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Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

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Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#451

Post by fuzztester »

paxys wrote: post #86

The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. Smart home features were always an afterthought. How convenient would it be if people could shout "Alexa order me Tide Pods" from wherever they were in their home and the order got magically processed? That demo definitely got applause from a boardroom full of execs. The problem is that consumers don't behave like that. Thi…

>The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales.

is there anything wrong with that? I kind of thought that is one of the main reasons for the existence of companies, that is, to increase sales, and hopefully, profits.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#452

Post by lancesells »

linsomniac wrote: post #273
mschuster91 wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vote for politicians that campaign on consumer protection legislation. Here in Europe, it's been mandatory to show a price related to a reasonable common base point (e.g. liter, kilogram, piece, usage-unit for laundry detergent) adjacent to the actual product's price for many years now. You can go and use 1/10/100 grams/milliliters though for small scale packages where that is reasonably common (e.g. spices), and tha…

Here in the US with Amazon it will usually give you a price per quantity, though that can vary between "each", "oz", etc... The real issue being complained about is that there may be 10 listings in Amazon for "Tide Pods", so if you say to Alexa "Order Tide Pods" you aren't sure what you'll get, what quantity, or what price. Amazon REALLY needs to do some product normalization. It is true that if you go into a grocery…

I'm not saying Alexa would be used more, but what if it confirmed with you on either the quantity or the last quantity of the item you ordered?

"The same order of Tide Pods as last time?"

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#453

Post by jcranmer »

tgma wrote: post #361
cqqxo4zV46cp wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fun. The person you’ve replied to has stated a concrete (what they perceive to be) benefit of consumer protection regulation. One that doesn’t seem to limit choice at all, but rather improves visibility. I’m also inserting my own personal experience here. The country I live in, which isn’t in Europe, has similar regulation in place. In response you’re throwing around some vague notion of “freedom” and vague i…

Can you think of any downside of that proposal at all? Tax inclusive total means government can screw the business and the end user and hide behind the tax inclusive price tag. Jack up the tax it seems the business is doing it.

Funny, given that the product most US consumers are familiar with tax-inclusive pricing (gasoline) is the one product that hasn't had its tax rate changed in decades.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#454

Post by a13n »

paxys wrote: post #86

The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. Smart home features were always an afterthought. How convenient would it be if people could shout "Alexa order me Tide Pods" from wherever they were in their home and the order got magically processed? That demo definitely got applause from a boardroom full of execs. The problem is that consumers don't behave like that. Thi…

I think the move to subscriptions makes a ton of sense from a business perspective. But what value add will they offer that is going to motivate people to buy subscriptions?

Maybe it can get bundled into the smart doorbell / camera video storage subscriptions?

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#455

Post by jcranmer »

WalterBright wrote: post #377
cqqxo4zV46cp wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fun. The person you’ve replied to has stated a concrete (what they perceive to be) benefit of consumer protection regulation. One that doesn’t seem to limit choice at all, but rather improves visibility. I’m also inserting my own personal experience here. The country I live in, which isn’t in Europe, has similar regulation in place. In response you’re throwing around some vague notion of “freedom” and vague i…

The tax exclusive prices lets you know how much the government is soaking you, rather than hiding it and blaming it on the business.

Everyone always blames price movements on the government anyways. And when it is tax inclusive--gasoline--the government hasn't dared to change the rate in decades!

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#456

Post by smt88 »

fuzztester wrote: post #451
paxys wrote: post #86

The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. Smart home features were always an afterthought. How convenient would it be if people could shout "Alexa order me Tide Pods" from wherever they were in their home and the order got magically processed? That demo definitely got applause from a boardroom full of execs. The problem is that consumers don't behave like that. Thi…

>The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. is there anything wrong with that? I kind of thought that is one of the main reasons for the existence of companies, that is, to increase sales, and hopefully, profits.

What's wrong with it is that it was a stupid idea. People don't shop with their voices and never have. They need to see things.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#457

Post by QuiDortDine »

matrix87 wrote: post #393
pjc50 wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how does the whole LLM market come to fruition? It replaces all the David Graeber "bullshit jobs". As well as about 90% of the education system. It's not replacing them with something better , but it is cheaper.

> It replaces all the David Graeber "bullshit jobs". Those jobs were already replaceable to begin with? Isn't that already implied by their name? Also, is it possible that the recent investment in LLMs have actually produced more bullshit jobs instead of decreasing them? > As well as about 90% of the education system. :/ there's a lot more to the education system than just the content

Even just the content needs a deciding mind to prioritize. If lesson plans were enough, education would happen through VHS tapes.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#458

Post by dpkirchner »

WalterBright wrote: post #377
cqqxo4zV46cp wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fun. The person you’ve replied to has stated a concrete (what they perceive to be) benefit of consumer protection regulation. One that doesn’t seem to limit choice at all, but rather improves visibility. I’m also inserting my own personal experience here. The country I live in, which isn’t in Europe, has similar regulation in place. In response you’re throwing around some vague notion of “freedom” and vague i…

The tax exclusive prices lets you know how much the government is soaking you, rather than hiding it and blaming it on the business.

There's no reason they couldn't also list the tax as a separate line item. That's what they do in my state with liquor and cannabis.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#459

Post by jcpham2 »

Cancelled Amazon two years ago after they banned me because the Amazon credit card on file was expired and they continued billing it.

Woke up to a house full of Alexa devices that couldn’t tell time. A banned account is the same as no internet access. Actually we overslept because none of the alarms worked.

None of this really surprises me but Amazon’s walled garden has really went down in quality.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#460

Post by 8organicbits »

leros wrote: post #330
paxys wrote: post #86

The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. Smart home features were always an afterthought. How convenient would it be if people could shout "Alexa order me Tide Pods" from wherever they were in their home and the order got magically processed? That demo definitely got applause from a boardroom full of execs. The problem is that consumers don't behave like that. Thi…

I actually used my Alexa like that all the time. "Alexa, order more dish detergent" "From your recent order history, I found Cascade Dish Detergent pods, 120 count, $17.99. Would you like to order?" "Yes" It was super convenient when I was ordering something I had already ordered before, which is all my common purchased.

Tangent, have you considered using the powder? It's much cheaper and you can pour the amount you need. The pods only come in large sizes so you're almost always going to be wasting detergent.
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