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Amazon Dash Button

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Re: Amazon Dash Button

#611

Post by marcusgarvey »

jkestner wrote: post #529
hypertexthero wrote: post #455

Harper's Magazine, September 1996: > From an interview with Kurt Vonnegut in the November 1995 issue of Inc. Technology. Vonnegut was asked to discuss his feelings about living in an increasingly computerized world. >> I work at home, and if I wanted to, I could have a computer right by my bed, and I'd never have to leave it. But I use a typewriter, and afterward I mark up the pages with a pencil. Then I call up this…

1. If we're here to fart around, the Internet can make us much more productive at that. 2. The sibling that notes Vonnegut's privileged: Probably. But something tells me so are most of the Amazon Prime members. http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/amazon-attracting-high... 3. I loved walking and commuting on the T in Boston. I got time to watch or interact with people. Being present in the world is a form of product…

>Being present in the world is a form of productivity for anyone creating things for people.

Beautifully said.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#612

Post by marcusgarvey »

ilovecomputers wrote: post #516
hypertexthero wrote: post #455

Harper's Magazine, September 1996: > From an interview with Kurt Vonnegut in the November 1995 issue of Inc. Technology. Vonnegut was asked to discuss his feelings about living in an increasingly computerized world. >> I work at home, and if I wanted to, I could have a computer right by my bed, and I'd never have to leave it. But I use a typewriter, and afterward I mark up the pages with a pencil. Then I call up this…

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.

"Attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal," said somebody wiser than I.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#613

Post by evanlivingston »

kristofferR wrote: post #607
evanlivingston wrote: post #596

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't we have more free time? It is precisely the post-industrialized culture of consumption, and economy of progress that is robbing individuals of our free time. When did laundry and cooking and doing work at home cease to be a social function and instead move into the sphere of "work"? http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society

> When did laundry and cooking and doing work at home cease to be a social function and instead move into the sphere of "work"? Do you realize that you're basically implying that housewifes were chilling at home while their husbands were doing the real work? Home work has always been real work, but us men didn't really feel it before we had to do more of it due to gender equality.

I didn't mean to communicate this.

housework is indeed real work, real labor. But post-industrialized societies have worked to strip joy from all chores. The idea of of a housewife is a good example of this — A woman alone in a house cooking for another person, cleaning a vast amount of things that endlessly collect dirt. So long as we don't reach the singularity there will be chores to do, mouths to feed and things to clean. Is it easier to spend all our waking hours devising "technologies" to "simplify" life or is it easier to re-evaluate what a simple life is and embrace that labor is a part of life.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#614

Post by 10098 »

evanlivingston wrote: post #596
ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In reality, this man of privilege bounds into the store on a cloud of positivity, only to be met by the sullen face behind the counter, 12 hours into a double shift on a day that she wasn't even supposed to be here. At the Postal Convenience Center, the object of his affection barely registers his presence because she is fears going home to her abusive boyfriend who is probably halfway in the bag already. When the le…

Why don't we have more free time? It is precisely the post-industrialized culture of consumption, and economy of progress that is robbing individuals of our free time. When did laundry and cooking and doing work at home cease to be a social function and instead move into the sphere of "work"? http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society

Doing laundry and cooking is life maintainance, it isn't life. I'd rather spend more time driving a car than lubing and fixing it, and I'd rather spend more time doing shit that I want to do than doing annoying stuff that is just necessary to keep me going.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#615

Post by ChikkaChiChi »

DJEchoes wrote: post #594
ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In reality, this man of privilege bounds into the store on a cloud of positivity, only to be met by the sullen face behind the counter, 12 hours into a double shift on a day that she wasn't even supposed to be here. At the Postal Convenience Center, the object of his affection barely registers his presence because she is fears going home to her abusive boyfriend who is probably halfway in the bag already. When the le…

"The whimsy of Vonnegut betrays the truth that too many of us suffer from too little time in the day to create genuine, shareable moments with one another." - Is this an absolute truth? Maybe the point is that we should work towards having more of this whimsical time, instead of submitting to the unnatural bustle of modern life and pressing buttons for more fucking laundry detergent.

No existential truth is absolute. Vonnegut's position of privilege at the time of the writing certainly provided him with a better ability to revel in the finer things life has to offer. Not everyone in this world of ours is lucky enough to have this luxury.

I disagree that modern life is somehow unnatural or participating in it requires some form of submission. Providing for our needs in a more convenient fashion is one of the pillars of civilization.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#616

Post by pkoh »

iak8god wrote: post #586
m3mnoch wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

more convenient? no. i would certainly rather have a small bank of interchangeable buttons for the 1/2 dozen items below my sink (dishwasher pods, 408, windex, sponges, trash bags, dish soap) than having to (with wet hands) find my phone/app/screen/button/click. those, of course, would be different than the small bank of buttons near the shelf in the garage. which would be different than the small bank of buttons in…

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I don't want a bank of buttons anywhere. Do you really want 30 different devices to set up and then worry about whether they've lost the connection to your wifi or run out of battery life or had their contacts corroded by your ever-soggy button presses? I'd like an app with a lineup of Amazon Dash consumables. If my hands are filthy or wet I'll try to keep a single intention in m…

Luckily along with the buttons they're putting out an API for doing exactly that (https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service). I wouldn't be surprised if some apps pop up soon that do exactly what you described. The buttons are just easier to market to the general population.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#617

Post by milesokeefe »

hueving wrote: post #489
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…

If you're in the bay, use safeway delivery. They do perishable s, beer, and all.

Instacart does all of those as well.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#618

Post by evanlivingston »

10098 wrote: post #614
evanlivingston wrote: post #596

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't we have more free time? It is precisely the post-industrialized culture of consumption, and economy of progress that is robbing individuals of our free time. When did laundry and cooking and doing work at home cease to be a social function and instead move into the sphere of "work"? http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society

Doing laundry and cooking is life maintainance, it isn't life. I'd rather spend more time driving a car than lubing and fixing it, and I'd rather spend more time doing shit that I want to do than doing annoying stuff that is just necessary to keep me going.

What makes parts of your life annoying?

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#619

Post by ssalazar »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #486
vidarh wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never care. I don't comparison shop. I always tick the "Prime only" button, even if it costs me extra. It's one of the nice luxuries of earning enough money that prices for consumables generally does not matter. I don't know what the things I used in the dinner I just prepared costs. I only know roughly how much my weekly grocery bill comes to (it's all delivered - the order is auto-populated by Ocado's algorithms,…

You're living post-scarcity. Let's hope everyone will be able to, at some point.

Everyone who pays $100/year to get free two-day shipping for Amazon products lives post-scarcity.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#620

Post by jes5199 »

gopher2 wrote: post #357
usaphp wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I remember when I first heard of twitter, the exact moment. My response was "Oh that's dumb. Why would I care if somebody posts what they ate for lunch? And it's only 140 characters?" Basically, I'm a visionary. I think Amazon has the right idea. Just launch products and see how they go, what you learn, and if they stick. Very interesting company to watch operate.

in your defense, twitter really is an awful idea.
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