Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders • Hacker News Board

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#171

Post by kdamken » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 1:53 PM UTC

giarc wrote: post #169

reustle wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, TIL Amazon doesn't sell Apple TV or Chromecast, but instead immediately suggests their own competitors. For a company trying to replace all retail, that's pretty lame.

For what's it worth, I cannot buy a Chromecast or Fire TV Stick at the Apple Store, or an Apple TV or Fire TV Stick at the Google Play store etc.

True, but the point of the Apple store is to sell Apple products, and the Google Play store only sells google devices. Amazon supposedly sells everything. It wasn't created to only sell Amazon products, and it's misleading to consumers to not be more open about that.

Case in point - they sell iPads. Why don't they just sell Kindles? The inconsistency comes off as sleezy.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#172

Post by pc86 » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 1:53 PM UTC

roymurdock wrote: post #162

shuri wrote: post #3

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

You can almost hear the ghost of Warren Buffet pitching Geico echoing through Bezos' prose.

Don't you need to be dead to have a ghost?

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#173

Post by MusaTheRedGuard » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 1:55 PM UTC

hartator wrote: post #35

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #33

I'm trying to do some math. What is the total economic value of the actual Amazon river, and how many Amazon rivers economies did Amazon.com make last year. Anybody?

I guess you can now say Brazil has the 2nd most valuable Amazon.

Stealing that

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#174

Post by gdulli » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 1:57 PM UTC

shuri wrote: post #3

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

I think I'm being plenty responsible by (1) finding cheaper prices outside of Amazon (2) buying few enough things that the cost of Prime amortizes to an expensive shipping rate and (3) not making impulse purchases and being patient enough that I can live with the free non-Prime shipping.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#175

Post by sremani » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 2:09 PM UTC

shuri wrote: post #3

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

Amazon is too good at what they do. The feeling that they give too good of a value, while I spent thousands of dollars on their site was a weird kind of high. That is the end game, you spend a lot with Prime since, it shows up in two days and no shipping etc. I cancelled my Prime membership, and just that saves me a hundred or two a month, because now I have to think twice before ordering anything since shipping cost is involved and also have to bundle enough items such that I qualify for free shipping.

side note: jet.com is not collecting sales tax yet. That is 8.25% differential where I live.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#176

Post by serge2k » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 2:11 PM UTC

Angostura wrote: post #160

sokoloff wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon stopped selling players that don't support Amazon Prime Video. That can been seen as first-order customer unfriendly, but second-order customer-centric, if you take the view that Amazon Prime Video is a consumer benefit overall. (I do, but I'm still annoyed that I can't get Apple TV on Amazon.) Context: I'll admit to being a fairly rabid Amazon fan (no other conflicts, other than as a retail shareholder). I st…

Why doesn't Amazon Prime video support Chromecast?

Because then you wouldn't buy a fire tv stick.

Amazon's customer centric nature is generally pretty good, but they toss it aside at times. AIV on Android is one of those times (took them years to release the app and when they did it required a completely screwy install)

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#177

Post by eric_h » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 2:12 PM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #170

ArkyBeagle wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very effective sleight of hand. The cherry on top is 2-day delivery being prepaid. I wouldn't have paid for 2-day otherwise. They "fixed" that for me. The whole thing makes going to a brick and mortar store feel like going to the DMV.

With the exception that if you drive to store and back home for a single item, you'll have the item inside of an hour. If you live close, inside of 15 minutes? When I know I will need batteries in a week, I'll buy a box on Amazon and get it in a few days. If I need batteries now, I'll have them within an hour. It's certainly not "like going to the DMV."

Well, the advent of prime now means you can get many things in an hour from Amazon, though of course there are additional fees that are not covered by the annual prime membership fees.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#178

Post by giarc » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 2:14 PM UTC

kdamken wrote: post #171

giarc wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what's it worth, I cannot buy a Chromecast or Fire TV Stick at the Apple Store, or an Apple TV or Fire TV Stick at the Google Play store etc.

True, but the point of the Apple store is to sell Apple products, and the Google Play store only sells google devices. Amazon supposedly sells everything. It wasn't created to only sell Amazon products, and it's misleading to consumers to not be more open about that. Case in point - they sell iPads. Why don't they just sell Kindles? The inconsistency comes off as sleezy.

Apple sells many products that are not owned by Apple. I can buy headphones by Bose, RHA, BlueAnt, Beats (were on store prior to Apple purchase).

Amazon gets the criticism but they all do it.

Remember, we had a store that was willing to sell all these products, it's called Best Buy and it's on the way out. As consumers we choose to boost Amazon into the leading online position.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#179

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 2:18 PM UTC

Angostura wrote: post #160

sokoloff wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon stopped selling players that don't support Amazon Prime Video. That can been seen as first-order customer unfriendly, but second-order customer-centric, if you take the view that Amazon Prime Video is a consumer benefit overall. (I do, but I'm still annoyed that I can't get Apple TV on Amazon.) Context: I'll admit to being a fairly rabid Amazon fan (no other conflicts, other than as a retail shareholder). I st…

Why doesn't Amazon Prime video support Chromecast?

[deleted]

Re: Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders

#180

Post by burkaman » Fri, Apr 08, 2016, 2:19 PM UTC

ditonal wrote: post #56

sabalaba wrote: post #12

I see this letter as an attempt at vindication for the controversy sparked by the NYT article on Amazon's corporate culture. Jeff Bezos was clearly affected and I see this as a defense of their "distinctive culture". "For better or for worse" that culture got them to $100 billion in annual sales faster than any company in history.

We venerate leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt because they inspired millions of individuals to act directly against their self-interest and in favor of the organizations that those leaders own and manage. "We will fight on the beaches" sure sounds inspiring, but if it was my intestines bleeding out onto the sands of Normandy, at that exact moment, it wouldn't have quite the same ring. Yet these inspiring words sti…

WWII is like the one war you could pick where it was not against the soldiers' self-interest to fight. With most wars you could argue it's more about rulers fighting over power than it is about people defending themselves, but not WWII. It's the most morally straightforward war I can think of.