Email from Jeff Bezos to employees
> This journey began some 27 years ago. Amazon was only an idea, and it had no name.<p>It had a name, and that name was "Cadabra".<p>It didn't become Amazon until Jeff watched a documentary about the Amazon River. His lawyer had already turned up his nose at "Cadabra", and Jeff was looking for something else.<p>It's also worth noting that the idea didn't grow over time - Jeff always intended to build something like "Sears for the 21st century". The bookstore was just the way in, not the long term plan.<p>ps. amazon employee #2