This article, written by Farhad Manjoo, talks about how Amazon is going to make retail stores obsolete. I believe this also goes for most online stores that either allow you to directly download things or have one-day shipping. According to Manjoo, Amazon is able to avoid the tax return required for most states. This means consumers also do not need to pay the tax for Amazon's items, which makes it a lot cheaper than items found in normal retail stores. For example, if you wanted to buy a new television and it costed 800 dollars, you would still have to pay the tax on it, which could increase the price by 50 dollars or more. However, if you buy it directly from Amazon, you do not need to pay that tax, and it would be a flat 800 dollars plus shipping. However, there is usually a shipping delay, it could be a few days, a week, or maybe more depending on the item you are trying to purchase. Since Amazon is trying to get same-day delivery, though, there will not be much point in going to a retail store anymore. You can get the same thing from Amazon for much cheaper, and on the same day, just like going to the store. You also do not need to use money on gas for your car or take much time out of your schedule to go to the store, bring the item back, and pay all the taxes.
Manjoo's writing style is effective to me. His purpose is to inform us that soon retail stores will be worthless and maybe Amazon and other Internet sites will be all that are left. His tone is quite informal and direct and to the point. He gives good examples of what he means and uses fairly simple language, and he has an effective word choice for the audience, who are American consumers, and have many different education levels, and so a simple word choice works for all. His article was very informative and I now see all that Amazon is doing to gain more sales than physical retail stores.
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