More Amazing Amazonian Mathematics

Amazon announced today that “[a]pp downloads in the Appstore have grown more than 500 percent over the previous year.” ~ via Gigaom

Of course, we don’t know 500% of what, but what the hey, 500 is a big number, right? We should be duly impressed, no? As they say, it’s all geek to me.

We really need to coin a phrase for what Amazon is doing – releasing numbers without context. Not that Amazon is the first to do this, mind you. I’m sure the Romans were pulling this kind of stunt too:

“First Citizen, Julius Caesar announced today that ‘Our troop strength in Britain has grown by more than MDCCCLXXXVIII over the previous year.”

(That’s 1,888, in case you were wondering.)

Amazon can make all the pronouncements they want. But until they release real numbers, 500% or MDCCCLXXXVIII% of no information still remains…no information.

Published by

John Kirk

John R. Kirk is a recovering attorney. He has also worked as a financial advisor and a business coach. His love affair with computing started with his purchase of the original Mac in 1985. His primary interest is the field of personal computing (which includes phones, tablets, notebooks and desktops) and his primary focus is on long-term business strategies: What makes a company unique; How do those unique qualities aid or inhibit the success of the company; and why don’t (or can’t) other companies adopt the successful attributes of their competitors?

17 thoughts on “More Amazing Amazonian Mathematics”

  1. 500%!

    That only 5 times, when you get away from percents. Doesn’t sound nearly as big, does it?

    I knew there was a reason I didn’t like learning percentages in grade school math. (/s)

  2. Also, compare the tablet lineup they had this year and the tablet line up they had the previous year. Does anyone have estimates on sales of the two years? This past year, they had decent table offerings in a variety of configurations. The previous year, they didn’t have much for sale. I’m guessing they went from 2 apps sold to 10 apps.

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