Amazon Hits Dry Season

Has Jeff Bezos lost his mojo?

A year or two ago, Amazon looked poised to extend its track record for developing innovations that make the Internet more useful, our online lives more convenient and its revenue streams more robust.

At the time, the Seattle-based online retailer had been building out its A9 search engine.

No one was quite sure why Amazon needed a new search engine -- and Amazon itself wouldn't offer any explanations -- but A9 had some tantalizing new hints, like photos of storefronts that gave a real-life touch to online maps.

Meanwhile, Amazon was reaching out to develop close relationships with developers.

And, perhaps best of all, it was working on a top-secret project that many believed would allow for downloadable movies or music albums, moves that would send companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Apple (AAPL) reeling.

Through it all, a crowd of investors was growing impatient for new areas of business. Many argued that Amazon was just another retailer that happened to start out on the Internet.

No, no, Bezos and others would say, Amazon is a technology company, first and foremost. And the fruits of that technology would keep profit growing longer term.

But here in October 2006, it looks like the fruits that Bezos lovingly nurtured are dying on the vine.

Amazon Unbox, the company's downloadable-movie program, was released last month to scant media attention and near-universal criticism among those who tried it.

And on Tuesday, Amazon said it's scaling back the more innovative features of A9.