Amazon Dash Button • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#671

Post by crucialfelix » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 7:29 AM UTC

javadocmd wrote: post #307

scott_s wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This button isn't about saving time, it's about preventing the instances of not having something when you need it. The moment when you realize you need more of something is typically when you're using it. If you can literally just hit a button to order more, that's a significant change from having to do something else to order more.

> This button isn't about saving time ... it's about creating a barrier to exit so that your customers won't comparison shop for different brands of detergent.

Precisely. Everybody here is talking about the button, but for Amazon this is about selling zillions of these buttons to product manufactures and achieving lock-in.

Its about the API and what new purchasing flows will be created by eager startups, resulting in new MRR for Amazon.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#672

Post by mrweasel » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 7:55 AM UTC

MCRed wrote: post #46

Remember what I was saying yesterday about Amazon throwing things against the wall? Can you see how this idea is ill considered? IT doesn't make much sense. I predict in 5 years nobody will remember this and it will be gone from Amazon's site. But for this press cycle it's PR that makes Amazon look "innovative" and like a "tech company". Just like the Amazon fire phone did... for a little while. How much was wasted o…

Things like this does make me wonder if the dotcom bubble is back.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#673

Post by BronSteeDiam » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 7:58 AM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #294

gravity13 wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

| but I can't help but scream "why??" Because it's a tangible reminder that you need to buy new X and it removes all the barriers entirely to that. It's wildly convenient. Might I remind you: - Locate mobile device - Swipe/Unlock mobile device - Locate Safari App/Amazon app - Tap and wait for Safari to load - Access amazon.com - Type in 'X' - Locate results and click on option - Press 'one click purchase' for irony v…

It's mildly convenient. There's nothing wrong with mild conveniences, of course. I love them! But I don't see the point in mild conveniences for something you do 20-30 times a year when it requires dedicated hardware. If the use case was something like, push this button and dinner arrives, I'd say it's fantastic. If it was something like, push this button on your phone to re-order detergent, I'd say that's pretty sen…

Even when the price of a physical button is $0?

Even for Amazon it's cheap, and quickly pays for itself.

The line between physical and digital is blurring more every day.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#674

Post by icebraining » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 8:09 AM UTC

evanlivingston wrote: post #613

kristofferR wrote: post #607

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Definitively devising technologies. I don't envy my great-grandparents lives in their pre-industrialized society. The idea that chores were generally a joyful activity sounds like rose-colored glasses to me. And the idea of the housewife is much, much older than industrialization.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#675

Post by afandian » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 8:10 AM UTC

scott_s wrote: post #242

afandian wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you're right about those particular things (but maybe in a dystopian future you would because the interference with competition drove the price up into local maxima). Seriously though, do I question my habits when buying food, drinks and coffee. This video is saying "you can lock yourself into a cycle of dependence on this one brand of coffee and this one brand of water and this one brand of cheap unhealthy rea…

The conversation started about consumables like laundry detergent and paper towels, not food and drinks. So I'm not sure why food and drinks came up, and then why the further jump to "unhealthy" food and drinks. Personally, I buy the same stuff over and over because it doesn't matter . I don't want to spend time worrying about things that don't matter.

No point dragging this out. But this conversation started with a video about how you can order things including food (e.g. microwave ready made food) and drinks (coffee and bottled water).

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#676

Post by icebraining » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 8:11 AM UTC

evanlivingston wrote: post #642

blazespin wrote: post #640

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, technology isn't necessarily causing consumption. In fact, things like VR headsets can reduce consumption.

The research and development of VR headsets requires a vast system of consumption from the mines required for precious metals to the logistics systems required for transporting components to refining petroleum products used in the manufacturing of these products.

Don't assume that a more vast and complex system is necessarily more wasteful.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#677

Post by ysekand » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 8:55 AM UTC

mojowo11 wrote: post #462

ysekand wrote: post #442

This is clearly an April fools campaign. This approach is simply not the most viable. How many buttons are you going to have in your household? How are you going to protect it from kids etc!

> This approach is simply not the most viable. What's a better approach for in-the-moment, one-touch ordering of household necessities? I'm sure Amazon would like to hear your idea. > How many buttons are you going to have in your household? However many you would like. Sorta depends on what kind of products you'd like to buy in this manner. That's kinda the point. > How are you going to protect it from kids First of…

The real solution is a family robot that monitors consumption of household items in a smart home and orders everything that you need in a timely manner.

The world is moving towards connected homes, connected cars, connected fridges etc, why the hell would you want individual stick on buttons, that would be silly.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#678

Post by ysekand » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 8:58 AM UTC

tedks wrote: post #456

ysekand wrote: post #442

This is clearly an April fools campaign. This approach is simply not the most viable. How many buttons are you going to have in your household? How are you going to protect it from kids etc!

Are you willing to bet it's an April Fools' joke? If you're not willing to bet, you don't really believe in it. I'll wager $200 against your $20 that it's not an April Fool's joke. Before you give me your money, consider: * You can have as many buttons as you want. They want you to have as many buttons as you can have. They have hooks and adhesive, which means you can basically have a button physically on every produ…

I am not a gambling man so I am not going to bet you.

With that out of the way, the question comes down to one thing. Is this the future? Is this the best solution? My answer, is a big No.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#679

Post by thorin » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 9:29 AM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #468

ascorbic wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is relatively common in the UK. Online grocery shopping is very much mainstream. All of the major supermarkets offer it, plus Ocado which is online only (and the best).

For the Ocado-deprived, the main feature that makes me stick with Ocado is that when I forget to make an order, they pick a set of products based on my purchase history, and delivery it at my usual fixed weekly slot anyway. It is predictable enough (and with options for "always include" and "never automatically include") that we quite often don't bother adjusting the order. My grocery shopping have never been less st…

We've been using Ocado for the last few weeks as my wife was finding it too much hassle to go to the supermarket with a toddler. It's freed up a lot of time and the service and quality has been excellent.

I hadn't noticed that they help you to remember your order and try to deliver what you normally have. Is this automatic then. What happens if you are out of the country for a couple of weeks?

Is this kind of service not common in the US then? It seems to be massive in the UK now.

Re: Amazon Dash Button

#680

Post by filsmick » Wed, Apr 01, 2015, 12:53 PM UTC

I think announcing a product on April 1st is a genius strategy. They can see if customers want it or think it's a joke; if nobody likes the product, they say it's for April Fools, if, on the other hand, people like it, they launch it for real.