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Amazon Flex

flex.amazon.com

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Re: Amazon Flex

#241

Post by ekianjo »

tokenizerrr wrote: post #107
ekianjo wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still waiting to see cashiers disappear in supermarkets. Or bakers, since bread and cake production could be completely automatized by now. Strangely they are not going away. I wonder why... People who predict extinction of jobs are usually wrong.

I don't know how it is in America, I live in the Netherlands, but I haven't interacted with a cashier in a supermarket for a very long time. Every supermarket has self-checkout, and still some cashiers for people who don't want it, of course. But a lot less cashiers than a few years ago. You grab a scanner at the entrance, scan all your purchages and then you put the scanner away and pay at a terminal. The terminal p…

> It is a really pleasant system.

It is making you a slave worker, since you have to scan items yourself :)

Re: Amazon Flex

#242

Post by ekianjo »

ousta wrote: post #225
ekianjo wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cashiers are getting extincted little by little, Cashiers are still alive and well in Japan, thank you for asking. > Supermarkets all have self checkin Not everywhere and even where there is i see way more people queuing for the cashier queue than going for self checking but maybe it's different the Californian world or wherever you are living. > ovens and breads in EVERY supermarket I'm obviously talking about loc…

well france has automated subways for years and they don't automate all only because of syndicates. i believe they will automate all when cost decrease

Not talking about subways. All TGVs run only with human drivers.

Re: Amazon Flex

#243

Post by cesarbs »

School-Cotton wrote: post #238
LandoCalrissian wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are they so unpopular there?

Several reasons, but I think the main one is filling Seattle with lots of people (programmers) that don't really culturally fit in with the rest of the population. There's also a lot of resentment about rent prices etc., but unlike the Bay Area there is one company (Amazon) for all the anger to be directed at, because Microsoft is far away in the suburbs and everyone else participating in the tech boom is tiny by com…

What would be a cultural fit for Seattle? Seems like such a diverse place.

Re: Amazon Flex

#244

Post by tokenizerrr »

ekianjo wrote: post #241
tokenizerrr wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how it is in America, I live in the Netherlands, but I haven't interacted with a cashier in a supermarket for a very long time. Every supermarket has self-checkout, and still some cashiers for people who don't want it, of course. But a lot less cashiers than a few years ago. You grab a scanner at the entrance, scan all your purchages and then you put the scanner away and pay at a terminal. The terminal p…

> It is a really pleasant system. It is making you a slave worker, since you have to scan items yourself :)

I scan the item and put it in my bag. This is less work than putting it in a cart, waiting for the cashier to scan everything and then I pack it in my bag. I'm done a lot faster and have never even thought of it being any more work on my side.

It may help that we never had people to pack your bags for you, which some countries seem to have.

Re: Amazon Flex

#245

Post by jschwartzi »

tokenizerrr wrote: post #107
ekianjo wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still waiting to see cashiers disappear in supermarkets. Or bakers, since bread and cake production could be completely automatized by now. Strangely they are not going away. I wonder why... People who predict extinction of jobs are usually wrong.

I don't know how it is in America, I live in the Netherlands, but I haven't interacted with a cashier in a supermarket for a very long time. Every supermarket has self-checkout, and still some cashiers for people who don't want it, of course. But a lot less cashiers than a few years ago. You grab a scanner at the entrance, scan all your purchages and then you put the scanner away and pay at a terminal. The terminal p…

In the US, our self-checkout is a machine that stops the transaction and complains if you so much as breathe on the scale. It's terribly awkward to use, and so I much prefer to use a live cashier rather than suffer the incessant blathering of a machine that doesn't even bag my groceries for me.

