In the goldmine that is Quora, a fascinating nugget of Internet history has turned up. One of the beta testers for Amazon.com has produced the packing slip (via Pocket Lint) that is believed to be from the website’s first public order – a copy of Douglas Hofstadter’s Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies. John Wainwright noted in the post that he’d heard that he was the first customer, but hadn’t been able to confirm that was the case. The order was placed on April 3rd, 1995, months before Amazon’s official opening date. I’ve contacted Amazon to see if they’ll corroborate his story. Also adding to the lore is a rumor that the Wainwright building on Amazon’s campus is named after him. (via Is This the Very First Book Bought by an Amazon Customer?)
