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I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

amazon.com

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Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#431

Using Amazon for shopping is terrible, borderline unusable in 2024. They're hard to compete with because they're giant and have an amazing logistics network, but it also seems like there's a big vacuum in the market for an "everything store" that's actually good.

third party sellers and "commingling" have all but ruined Amazon for me :/. even shipped and sold by Amazon can yield you fake products (worst performance, not as advertised, knock offs, unsafe, etc).

but I guess it generates too much money for Amazon to care :(

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who uses Amazon regularly, we live in different worlds. My experience is pleasant and straightforward; I get what I want and it arrives quickly.

If you have a specific product that you are looking for and it is eligible for Prime then I have found this to be the experience. Where I have not found that is if I am browsing, e.g. today I wanted to look for an evaporative humidifier. The top results are sponsored and for brands I have never heard of like YougetTech. I find I have to depart Amazon, Google / Reddit for things to get a sense of what the trusted bran…

Isn't that true for all stores, though? If I'm buying something like that, I'll always search for reviews before deciding, whether or not Amazon is involved. Even if it's at a brick-and-mortar store.

The phrase "caveat emptor" was coined long before Amazon existed.

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#433

Using Amazon for shopping is terrible, borderline unusable in 2024. They're hard to compete with because they're giant and have an amazing logistics network, but it also seems like there's a big vacuum in the market for an "everything store" that's actually good.

The worst thing for me is how the Amazon search algorithm seems to want to show you everything but the item you searched for. In many categories, even when explicitly searching for brand and model names, you’ll get dozens of off-brand substitutions and even random unrelated products appearing above it in the search results. Occasionally I’ve even noticed products that are available for sale (if you click on a direct…

> The worst thing for me is how the Amazon search algorithm seems to want to show you everything but the item you searched for.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#434
post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are your standards for quality? I’m an enthusiastic amateur home chef. I have ordered some of these “trash” whetstones. My knives get sharp. They aren’t damaged. The whetstone works over time. If you are like a knife artisan, yeah I guess Amazon won’t work for you. But I’m guessing the results work for 99.9% of people.

Is a generic AliExpress whetstone good enough for most home chefs? I don't know, probably. But if I'm going to spend $40, I would rather do it on a high quality Japanese unit than something I can get for $20 on AliExpress. On Amazon they're priced and presented as alike, and that's a problem.

Realistically, that $20 difference pays for the product being in a warehouse near you, rather than a warehouse 5000 miles away.

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#435

Using Amazon for shopping is terrible, borderline unusable in 2024. They're hard to compete with because they're giant and have an amazing logistics network, but it also seems like there's a big vacuum in the market for an "everything store" that's actually good.

I went shopping on there for Legos for Christmas.

SEVERAL of the products on the first page werer knock off Legos in boxes that looked almost identical to actual Lego boxes, fonts, numbering, and all.

It’s just a scam site now that happens to also sell legitimate products.

Searching for other products results in more irrelevant products every day. Even searching for exact product names will not get you that product that you know is on there. The search seems to have been gamed into a mess.

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#436

Using Amazon for shopping is terrible, borderline unusable in 2024. They're hard to compete with because they're giant and have an amazing logistics network, but it also seems like there's a big vacuum in the market for an "everything store" that's actually good.

It's barely even usable for buying Kindle books anymore. Half the time I get tricked into buying a book my Kindle doesn't support and I have to spend half an hour yelling at support to get my money back. Because they let you do the "buy and deliver to my kindle" thing even when your kindle is not supported. Then only when you grab your kindle to sync you learn the bad news.

Speaking of tricks.. a while back I turned off my “reading insights” in the Kindle app. Recently I’ve been re-reading Asimov and kindle reading insights popped up to congratulate me on my reading streak. Wouldn’t you know it — they’ve been tracking my reading this whole time, and I looked into it and there is no opt out short of closing my account (and subsequently losing access to my kindle library). Just absurd levels of stalking in the pursuit of data.

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> rigorous A/B testing Also known as unethical, non-consensual human experimentation for profit maximization purposes.

I don't expect you to back off of your take, but you should really consider how and why you came to this conclusion. If I put two different marketing messages on two different billboards to test whether one is more effective than the other, is that unethical non-consensual experimentation? If not, how is it different from A/B testing?

In strict terms yes, if you didn't get informed consent from your test subjects that would be unethical.

Research has a lot of policies and systems set up to ensure that if your testing involves people, you must get informed consent from the persons before even trying to do the test, and it's really not hard to imagine why this is a stringent standard -- it's very easy to miss how "simple tests" can and often are adverse to those participating in the test or have unintended consequences that the researchers didn't accommodate for, regardless of the reason they did not.

Ads are often portrayed as harmless but, like, there's a reason there are restrictions on advertising for certain highly addictive products and regulations against false or misleading advertising, or certain tactics aren't allowed.

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate what advertising has done to the modern web just as much as anyone, but this strikes me as hyperbole. Does making this sort of claim not make you… tired? What’s the point of arguing like this? Nazi Germany and the Tuskegee Experiment are examples of “unethical, non-consensual human experimentation”. A/B testing features of software usually doesn’t make the same list.

Godwin's Law.* If you're from a certain background it's exactly as described. In academia, frankly probably everywhere but tech, experiments as a term of art require consent when they involve humans. * n.b. you really should have left it out, it was a good post through "hyperbole", got close-minded in the next sentence, then just sort of blew the hatch doors off. Sometimes we just don't know something someone else kn…

Please stop. "Godwin's Law" is irrelevant bullshit. It's not a "law" and it doesn't prove anything, or do anything except add noise to the conversation.

Re: I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy

#439
post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"everything" but only the "high quality" (or highER quality) instances of everything. seems pretty reasonable.

This is harder than it looks.. Is there a "quality filter" setting you can toggle on and off? Who decides what goes on which side of the filter? At Amazon's scale, it would have to be automated. Much like search SEO and every other algorithm, people would start to figure out how to game it, and eventually Amazon would give up trying to police it because it would cost them more money than it's worth, and you're back t…

I'm sure they already do this. Just not well enough. They err too far on the side of inclusion for our tastes.
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