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Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

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Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#81

Post by walterbell »

mintplant wrote: post #73
walterbell wrote: post #6

> Still in the works is a high-end computer for the kitchen—code-named Kabinet—designed to serve as a hub for an Internet-connected home and capable of taking voice commands for tasks like ordering merchandise from Amazon.com. Will this be a competitor to the Google router?

> a high-end computer for the kitchen It's Honeywell all over again! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeywell_316#Kitchen_Computer

The marketing is reminiscent of Amazon's fantasy delivery drone.

"the user interface required the user to complete a two-week course just to learn how to program the device, using only toggle-switch input and binary light output ... Although a fantasy gift, the Kitchen Computer represented the first time a computer was offered as a consumer product."

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#82

Post by amaks »

LiweiZ wrote: post #39
mentos wrote: post #11

"In essence, we were not building the phone for the customer—we were building it for Jeff" http://www.fastcompany.com/3039887/under-fire

It seems not quite different from what Jobs did. The real difference is the degree of vision associated with reality.

Except that Jobs knew what customers would need, and Besos doesn't have a clue, he builds what mini me would want.

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#83

Post by macintux »

kzhahou wrote: post #48
macintux wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve obsessed over details that would benefit users; Bezos apparently forced choices that would benefit Amazon. Seems quite a bit different.

Please list the features that were patently anti-user and done for Amazon's sole benefit.

"But there were some serious problems with it like forced promotions where users would would prefer instead functionality, useless gimmicks, and other silliness. Without fail everytime I pointed one out, the Lead looked down a bit bashfully and admitted Bezos had insisted on this nonsense."

Quote from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10127205

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#84

Post by batiudrami »

hueving wrote: post #77
batiudrami wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps it would be wise to remove his specific job working on the Fire phone? Wouldn't want him to get in trouble at work for comments like that, even if it was ill advised to say them to a stranger on a flight.

He didn't put a specific job. Key lead could be anything in engineering or product management.

Ah, it's since been edited. It was more specific before.

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#85

Post by IBM »

mehwoot wrote: post #63
IBM wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? The same is true for Google. So much lip service about moonshots and long term thinking and the new CFO comes in and talks about cost discipline and potentially capital return. Turns out dual class shares don't make you anymore 'long-term focu…

The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? Because they are investing their cash in the business, not just spending it. Investing means knowing when an investment is doing poorly and not throwing good money after bad.

Are you telling me that Amazon has written off the smartphone business, one of the most quickly adopted pieces of technology since the original PC and which has made Apple one of the most profitable businesses in the world, as an idea not worth pursuing anymore?

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#86

Post by freyr »

batiudrami wrote: post #57
tsunamifury wrote: post #19

I flew up in First Class on Virgin to Seattle next to a key lead on the fire phone. We had a nice long talk about the project and what happened. He vehemently defended the Fire Phone and touted its great and unique aspects while I examined it and admired the hard work he put in. 3D modeling, gyroscopic-driven interactions, an universal activity feed -- some interesting stuff was there... But there were some serious p…

Perhaps it would be wise to remove his specific job working on the Fire phone? Wouldn't want him to get in trouble at work for comments like that, even if it was ill advised to say them to a stranger on a flight.

> Wouldn't want him to get in trouble at work for comments like that

In the off chance that he wasn't one of the engineers who took the fall.

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#87

Post by freyr »

gojomo wrote: post #78

My Amazon Fire TV Stick is quite nice: fairly snappy, very usable interface, downloadable apps, almost-perfect minimalist remote control. (One flaw: the 'home' button is too easy to hit by mistake.) Better in most respects than the Google ChromeCast. I hope Fire TV products survive and thrive through this reorg.

Interesting, my interface is extremely laggy and the video stutters. The apps and remote are nice though.

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#89

Post by manigandham »

nine_k wrote: post #61
megablast wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could almost be talking about Steve Jobs there.

It just so happened that Jobs's companies were mostly highly (sometimes obscenely) profitable, while Amazon stays very near profitless for last ~20 years, having to re-invest all its proceedings.

"Profit" is a very vague term in corporate finance. Just because they don't put the cash in the bank doesn't mean they're not a profitable company.

Re: Amazon Curtails Development of Consumer Devices

#90

Post by manigandham »

IBM wrote: post #85
mehwoot wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? Because they are investing their cash in the business, not just spending it. Investing means knowing when an investment is doing poorly and not throwing good money after bad.

Are you telling me that Amazon has written off the smartphone business, one of the most quickly adopted pieces of technology since the original PC and which has made Apple one of the most profitable businesses in the world, as an idea not worth pursuing anymore?

That's certainly possible. Is that so hard to believe?

The Kindle worked out, the Fire phone didnt. Maybe its just the phone models since they're still working on other devices. They also just became more valuable than Walmart. It seems like they know what they're doing, including cutting losses.

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