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Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

theguardian.com

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Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#31

Post by conductr »

nullhole wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm prudish, but I really dislike the term 'enshittification'. It sounds ugly, and it makes what would otherwise be polite discussions vulgar. 'Degradation' seems to carry most (all?) of the same meaning and doesn't have those downsides.

I don’t mind it at all, because it’s purposefully turning to shit. Degradation sounds slow natural. Like how a computer bought in 2005 that runs just as well as back then has seemed to have degraded 20 years later, no fault of its own.

I do have a hard time believing this author coined the term in 2022. I’ve had this phase as part of my vocabulary for much long than that to describe the same exact phenomenon, I know I didn’t invent it but it’s been around in the online software community at least. Maybe he claims ownership because he was the first to write about it, or maybe my memory is just failing me and he deserves the credit. Idk but that tidbit bothers me way more than the words. I don’t let vulgarity get in the way of having polite conversations, they’re not mutually exclusive in my opinion.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#32

Post by _joel »

nullhole wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm prudish, but I really dislike the term 'enshittification'. It sounds ugly, and it makes what would otherwise be polite discussions vulgar. 'Degradation' seems to carry most (all?) of the same meaning and doesn't have those downsides.

Isn't that the point, though?

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#33

Post by BoredPositron »

At least it Germany it's mostly down to marketplace shenanigans. Ofc you can still get your refunds but now you sometimes get wrong articles. Return frauds are normalized and the only thing they seem to check before sending it out again is weight. You can't find brand items anymore because it's flooded with Chinese throwaway brands and Amazon fulfillment is just garbage... well at least the outsourced company in our region.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#34

Post by blagie »

rdn wrote: post #23
tjwebbnorfolk wrote: post #17

A few weeks ago I bought a "new" coffee maker which arrived physically broken and with used coffee grounds in the hopper. I don't understand how this is even possible. That's the last thing I'm buying on Amazon. Amazon pre-COVID was amazing. But 2-day shipping is now 5+ day shipping. It's chock full of cheap/fraudulent junk. It's been interesting to watch it go downhill so fast.

That's return fraud, someone orders a new version of a product they have, put their old product in the new box and file a return immediately. Amazon probably doesnt take the time to check it or check it thoroughly. Goes back on the shelf and you receive it.

It's double-return-fraud.

Amazon shouldn't sell returned products as "new," but as "open box."

The other way it happens is co-mingling. Some vendor sends an "open box" product to Amazon as new, or a fake product, and Amazon ships it out when sold by Amazon since it considers goods to be fungible.

I stopped buying anything which goes in my body from eBay, Amazon, and similar after receiving a premium food product with very clearly fake packaging.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#35

Post by ggm »

wiether wrote: post #24
ggm wrote: post #9

Amazon kindle books search is designed to show you authors other than the name you search on, to increase sales of "in the style of" which could have been a tickbox item, but no: they know it irritates, but it makes them more money. If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. Even if you select the Web link author name, you get "in the style of"

> If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. I tried it: - on the website from the home page - in the Kindle category - on my Kindle directly All I got was books by Dickens. There was the usual "sponsored" items but they are explicitly displayed as it. I don't know if it's a country issue, but I don't have the same experience as you. Furthermore, I read regularly o…

I just did it on Web and got Emily Bronte, and Oscar Wilde as well as Dickens.

I did it for "Philip kerr" and I get Richard wake and mark oulton. John le carre and I get Andrew Brown.

These are "in the style of" clone authors.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#37

Post by asimpletune »

wiether wrote: post #24
ggm wrote: post #9

Amazon kindle books search is designed to show you authors other than the name you search on, to increase sales of "in the style of" which could have been a tickbox item, but no: they know it irritates, but it makes them more money. If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. Even if you select the Web link author name, you get "in the style of"

> If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. I tried it: - on the website from the home page - in the Kindle category - on my Kindle directly All I got was books by Dickens. There was the usual "sponsored" items but they are explicitly displayed as it. I don't know if it's a country issue, but I don't have the same experience as you. Furthermore, I read regularly o…

One explanation is this is the standard rollout of Amazon. First they undercut all the local options, and then once the population embraces them they flip the switch.

Amazon has always been about cash flow over profits. So they don’t really need to make money if that’s not yet one of the goals.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#38

Post by bigbuppo »

rdn wrote: post #23
tjwebbnorfolk wrote: post #17

A few weeks ago I bought a "new" coffee maker which arrived physically broken and with used coffee grounds in the hopper. I don't understand how this is even possible. That's the last thing I'm buying on Amazon. Amazon pre-COVID was amazing. But 2-day shipping is now 5+ day shipping. It's chock full of cheap/fraudulent junk. It's been interesting to watch it go downhill so fast.

That's return fraud, someone orders a new version of a product they have, put their old product in the new box and file a return immediately. Amazon probably doesnt take the time to check it or check it thoroughly. Goes back on the shelf and you receive it.

They weigh it. That's all they do. I know someone that bought an open box camera off Amazon and received a piece of wood that weighed the same as the camera.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#39

Post by jader201 »

rdn wrote: post #23
tjwebbnorfolk wrote: post #17

A few weeks ago I bought a "new" coffee maker which arrived physically broken and with used coffee grounds in the hopper. I don't understand how this is even possible. That's the last thing I'm buying on Amazon. Amazon pre-COVID was amazing. But 2-day shipping is now 5+ day shipping. It's chock full of cheap/fraudulent junk. It's been interesting to watch it go downhill so fast.

That's return fraud, someone orders a new version of a product they have, put their old product in the new box and file a return immediately. Amazon probably doesnt take the time to check it or check it thoroughly. Goes back on the shelf and you receive it.

> That's return fraud, someone orders a new version of a product they have, put their old product in the new box and file a return immediately.

Not necessarily. What’s more likely is that people try something, change their mind, and return it now used.

Amazon actually allows this for some products, as long as it’s still within the return period.

The problem is, they shouldn’t be shipping them back out as new.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#40

Post by nine_k »

nullhole wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm prudish, but I really dislike the term 'enshittification'. It sounds ugly, and it makes what would otherwise be polite discussions vulgar. 'Degradation' seems to carry most (all?) of the same meaning and doesn't have those downsides.

If you want, you can translate to Latin and call it "faecefaction".

The key difference is that degradation can be a natural process, or a result of neglect, while faecefaction is a deliberate act of turning a product into crap, while knowing that the customer will continue buying for some time, due to inertia and / or lack of alternatives.

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