691–700 of 703 posts
It being so extremely single-purpose makes me think it is a joke. But it could easily be made real: Add a camera and you could have something to either scan a bar code or recognize the product label. Press button, hold the item in question still for a second, done. No need for 2 rows of buttons in the kitchen ;) (I've actually seen something like this for shopping list creation as a DIY project somewhere, years ago)
I'm not from the United States, so forgive me if I don't understand how Amazon works. But does this system imply that orders through this system will be delivered in individual mail packages, with delivery fees paid (either explicitly or implicitly) for every package? When a normal human makes an order, she will group several items in one delivery package most of the time. Especially for the inexpensive and non-urgen…
With Amazon Prime (required for this, at least for now), you pay one time per year and get free two-day shipping for the year (along with other benefits like Amazon's Netflix-like video service and free delivery of diapers/nappies). With Prime, you generally don't think about combining shipments, since there is no benefit in doing so . Except for those intangible benefits like reducing carbon footprints. I tend to fe…
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"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…
I understand that not everyone in this world has the luxury of free time, but if one has the ability to shop on Amazon, making time away from work and the internet is almost definitely an option. It's thinking like that which will hurtle us towards an Idiocracy-like reality.
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Agreed. I usually cross reference Walmarts online prices. They are usually the same (for the products I have looked at). I utilize the subscribe and save for items that I never realize I need until I'm all out (razor blades, shaving cream, diapers). However I've yet to fully explore all the offerings.
Pro-tip: Walmart and Amazon are both significantly marking up the price of paper online (be it in rolls, tissues, or sheets). The rolls are smaller, the prices are higher. Actually do the comparison. Note that box stores rotate the sales weekly between the major brands, but they each go on sale in turn each month.
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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.
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?…
Perhaps you don't see the value in it, but that doesn't make it ridiculous. Why not just move along instead of complaining about a new option for those who do happen to appreciate it?
I'd use this. Every time I return from the store, there's always something I forgot to purchase. Yes, I so use a list. The problem is when, say, cooking, I actually focus on what I'm doing. When I'm running low on something, I don't rush to my phone to log it because it's an interruption that takes away from cooking (especially when there's a notification waiting for you). Amazon is providing an extremely low-friction solution that won't take your away from what you're focusing on.
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"Maybe I'll give this new paper that has lower environmental impact a go this time."
What if I know what kind I like and don't want to change that? I don't see why you think it's such a bad idea for people who know what they like and want to make their lives easier with a little button. You don't have to get one, but don't try to make people who want one out to be mindless consumer drones.
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Indeed. The implication that everyone could be 'farting around' and still have an internet-using, nuclear-war-avoiding, space-traveling society is inaccurate. That's not to say everyone always has to do difficult work. But sometimes some people do and they should be celebrated for doing that hard part.
But, what about Dicking Around?
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Indeed. The implication that everyone could be 'farting around' and still have an internet-using, nuclear-war-avoiding, space-traveling society is inaccurate. That's not to say everyone always has to do difficult work. But sometimes some people do and they should be celebrated for doing that hard part.
> Indeed. The implication that everyone could be 'farting around' and still have an internet-using, nuclear-war-avoiding, space-traveling society is inaccurate. Quite the opposite I think. Our machines can 'already' work well enough to provide free food, shelter and education to every person on earth. Even still, we produce food for 10B people yet hunger is a problem. If everyone was given free food, shelter and educ…
Secondly, are you sure all work can be done by currently-existing machines and people willing to do that work for fun? For example, maintenance on a broken sewage system. I think there's going to be some jobs that machines can't yet do, no one wants to do, and yet still need to be done.