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The Anti-Amazon Alliance

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Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#201

Post by sp332 »

Aunche wrote: post #179
javajosh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>other orgs heavily micromanage or have structures that create more politics than value Isn't it hard to generalize like this? Consider Apple under Jobs: arguably Apple succeeded because of Jobs micromanagement because Jobs had (to quote Bill Gates) "great taste". Without that unifying sense of taste, you get something like Google, which is quite data-driven, and which doesn't have any unifying personality . Although…

Did Jobs really micromanage? From what I understand he just set high expectations and a lot of attention to detail.

Yeah, he really micromanaged. https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor...

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#202

Post by asdff »

MattGaiser wrote: post #93

Most non-Amazon businesses are mediocre. Most grocery stores still don't have online ordering. Years, and years, and years, after Amazon entered the field, the other grocers have just decided to lie down and die. Still waiting for Chapters (a bookstore in Canada) to start sending me reading good reading recommendations. Still waiting on VISA to make generalized gift cards which are not miserable to use. I'm trying to…

Most of the majors do have online pickup now, no? At least by me, it would be weird to see a grocery store lot that doesn't have a pickup spot by now. I've had enough mixed success with delivery groceries that I much prefer picking it up. At least my packages aren't getting stolen or left out in the sun.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#203

Post by MattGaiser »

bluntfang wrote: post #199
MattGaiser wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I view it like browsing in a store. Sure I can go to the Django community and find books on that there (and I do), but Amazon recently recommended me a book on Microservices. They had been off my radar for a while, but I purchased it for later. It is about uncovering things that are of value, but that I might not think of immediately.

so you literally bought something you didn't know existed, want, or need and might not ever get to reading? This just reads like people who buy humble bundle games or steam sale games.

Yes, as given the cost of learning about microservices I decided that it was worth it.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#204

Post by ansible »

chrischen wrote: post #197
tinyhouse wrote: post #3

Good article. There are a few unknowns still. 1. Is Google really all in on product search? Their product search is pretty bad at the moment and it's a very challenging search space, esp when you work with tens of thousands of retailers. Going directly to retailer/niche-platform sites usually works better for me. For example, for music related I go to reverb.com, for outdoor to rei.com, etc. I then to Google and Amaz…

1. The problem for me is that for any given product category, I don’t know who the online retailers are . For electronics there is microcenter.com, frys.com, tigerdirect.com, circuitcity.com, and many many more. 2. I think this is something that is burned into people’s heads but not actually true. Most retailers do offer pretty fast shipping. Even with prime you’re paying for fast shipping (in the membership fee).

> * For electronics there is microcenter.com, frys.com, tigerdirect.com, circuitcity.com, and many many more.*

Definitely drop frys.com from the list, they are going out of business. Actually, except for microcenter.com, I wouldn't buy from the others either. newegg.com seems to have the best attribute filtering by far.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#205

Post by asdff »

astrea wrote: post #121
BoysenberryPi wrote: post #59

People in tech vastly overestimate the amount of people who dislike Amazon. Your Average Joe could not be happier with Amazon and does not give a second thought to their business practices or worker treatment.

Breaking news: people are generally selfish.

Most people are just poorly informed.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#207

Post by noizejoy »

koboll wrote: post #14

>as John Gruber put it on Daring Fireball, “Amazon isn’t hurting for revenue (especially now), but they are hurting for trust.” This is empirically false. Amazon is the second most-trusted brand in America . https://morningconsult.com/most-trusted-brands/ It's wild how easily SV types will tweet things like "No one trusts Amazon!" when the reality outside the Bay Area is so radically and demonstrably opposite.

“sucks less” does not mean “doesn’t suck” (under 40% trust)

Also amusing: weather forecasting in the top 5.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#208

Post by a123b456c »

ardy42 wrote: post #8
tinyhouse wrote: post #3

Good article. There are a few unknowns still. 1. Is Google really all in on product search? Their product search is pretty bad at the moment and it's a very challenging search space, esp when you work with tens of thousands of retailers. Going directly to retailer/niche-platform sites usually works better for me. For example, for music related I go to reverb.com, for outdoor to rei.com, etc. I then to Google and Amaz…

> Is Google really all in on product search? Their product search is pretty bad at the moment and it's a very challenging search space, esp when you work with tens of thousands of retailers. Honestly, Amazon's own product search is pretty terrible too, unless you're searching for a specific name-brand product. Google might not even have to be very good to be competitive. The best product search I've actually found is…

Better product search means less money from search ads.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#209

Post by zbobet2012 »

theptip wrote: post #131
zbobet2012 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your points, but I've also found another one that is far more common: They sell products at a loss to gain income in other places. For example, if you are a content producer you are competing with a company that sells "ad-free" video (Prime Video) attached to a low-cost service (Prime) so that they can sell more goods online. Amazon is killing content producers by running a negative margin content busine…

> That is a strategy only available to... monopolies. I don't think this is the case. The strategy is called a "loss leader", and it's a very common business strategy. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lossleader.asp > Loss leading can be a successful strategy if executed properly. A classic example is razor blades. Gillette, for example, gives their razor units away for free knowing that customers must buy their…

> I think what you're observing is that monopolists tend to be more able to use loss-leaders, since their monopoly power gives them the ability to charge a premium on their monopolized good(s), which would increase the scope of profitable loss-leaders. However loss-leading is certainly not a monopoly-only strategy.

It's certainly a scale thing. What's notable about Amazon is they can run a losslead for an entire sector of industry, not just a single product. Note a grocery store could loss lead toilet paper so much no one can afford to produce toilet paper (maybe); but, could you imagine one which could afford to loss lead _all paper products_ to sell more coffee for long enough to wipe out all other paper retailers?

Because amazon can, and is, doing this systematically. And after that we no longer have fair-market prices, because there is no market but amazons for these goods.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#210

Post by macintux »

bluntfang wrote: post #199
MattGaiser wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I view it like browsing in a store. Sure I can go to the Django community and find books on that there (and I do), but Amazon recently recommended me a book on Microservices. They had been off my radar for a while, but I purchased it for later. It is about uncovering things that are of value, but that I might not think of immediately.

so you literally bought something you didn't know existed, want, or need and might not ever get to reading? This just reads like people who buy humble bundle games or steam sale games.

For generations people have bought books they hope to read but never do.
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