Melville House Books

A report at the BusinessInsider details how “Amazon has very successfully transitioned away from being a site for just buying books, movies, or music.” In fact, “In its last quarter, Amazon’s sales from other goods, like electronics, was greater than its sales from media like books and music.”

How much greater? “For the first quarter in 2010, Amazon’s media sales totaled $3.51 billion, while sales from electronics and other merchandise totaled $3.7 billion.”

According to the report, it’s a good development, away from troublesome products like books: “Now that Amazon is selling TVs, shoes, and other hard items that can’t be pirated on the web, Amazon is better positioned for the future.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.