
             companies, from software to infrastructure support to hardware components
             and related applications such as biotechnology. Many of these companies
             rely on e-commerce as a component of their business. Technology and its
             advancement, in these cases, is the product, not the means.
             E-commerce companies comprise any businesses that facilitate or take
             advantage of electronic commerce as the foundation of their business. For
             e-commerce companies, technology is the means. It enables the companies to
             connect with consumers, but the product itself needn't be technology or
             even technology-related. "E-commerce covers outward-facing processes that
             touch customers, suppliers and external partnersâ€It involves new business
             models and the potential to gain new revenue or lose some existing revenue
             to new competitors." (Bartels, 2000).
             One of the largest and most familiar e-commerce companies is
             Amazon.com. Amazon was established in 1994 as an online book retailer.
             Unlike its competitors, such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders, which now
             operate online and bricks-and-mortar sites, Amazon has always been located
             exclusively in cyberspace. Because it is strictly an online retailer,
             Amazon ha...