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What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

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Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#41

Post by asmosoinio »

xal wrote: post #23
ars wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cloth diapers are worse for the environment compared to disposable, no matter how you get it. (Disposable uses landfill space of which we have unlimited quantities, but cloth uses water which is in short supply. Also cloth uses more energy.) But it's easy to tell if this method is better or worse for the environment: You have to pay for jet fuel, or truck fuel, or whatever. All forms of energy cost about the same. If…

Do you have some more information on this? Our first will arrive within the next 2 weeks and this sounds really interesting.

This British study calls it roughly a break-even, mostly depending on the energy spent on drying the diapers.

http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/SCHO0808BO...

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#42

Post by pbiggar »

koeselitz wrote: post #10
ThomPete wrote: post #3

I am always reminded of what John Smart said in one of his lectures some years back. America lost 2 million jobs to the Chinese. But guess who the Chinese lost 15 million jobs to... the robots.

... and I am reminded of what a friend of mine who worked in a warehouse said to me a while ago: "This is the most idiotic job on the planet. Someday they'll have robots to do this."

My friend used to say 'never do a job which could be done by a one line Perl script'.

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#43

Post by pbiggar »

cmelbye wrote: post #26
Raphael wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Redistribute some wealth from those profiting from automation to the unemployed.

Why?

Assume that the logical conclusion of robots doing people's job is that nobody will have a job. Since that means that nobody will eat (or buy the things that the robots are making), we will need to at some point separate the acts of earning money from doing work.

Put another way, we should aim for a world in which nobody works, as the robots are doing all the work.

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#44

Post by pbiggar »

jdabney wrote: post #36
philwelch wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's significantly less reliable, more expensive, and of extremely limited benefit to ship things to relatively unpopulated states in the middle of the ocean, or across two international borders into the Arctic. People are of course free to live in those places, but they're not free to demand the rest of the world to accommodate their decision.

I would completely agree if companies had to setup their own shipping infrastructures to ship to these places; but they don't. Companies like FedEx, UPS, etc, already do this for you and they already ship to places like Alaska and Hawaii. Just charge the customer the extra shipping they are charged by the shipper and let it be at that.

Alternatively, make it illegal to only offer shipping to the lower 48, so that the fringe states don't end up in the third world.

This (I believe) is what the UK does with Northern Ireland.

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#45

Post by util »

jdabney wrote: post #19

What I can't believe is this company won't ship anything to Alaska or Hawaii. I don't understand how companies think that is acceptable.

"We" for some value of "we" accept companies aiming at making money. If they're not shipping to Alaska or Hawaii, that suggests there's some reason they believe it wouldn't be profitable, right?

If Alaska and Hawaii are really under-served, that seems like an opportunity for someone -- you? -- looking to make a buck.

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#46

Post by modeless »

natrius wrote: post #30
Dove wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The jobs available in the post-robotic-revolution world and the necessary skills haven't yet been thought of. Once upon a time, most people were illiterate.

Most people were illiterate in the past because they didn't go to school. I don't think it makes sense to assume that some magical force will make people useful for non-automatable tasks in the future. Unless we achieve major breakthroughs in education, a large portion of society will be less capable than cheaper robots, and will therefore be unemployable.

Most people didn't go to school because they worked in agricultural jobs that didn't require education. In 1870 half the country worked on farms [1]; today it's [1] http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1981/11/art2full.pdf [2] http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#47

Post by jfager »

modeless wrote: post #46
natrius wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people were illiterate in the past because they didn't go to school. I don't think it makes sense to assume that some magical force will make people useful for non-automatable tasks in the future. Unless we achieve major breakthroughs in education, a large portion of society will be less capable than cheaper robots, and will therefore be unemployable.

Most people didn't go to school because they worked in agricultural jobs that didn't require education. In 1870 half the country worked on farms [1]; today it's [1] http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1981/11/art2full.pdf [2] http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html

What's the difference in the marginal investment required to go from illiterate to literate vs. uncreative to usefully inventive? Assuming that the market will get you what you want because it got you something else you wanted before is dangerous and wrong.

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#49

Post by encoderer »

philwelch wrote: post #32
cmelbye wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

There are lots of arguments for wealth redistribution, but they boil down to two. One of them is that socialism is just. I find that absurd--socialism is unjust. The other argument is as follows: if there are enough of them and they get poor and desperate enough, they will burn down our houses, rape and murder our loved ones, and smash all of our things to bits. If things get bad enough, there will be a revolution an…

Exactly right.

The reason I'm replying, though, is that I wanted to opine that a Social Safety Net != Socialism.

Two of the largest vectors of wealth redistriubution in the last couple years are extended UIC and subsidized health/COBRA benefits. I think it's quite difficult to argue that we'd be better of having these 30MM unemployed people without ANY income or ANY health coverage.

If for no other reason than that's 30 MM fewer consumers.

Re: What’s The Secret Behind Diapers.com Success? A Kiva Robot Warehouse

#50

Post by pbhjpbhj »

ThomPete wrote: post #3

I am always reminded of what John Smart said in one of his lectures some years back. America lost 2 million jobs to the Chinese. But guess who the Chinese lost 15 million jobs to... the robots.

What then do we do with all the people that are suddenly deemed surplus to requirements.
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