Amazon began as an online bookstore in 1994 and was one of the first companies to succeed in e-commerce. It sold products like DVDs and electronics in addition to books. Amazon grew rapidly and developed other services like Alexa, A9.com, and IMDb. The documents describe Amazon's origins and focus on providing customers with cheap and fast access to a wide selection of products online through recommendations and personalized services. However, some are critical of Amazon's data collection practices due to potential privacy issues.