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Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

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Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#111

Post by __blockcipher__ »

deelowe wrote: post #11
snuxoll wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wanted you to turn on push on mobile so they could pollute your Lock Screen with ads. I did it and promptly set iOS to deliver them silently because it got really annoying, but it was an easy way for the EFF to get some money from purchases I was making anyway.

I'm honestly surprised smile went on for as long as it did. It always seemed so out of character for Amazon.

It was also in this weird spot where they wanted to use it for PR but simultaneously wanted to shove it beneath the floorboards so people won’t mass adopt it.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#112

Post by astrange »

anikom15 wrote: post #69
iambateman wrote: post #14

The fun part of Amazon Smile was that it let customers decide how they wanted to change the world…but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. This is surprisingly honest for corporatespeak and I think reflects the god-complex which tends to follow people who spend a lot of time taking in billions of dollars. The reality is there were a lot of charities - maybe even most of them - who wer…

Honest? Why should we believe all of the Amazon smile purchases will continue and contribute to charity? If the program is getting scrapped, are we to believe Amazon is going to send 0.5% of everyone’s purchases to charity? This is an attempt to recover revenue, nothing more.

They're a public company so it'll be on their 10-K in some form. And of course the charities would notice if they didn't, though they're only going to mention good news.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#113

Post by sigstoat »

culi wrote: post #83
laverya wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

they could've simply made an ethics committee and removed certain options while still giving users some choice...

those customers were responsible for $19.6B in sales. that’s sort of a bunch of money to say “fuck you” to.

not to mention the ethical backflips you’d have to use to distinguish the SAF from the ACLU.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#114

Post by jmbwell »

No need to be sad, though. Look at what Amazon donated to your charity from your purchases, then just go give that amount directly to them next year. And then quit buying on Amazon. Everyone wins!

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#115

Post by saxonww »

iambateman wrote: post #14

The fun part of Amazon Smile was that it let customers decide how they wanted to change the world…but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. This is surprisingly honest for corporatespeak and I think reflects the god-complex which tends to follow people who spend a lot of time taking in billions of dollars. The reality is there were a lot of charities - maybe even most of them - who wer…

I had already canceled my Prime membership and started shopping elsewhere. I'm not exactly outraged by this news - although I did always buy through Smile - but I'm now doubly sure Amazon won't be my first choice going forward.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#116

Post by bombcar »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #73
iambateman wrote: post #14

The fun part of Amazon Smile was that it let customers decide how they wanted to change the world…but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. This is surprisingly honest for corporatespeak and I think reflects the god-complex which tends to follow people who spend a lot of time taking in billions of dollars. The reality is there were a lot of charities - maybe even most of them - who wer…

> …but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. Or, a less cynical take is that they really can have more impact by focusing on fewer charities. Another commenter posted Amazon Smile's Form 990 from 2018 [1], the most recent year on Pro Publica's website that has a full listing of all the charities that received funds. The total PDF is 2121 pages long, and the list of charities starts on…

At page 1232 were and 30.43 or so. So it dropped off fast and then leveled out - long tail.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#117

Post by krapp »

lockhouse wrote: post #94
culi wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the primary strategies activists have managed to successfully deploy against those groups is through targeting advertisers. Also most tech workers are college educated which is a demographic that (increasingly) supports gun control/does not like the NRA

> Also most tech workers are college educated which is a demographic that (increasingly) supports gun control/does not like the NRA It's less a college educated versus not and more an urban versus rural issue.

>It's less a college educated versus not and more an urban versus rural issue.

The general mistrust of academia, liberal arts and mainstream science amongst the rural populace suggests those issues overlap quite a bit.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#118

Post by jyap »

indrora wrote: post #89
atomicnumber3 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FSF has received almost 35k. That's not bad imo.

Amazon (via Smile) and Microsoft (via employee donations) are probably the two biggest funding sources for the FSF.

Their patrons page says otherwise: https://www.fsf.org/patrons

“Patron pages for past fiscal years” section

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#119

Post by astrange »

fwipsy wrote: post #110
avsteele wrote: post #91

In addition to the criticism raised by others: just look at the new list of 'approved' charities. Holy cow. Talk about ineffective altruism! Obligatory Links: https://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/09/politics-isnt-a.html https://blog.givewell.org/2009/12/14/charity-isnt-about-help... https://www.amazon.com/The-Elephant-in-Brain-audiobook/dp/B0...

Notice one of the charities is building affordable housing in their "hometown communities." I wonder how much of that housing will go to underpaid Amazon laborers?

The poorest people in the US are nonworkers (elderly and children) not Amazon workers. And Amazon workers' pay has significantly increased in the last few years.

If you think they're not paying enough, I have a simple solution - actually have a Washington state income tax.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#120

Post by astrange »

fnordpiglet wrote: post #64

Amazon doesn’t have any employee match programs, but they had AmazonSmile. This matched their Customer Obsession leadership principle in a very smart way. Rather than making their charitable giving be directed by a foundation or employees, it let customers decide what mattered to them. They highlight their charitable programs as a way of justifying the end of the Smile program. But those existed when Smile existed. I…

Well, it let customers decide as long as those customers enabled ads on their phone, remembered to visit smile.amazon every time, and re-enrolled in the program every year when it turned itself off. It was pretty clearly designed to stop you from using it.
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