Great, great article by George Packer for The New Yorker which is also long, long. It's a comprehensive look at Amazon's business ethos and at that of Jeff Bezos, the company's founder.

Much of the article focuses on Amazon's history - particularly on its dealings with the publishing industry - but there was one future-looking section that particularly caught my eye:

“In December, the company patented “anticipatory shipping,” which will use your shopping data to put items that you don’t yet know you want to buy, but will soon enough, on a truck or in a warehouse near you.”

So helpful it's creepy.