Amazon Fresh Opens in London • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#21

Post by pizza234 » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:31 PM UTC

shalabajser wrote: post #15

Everything is wrapped in plastic, most of it non-recyclable. This is not progress.

When fruit is sold loose, people will pick individual fruits up and select them; at the end of the days, there will be much more ruined fruit and general leftover.

I've seen middle grounds where the box itself was made with waxed cardboard (with wrapping). Not sure if this is necessarily better. Only few items I've seen are sold in unwaxed cardboard (and I suppose it depends on the food contained).

I don't know how to calculate which alternative is the least polluting, but it's not obvious at all that lack of wrapping implies less pollution in the big picture.

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#22

Post by carmen_sandiego » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:32 PM UTC

ageitgey wrote: post #19

oneplane wrote: post #3

I wonder why they could write "Fruit" as a complete word, but "Vegetables" was too long? It appears a few times in a few images. If it was shortened to be 'hip' you'd expect "Fru" and "Veg". It's odd to see certain words being dumbed down in other countries, be it 'trimming' or using a version you'd use when communicating with children (as per usage presented in popular media, i.e. saying "eat your veggies" to a chil…

As an American who lives in the UK, here are some of the daily things that you might think are someone being cute but are 100% proper and accepted speech, even in a formal BBC news story: - Vegetables are just called 'veg'. - You don't get a shot, you get a 'jab'. - You say 'whilst' instead of 'while' - You don't get a turn, you 'have a go'. - Band-aids are called 'plasters'. - Many vegetables have different names. E…

I don't think we care that much about localisation in software. Or rather we're very used to not having it. So as a native I recommend not spending that much effort on it.

A lot of the above will make you fit in better, but some are kind of colloquial and the standard 'international' ones work fine. Nobody will find it unusual if you use 'while', for example, or ask for your 'turn'. True enough though, 'shot', 'band-aid', and probably 'eggplant' will mark you as an outsider. Some of them are also class-based, which is a whole other thing that I'm happy to say Americans suffer much less from.

Also, when in the US, I feel weird calling a band-aid a band-aid because it feels like corporate subservience. A bit like I feel a pang of rebellious disgust when using the word 'hoover' in British company.

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#23

Post by londons_explore » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:33 PM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #2

In the UK Amazon has a deal with supermarket chain Morris ons for groceries orders and deliveries through the Amazon website. My understanding is that a significant portion of the groceries sold at this new store are Morrisons'.

And it costs significantly more to get the exact same egg box from Amazon than from Morrisons... (They have slightly redesigned labels)

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#24

Post by mytailorisrich » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:33 PM UTC

ageitgey wrote: post #19

oneplane wrote: post #3

I wonder why they could write "Fruit" as a complete word, but "Vegetables" was too long? It appears a few times in a few images. If it was shortened to be 'hip' you'd expect "Fru" and "Veg". It's odd to see certain words being dumbed down in other countries, be it 'trimming' or using a version you'd use when communicating with children (as per usage presented in popular media, i.e. saying "eat your veggies" to a chil…

As an American who lives in the UK, here are some of the daily things that you might think are someone being cute but are 100% proper and accepted speech, even in a formal BBC news story: - Vegetables are just called 'veg'. - You don't get a shot, you get a 'jab'. - You say 'whilst' instead of 'while' - You don't get a turn, you 'have a go'. - Band-aids are called 'plasters'. - Many vegetables have different names. E…

Courgettes (from French) are zucchini (from Italian). Cucumbers are cucumbers but I understand that commonly not the same ones.

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#25

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:33 PM UTC

ageitgey wrote: post #19

oneplane wrote: post #3

I wonder why they could write "Fruit" as a complete word, but "Vegetables" was too long? It appears a few times in a few images. If it was shortened to be 'hip' you'd expect "Fru" and "Veg". It's odd to see certain words being dumbed down in other countries, be it 'trimming' or using a version you'd use when communicating with children (as per usage presented in popular media, i.e. saying "eat your veggies" to a chil…

As an American who lives in the UK, here are some of the daily things that you might think are someone being cute but are 100% proper and accepted speech, even in a formal BBC news story: - Vegetables are just called 'veg'. - You don't get a shot, you get a 'jab'. - You say 'whilst' instead of 'while' - You don't get a turn, you 'have a go'. - Band-aids are called 'plasters'. - Many vegetables have different names. E…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#26

Post by tuna-piano » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:34 PM UTC

jackhalford wrote: post #8

But how does it work? The article only mentions that you scan your phone at the entrance. The tags don't seem to be RFID or anything special neither.

Amazon claims cameras automatically track what you take and put back. But if that's the case, then I'm left confused as to why receipts take so long (15-20 mins+ sometimes) to be generated after leaving the stores?

Is it possible it's actually a manual process of people watching the videos, or more likely identifying what happened at each "take off shelf/put on shelf" point?

They're still just building up the customer base, training data and models and it's not as magical as it all seems?

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#27

Post by londons_explore » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:34 PM UTC

turtlebits wrote: post #12

The branding is so confusing - in the US, Amazon Fresh is grocery delivery (or used to be), and Amazon Go are the checkout-less convenience stores. Even more confusing is that Amazon Fresh in-person "stores" are only in California and regular Amazon Fresh is still delivery/pickup in Washington. There also seems to now be an "Amazon Go Grocery" along with the existing Amazon Go. I'll patiently wait for Fred Meyer stor…

Amazon is following in the tracks of Google Play Music All Access I'm Feeling Lucky Radio (no joke, this was the actual product name)

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#28

Post by chrisseaton » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:37 PM UTC

ageitgey wrote: post #19

oneplane wrote: post #3

I wonder why they could write "Fruit" as a complete word, but "Vegetables" was too long? It appears a few times in a few images. If it was shortened to be 'hip' you'd expect "Fru" and "Veg". It's odd to see certain words being dumbed down in other countries, be it 'trimming' or using a version you'd use when communicating with children (as per usage presented in popular media, i.e. saying "eat your veggies" to a chil…

As an American who lives in the UK, here are some of the daily things that you might think are someone being cute but are 100% proper and accepted speech, even in a formal BBC news story: - Vegetables are just called 'veg'. - You don't get a shot, you get a 'jab'. - You say 'whilst' instead of 'while' - You don't get a turn, you 'have a go'. - Band-aids are called 'plasters'. - Many vegetables have different names. E…

> Pickles are 'gherkins'

Only pickled cucumbers are gherkins.

You wouldn't call a pickled egg or onion or whatever else a 'gherkin'.

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#29

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:37 PM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #23

mytailorisrich wrote: post #2

In the UK Amazon has a deal with supermarket chain Morris ons for groceries orders and deliveries through the Amazon website. My understanding is that a significant portion of the groceries sold at this new store are Morrisons'.

And it costs significantly more to get the exact same egg box from Amazon than from Morrisons... (They have slightly redesigned labels)

[deleted]

Re: Amazon Fresh Opens in London

#30

Post by uncledave » Mon, Mar 08, 2021, 10:38 PM UTC

If it’s like their Morrisons service it’ll all be bashed to shit and half of it missing.