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Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

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Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#271

Post by ethbr1 »

ge96 wrote: post #241
throwaway314155 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I started drinking to get through it on my breaks That bad, huh?

It just made it more fun. There was a liquor store nearby so drive to it on the 30 minute break, pound a couple 100 proof 100ml bottles (99 Apples), back to it. That job was more fun than stow. If you're curious can read the subreddit /r/amazonfc They did recently start allowing you to buy their own approved headphones but before you'd get written up for being on your phone/having headphones in

I appreciate the irony of your optimizing your own experience as ruthlessly as Amazon optimize their operations.

Hate the game, not the player.

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#272

Post by dickersnoodle »

bluGill wrote: post #109
markisus wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During the transition to industrialization it’s conceivable that many people became worse off because they could not find a place in the new economy. Even if society is eventually better off, the our generation or the next may have to sacrifice our way of life.

We do for sure need to get people to realize their jobs are obsolete and train them on something more useful. Old people (often anyone over 25) are far too resistant to change.

"anyone over 25". Right.

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#273

Post by SR2Z »

tw04 wrote: post #268
SR2Z wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can’t just keep automating every non-knowledge job away and just hope people find something else to do. [citation needed] We've been at it for more than a century now and it seems to be working pretty well for nearly everyone! Our goal is not to preserve jobs. Our goal is to be more productive for fewer resources. Jobs in Detroit went away - but so did the people, who found new jobs in other cities. There has b…

> Jobs in Detroit went away - but so did the people, who found new jobs in other cities. There has been no lasting unemployment from automation, ever. Do you have some citations? There’s absolutely no indication they “found new jobs in other cities” but there is plenty of proof they just never found another well paying job and moved into welfare or became homeless.

The population of Detroit declined from >1M in 1995 to 630k today.

That would not be the case if they "moved into welfare" or became homeless.

You seem to have the idea that welfare systems in US cities can handle 40% of the city becoming jobless. I assure you this is not the case.

Unless you're trying to convince me that several hundred thousand people just died, they very obviously moved out.

I can't prove that Detroiters specifically all found better paying jobs, but there is ample evidence online that shows that the real factor crushing the middle class is the sheer number of Americans being catapulted upwards.

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#274

Post by littlestymaar »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #187
littlestymaar wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of these things can be fixe That's correct, the second one can get fixed with higher wages and benefits, like when Ford introduced the “$5 a day” ( doubling market average).

Yes, if you're going to pay humans to suffer the indignity of doing a robot's job, it makes sense to pay well.

There's no indignity in “doing a robot's job” unless if you think working is indignity, because every job is a “robot job”.

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#275

Post by CamperBob2 »

littlestymaar wrote: post #274
CamperBob2 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, if you're going to pay humans to suffer the indignity of doing a robot's job, it makes sense to pay well.

There's no indignity in “doing a robot's job” unless if you think working is indignity, because every job is a “robot job”.

Of course there is! Since you're here, you're probably a programmer or engineer, a student, or a dedicated professional in some other IT-adjacent field. How would you react if someone offered you a job in a warehouse?

Once you've thought that through, apply the same reasoning to human beings in general, not just white-collar HN denizens. Few people want to work a hard blue-collar job for the same reason you and I don't want to: we have better things to do with our time.

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#276

Post by whatever1 »

alsodumb wrote: post #13
philipwhiuk wrote: post #9

It's interesting how Amazon is embedding robots in human-designed warehouses whereas Ocado has humans overseeing a robotic warehouse. The later is a much easier problem.

It takes hundreds of millions to build a warehouse. Amazon has tons of them. Retrofitting things is capital intensive.

Also fixed equipment / robots do not ramp up when the demand increases.

On the other hand you can always hire more People to sort more packages. You don’t even need a building, a tent would suffice.

What these companies do is conceptually very simple. Basically sortation of items at different granularities and locations. Not comparable with manufacturing companies.

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#277

Post by littlestymaar »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #275
littlestymaar wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no indignity in “doing a robot's job” unless if you think working is indignity, because every job is a “robot job”.

Of course there is! Since you're here, you're probably a programmer or engineer, a student, or a dedicated professional in some other IT-adjacent field. How would you react if someone offered you a job in a warehouse? Once you've thought that through, apply the same reasoning to human beings in general, not just white-collar HN denizens. Few people want to work a hard blue-collar job for the same reason you and I don…

[flagged]

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#278

Post by olelele »

ge96 wrote: post #241
throwaway314155 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I started drinking to get through it on my breaks That bad, huh?

It just made it more fun. There was a liquor store nearby so drive to it on the 30 minute break, pound a couple 100 proof 100ml bottles (99 Apples), back to it. That job was more fun than stow. If you're curious can read the subreddit /r/amazonfc They did recently start allowing you to buy their own approved headphones but before you'd get written up for being on your phone/having headphones in

I’m always amazed at how easily ppl admit to drinking and driving..

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#279

Post by wqaatwt »

MangoCoffee wrote: post #229
thisisnotauser wrote: post #138

Henry Ford famously wanted his workers to be able to afford his cars. When Bezos replaces everyone with robots, who will be left to buy his junk?

New types of jobs are created every year. When I was young, there was no such thing as streaming video games and getting paid for it. Now, young kids and adults are making bank by playing video games and letting the whole world watch

> Now, young kids and adults are making bank

For every person who makes any meaningful amount of money doing that you need many 1000s of viewers consuming their content. So it’s not exactly sustainable as a career option for any besides a tiny handful of people in any meaningful way..

Also consumer has a limited amount of time to consume content in any given day so to some extent it’s zero-sum.

Re: Amazon's Vulcan Robots Now Stow Items Faster Than Humans

#280

Post by rajnathani »

thisisnotauser wrote: post #138

Henry Ford famously wanted his workers to be able to afford his cars. When Bezos replaces everyone with robots, who will be left to buy his junk?

CPG food and beverage companies rely hugely on automation (source: see YouTube factory videos on anything packaged food related). I was told by my automation consultant that Heineken runs an entirely “dark factory” with no human labor (at least in-line).

Automation helps reduce product costs and improves standard-of-living, and sort of then directly boosts investments/jobs in other sectors.

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