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Amazon Dash Button

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Re: Amazon Dash Button

#501

Post by count »

hullo wrote: post #467
derpadelt wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll give you an actual scenario, maybe you can relate: One of your kids is sick and yells for attention. You shuffle in the next load of bedcovers into the washing machine while trying to remember to call the doctor for an appointment. The detergent box is near-empty. If you are like me, it could take days until you get the 20s of uninterrupted time to jot down the detergent to your shopping list. Fast forward 1 wee…

Now what about when the price goes up? Will you ever even notice how much the increase was? Would you have considered switching brands? Or sizes? Did you have time to go through your email receipts, or now that the kid was finally asleep, did you open a beer and sit down with your partner?

I'm guessing that the people using this, and order-everything-online are relatively price insensitive for the types of things this appears to be targeting. Saving $0.30 or even $1-2 probably isn't going to make it worth it for me to reconfigure or find a new brand.

It's also self-selecting: if you ARE searching for the absolutely lowest price, or are price sensitive, you're not the right target audience for this kind of tech or company :)

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#502

Post by iak8god »

m3mnoch wrote: post #400

this actually reminds me a bit of the amazon echo in that it is completely and totally household dependent. i have an echo and think it's completely amazing. my friend, basically has siri in his pocket and doesn't understand my crazy-love. the difference is that he's a single guy with his own apartment who always has his phone or computer within reach. i'm not. my house is a family of four (me, the beautiful wife, a…

> but having a free, physical button that magically reorders trash bags or detergent or paper towels placed in the very location where you would consume such things? magical!

I don't get it. I keep tens of such things in my kitchen alone (paper towels, napkins, dish sponges, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, etc, etc). Does anyone really want a bank of these buttons lined up inside each cabinet? Wouldn't it be about 1000x more convenient to just have an app for this with all my Dash buttons running on the little computer that's always within arm's reach?

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#503

Post by jorgearturo »

mikeash wrote: post #441
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The product is designed for the future, not for the past. In the past, people were always going to the grocery store, so you could grab what you need "when you're there". I live in silicon valley where all these new delivery services are being tested, and I almost never go to the store. Google Shopping Express delivers non-perishable groceries to my home within 24 hours, Instacart delivers fresh groceries within 2 ho…

I totally understand delivery for everything. I want it. What I don't understand is button-for-delivery for uncommonly ordered items. You want to order detergent online? Great! Me too! But why do you need a specialized button that only does that? That's the part that makes no sense.

>> But why do you need a specialized button that only does that? That's the part that makes no sense.

It -does- make sense if you take it as a way to introduce not a product ("specialized button") but a platform[1] for long overdue and much needed innovation that some very influential people have started to fund and promote[2]. It is not the only way to do it, but it is amazon's way to facilitate it and in the process get some market pioneering advantages. A company like amazon doesn't have the infrastructure to start building home appliances but it required little effort for them to contribute in a way that brings them great benefits. Smart move, amazon.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service [2]: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-future-of-food-delivery-1/...

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#504

Post by giarc »

kristofferR wrote: post #144

This makes me envious of you Americans. Here in Norway online shopping involves finding an online store that sells what you need (there's no site that sells everything, like Amazon, here), going through a cumbersome sign-up/payment process, paying a lot of money for the shipping costs, waiting several days and having to go to the post office unless the package is really small (or if you're willing to pay even more fo…

I've recently signed up for Amazon Prime (in Canada). I "Subscribe and Save" for a few items. Two of those items being paper towel and toilet paper. My wife does most of the shopping and carrying out 36 rolls of toilet paper to the car doesn't make sense when she's also carrying a baby. So I figure what's the harm in having it delivered to my door every month? I love Subscribe and Save.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#505

Post by giarc »

usaphp wrote: post #147
kristofferR wrote: post #144

This makes me envious of you Americans. Here in Norway online shopping involves finding an online store that sells what you need (there's no site that sells everything, like Amazon, here), going through a cumbersome sign-up/payment process, paying a lot of money for the shipping costs, waiting several days and having to go to the post office unless the package is really small (or if you're willing to pay even more fo…

> I really don't get why so many people here dislike the idea behind Dash Button Welcome to HN, where some people think they just have to dislike everything they see on top to show how "unique" they are.

HN hated Dropbox......

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#507

Post by shiftpgdn »

imroot wrote: post #168
hammock wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But that would require some kind of physical tracking system... Package RFID tags with every item, and a smart fridge/smart cabinet. It's not that hard. A retailer like Walmart might even pay for the manufacturer to install these RFID tags, as they can be used double-duty in the retailer's own inventory process.

Or, you can do what I do -- a barcode scanner near my trash can that scans the UPC codes of everything that I throw away (or recycle) and adds it to my shopping list for the next time that I'm out.

This is pretty clever. Where is your database of UPCs coming from?

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#510

Post by skorgu »

mikeash wrote: post #343
skorgu wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10 seconds is the marginal cost /if you're going to the store/. It's entirely possible to make zero regular trips to the store under normal conditions. I'd use the heck out of a "cause more cat litter to arrive in a day or so" button, in fact I have a bookmark on my laptop for just this use. Mobile apps are (imo) universally horrible for this kind of directed action.

My question/complaint is basically: rather than put all this effort behind a single-purpose button, why not work on reducing the friction for using a mobile app for the same purpose? There's no reason you couldn't have, say, a button on your phone's home screen where pushing it causes cat litter to arrive. This would be about as convenient, and way more flexible. Edit: and the answer is pretty clear, I think. If peop…

Personally I think smartphones will never be good at known-goal interaction. They're general-purpose devices with a hilariously low-throughput interface that need to accommodate low-tech users. You're always going to have to navigate a bunch of screens to get to any given function because the real estate is so small.

Could apps be better? Sure. Can any app get as good as a button that's already right there when you realize you need a replacement? I don't see how.

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