Re: Amazon Flex

#246

Post by djur »

dragonwriter wrote: post #166
jonesetc wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: I have never used Amazon now, and don't see myself using it even though it is available to me. I also have no idea how the whole operation works before it leaves the warehouse. Does your UPS package get delivered in an hour? Do you tip a pizza delivery driver? Personally I think it depends on how much work the person doing the delivery did before the delivery to help get it done fast. So for food delivery…

> Does your UPS package get delivered in an hour? If what you are paying for with Amazon Now is rapid delivery service, then why would you tip for the service you are paying for. UPS delivers in a time set by the level of service that is paid for. Presumably, Amazon Now does the same thing. > Do you tip a pizza delivery driver? I did before pizza parlors started adding an additional separate charge for delivery servi…

The pizza delivery driver doesn't get any of that delivery charge. Not tipping the driver because of the delivery charge is essentially punishing the driver for the owner's desire to take their tips.

Re: Amazon Flex

#247

Post by ekianjo »

scrollaway wrote: post #158
ekianjo wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually a pretty good example because bread making can be completely automatized starting from ingredients mixing, to baking, packing and delivery to your supermarket. yet bakers do not disappear. What's not valid about this example?

You seem to be under the impression that baker and industrial bread maker are the same job. They are not. And the latter has long been (mostly) done by machine. This seems relevant: "There isn’t a rule of economics that says better technology makes more, better jobs for horses. It sounds shockingly dumb to even say that out loud, but swap horses for humans and suddenly people think it sounds about right."

> This seems relevant: "There isn’t a rule of economics that says better technology makes more, better jobs for horses. It sounds shockingly dumb to even say that out loud, but swap horses for humans and suddenly people think it sounds about right."

Except that it does not make sense at all.

Take 200 years ago, most folks were farmers. Take 100 years ago, there were now much more folks working somewhat qualified jobs (where they needed some actual skills) in industries. Take 50-60 years ago, with the creation of the service industries and all the jobs that came with it. And now for the past 30 years, hipsters are getting coding jobs and getting pretty good salaries despite the fact we have been living in a past century of technological revolutions.

And we are far, very far from 100% unemployment.

So your horse analogy has no ground in reality. For the most part, humans have been getting more, and better jobs on the whole, and most people commenting here are holding such higher paying, better jobs around. Thanks to technology.

Re: Amazon Flex

#248

Post by School-Cotton »

cesarbs wrote: post #243
School-Cotton wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several reasons, but I think the main one is filling Seattle with lots of people (programmers) that don't really culturally fit in with the rest of the population. There's also a lot of resentment about rent prices etc., but unlike the Bay Area there is one company (Amazon) for all the anger to be directed at, because Microsoft is far away in the suburbs and everyone else participating in the tech boom is tiny by com…

What would be a cultural fit for Seattle? Seems like such a diverse place.

Well, I'm not defending it. I agree it doesn't make sense. I'm just trying to explain.

Edit: also, seattle's not that diverse. Most of the centrally located neighborhoods are filled with just three cultural groups: yuppies/programmers, students, and hipsters/artists. You have to get as far away at least as Walligford before you even find something as exotic as families.

Re: Amazon Flex

#249

Post by [deleted] »

jstalin wrote: post #154
shawnee_ wrote: post #118

Q: Where can I deliver with Amazon Flex? A: Amazon Flex is available now in Seattle. It will be available soon in New York, Baltimore, Miami, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Portland. Smart move by Amazon to refrain from making any Bay-area city one of its test markets. It's like Amazon is saying "we don't need to prove this will work in the bubble; let's base our test data set on realistic markets…

It's probably best to avoid California all together.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon Flex

#250

Post by ekianjo »

tokenizerrr wrote: post #244
ekianjo wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is a really pleasant system. It is making you a slave worker, since you have to scan items yourself :)

I scan the item and put it in my bag. This is less work than putting it in a cart, waiting for the cashier to scan everything and then I pack it in my bag. I'm done a lot faster and have never even thought of it being any more work on my side. It may help that we never had people to pack your bags for you, which some countries seem to have.

Well in Japan the cashier does a lot more things for you. First they scan stuff. Then they place the items in a different cart in a proper order so that nothing is squashed by whatever is up or down, which makes it easier for you to pack things before you go. They also cut the bread in slices if you wish, or cut some extremities of the larger vegetables for your convenience.

And that's in a country known for automation.

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