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Amazon Dash Button

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Re: Amazon Dash Button

#561

Post by scott_s »

mikeash wrote: post #306
scott_s wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pressing a button is milliseconds, and can be done as a complete afterthought, while still doing your current task. Taking out your phone, navigating to a website and placing an order means you have to stop what you are doing, and do something else. When the time to complete tasks changes by an order of magnitude - even going from seconds down to milliseconds - our behavior tends to change. We easily accept this noti…

Imagine if developers only built and tested once or twice a month. Now I come out with a new product where the entire pitch is, that build-and-compile you do once or twice a month now takes one second instead of ten! Oh, and it only works for one project. If you work on multiple projects, buy multiple products. Would this be worthwhile? I don't see it. Developer tasks like compiling and testing benefit from small eff…

I won't buy detergent more frequently, but because it's easier, I'm more likely to be in a situation where I actually have it where I need it. If I could buy either at the moment I realize I'm about to run out, I would. Instead, I have to remember when I'm out at the grocery store, and I often forget, and then end up having to make a special trip the next day just to pick up that one thing.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#564

Post by jakobegger »

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…

Anytime I pull my phone out to do something specific I end up checking twitter and forget what I wanted to do.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#565

Post by shanselman »

tedks wrote: post #557
mmustapic wrote: post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did I miss some huge event when going out to buy an enveloped is being in a privileged position?

Having copious free time has always been a privileged position. The extent to which you can waste time is a direct expressino of privilege.

"expressino"

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#566

Post by yellowapple »

bratsche wrote: post #533
vidarh wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why use a todo app that requires me to grab my phone, unlock, start an app and enter a todo item, when I could instead just press a button that'll be right in front of me at the moment I notice I'll need more of some product soon?

I was responding to this: > It's taken me 2 weeks so far to remember to get it. I go to the store almost daily. :( This is a behavior that isn't going to change by having a thousand buttons all over your house. Maybe you won't ever worry about running out of detergent or dogfood again, but there's always something else. "Oh shit, I bought pasta for dinner but I forgot to buy pasta sauce !" What's the solution, get a…

> What's the solution, get a pasta sauce button?

I see nothing wrong with dedicating a wall of my kitchen entirely to Amazon buttons for everything in my fridge and pantry. :)

As I mentioned in another comment, though, a better system would probably be to use some cheap, single-purpose wall-mountable tablet computer (probably e-Ink based, maybe even with a column of physical buttons instead of a touchscreen to bring costs down to a pittance) that one could load up with a list of products that need to be routinely reordered for a partiuclar room. If prices could be brought down considerably (if not free with Prime membership, as is being proposed for these Dash buttons), this could be pretty viable.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#567

Post by andrelayer »

mikeash wrote: post #211
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 think it's ridiculous just because it clearly involved a lot of effort to solve a problem that doesn't really need solving. The choice isn't between a button and the massive hassle you describe. The choice is between a button and ordering the product on your smartphone in ten seconds, or picking up the product at the grocery store the next time you're there. How often do you need laundry detergent? Every two weeks?…

"I think it's ridiculous just because it clearly involved a lot of effort to solve a problem that doesn't really need solving. "

I suspect something similar was said by the horse owner the first time they saw a car.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#568

Post by carbocation »

shanselman wrote: post #565
tedks wrote: post #557

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having copious free time has always been a privileged position. The extent to which you can waste time is a direct expressino of privilege.

"expressino"

If a neutrino is a little neutral one, I'd like to think that an expressino is a tiny expression, in this case of privilege.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#569

Post by yellowapple »

mikeash wrote: post #313
scott_s wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the description, it sounds like you don't need your phone with you. If it used bluetooth, then I think you would. But it uses wifi. So as long as your phone is on your wifi network, then it should work.

My point is that if you have your phone in your pocket, you can use it to place an order directly, rather than relying on a separate single-purpose widget.

> My point is that if you have your phone in your pocket

When I'm in the privacy of my own home, and I'm not expecting guests, you'd be hard pressed to find me dressed at all, let alone in anything that has pockets ;)

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#570

Post by squeaky-clean »

Swizec wrote: post #520
ilovecomputers wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish my errands were that eventful, but they just feel like chores. Give me a button to press away my chores and I'll spend my outgoing time at the pub with friends.

> I wish my errands were that eventful, but they just feel like chores. Keep in mind the excerpt you just read was written by a professional writer. A good one at that. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's got a quality where even if nobody told you it was written by a writer, you could just tell. No flowery prose. Just simple description. But highlighting many little things and quirks that most people leave o…

This is why Vonnegut is my favorite writer. I would read a 500 page novel about paint drying on a wall if he had written it. I'm sure every sentence would be entertaining.

There was an interview or podcast (some sort of video) with Ira Glass about this same idea. He describes a man waking up and getting coffee, the most mundane activities, with incredible suspense. You really have to appreciate that sort of ability. It's not even apparent until someone else points out how boring it would be if stated differently.

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