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Disassembling the Amazon Dash

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Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#71

Post by rtkwe »

pelf wrote: post #17

Is it just me that finds the entire concept of the Dash ridiculous? I mean, what's the idea, having a button for every single product we buy? And we need to set it up first. How is that any better than recurring ordering or just opening the website and ordering it? Are we expected to have an entire wall of dashes at our place? I guess we'll need to sort them alphabetically or by color, so we don't waste time searchin…

I don't see this becoming a single button for ever item in the house. I see the Dash button riding the middle ground between objects that you have highly predictable usage patterns or have a proscribed life span like toothbrushes where recurring orders make sense and less predictable items like paper towels where usage is harder to predict.

I think the goal is also to make using the button easier than just opening the webpage and ordering it so that when you notice you're running low you can just press the button instead of doing what most people do and adding it to a grocery list. It's also far easier than figuring out how often to set up the recurring ordering.

Their aim is at the utility closet and bathroom consumables like soaps/detergents, paper towels, and maybe cleaning products. Things that are stored an some particular place in the house where when you're getting low on X you push the button and get more 2-3 days later.

Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#72

Post by joezydeco »

cushychicken wrote: post #26
minthd wrote: post #9

Why does amazon use a module,instead of certifying their own ? this hopes to be a large volume project , so the savings could be considerate.

To me, the choice to use off the shelf hardware reflects Amazon's dedication to lean values. In this sense, they're doing the absolute minimum (using off-the-shelf hardware instead of spending 2 years spinning their own SoC) to verify that their product (on-demand household commodity ordering) is actually something people want. Makes a lot more sense in terms of turnaround time and money - if the idea proves valuable…

What's also interesting is that the circuit board left on the micro-SMA connector for an external antenna.

The early press releases mention deeper hardware integration with consumer products. I'm guessing they're going to be dropping this board into other things besides the Dash product.

Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#73

Post by viggity »

swalsh wrote: post #69
pelf wrote: post #17

Is it just me that finds the entire concept of the Dash ridiculous? I mean, what's the idea, having a button for every single product we buy? And we need to set it up first. How is that any better than recurring ordering or just opening the website and ordering it? Are we expected to have an entire wall of dashes at our place? I guess we'll need to sort them alphabetically or by color, so we don't waste time searchin…

I can't speak for Amazon, but I've cancelled every single recurring order I've ever setup. I once had coffee on recurring order. Then I went on vacation, and I was always one tin ahead. Then I had a business trip, and I was 2 tins ahead, then I was sick for a week and didn't want to eat anything. it was too much. I once set up a recurring order on wine, at first I drank a bottle every other day. What fun! but then I…

we have diapers on recurring delivery (honest company, not amazon), but they send us an email asking us if we still want them or if we want to delay shipment by a week, two weeks, etc. Seems to work fine. Does Amazon not do the same thing?

Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#74

Post by sixothree »

viggity wrote: post #73
swalsh wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak for Amazon, but I've cancelled every single recurring order I've ever setup. I once had coffee on recurring order. Then I went on vacation, and I was always one tin ahead. Then I had a business trip, and I was 2 tins ahead, then I was sick for a week and didn't want to eat anything. it was too much. I once set up a recurring order on wine, at first I drank a bottle every other day. What fun! but then I…

we have diapers on recurring delivery (honest company, not amazon), but they send us an email asking us if we still want them or if we want to delay shipment by a week, two weeks, etc. Seems to work fine. Does Amazon not do the same thing?

Amazon offers subscription services for many products (including windshield wipers). You set your schedule, you get an email, and you delay or cancel any time.

Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#75

Post by drzaiusapelord »

eli wrote: post #39
pelf wrote: post #17

Is it just me that finds the entire concept of the Dash ridiculous? I mean, what's the idea, having a button for every single product we buy? And we need to set it up first. How is that any better than recurring ordering or just opening the website and ordering it? Are we expected to have an entire wall of dashes at our place? I guess we'll need to sort them alphabetically or by color, so we don't waste time searchin…

Sure, but just a few decades ago there were people dismissing all of e-commerce saying "why would I order online when I can just pick up the phone and call in my order?" I'm sure before that there were people saying, Why do I need phone ordering when I can just mail an order form to Sears? I think it's a mistake to bet against a more convenient form of consumerism.

>Sure, but just a few decades ago there were people dismissing all of e-commerce

Were they? From what I recall people were saying, "Why isn't this catalog a webpage yet?"

I'm not sure if buying a bunch of little buttons and plastering them all over my house is necessarily convenient. Convenience is largely counter-intuitive. For example, you'd think everyone would get their groceries delivered at this point, but most of us drive to the grocery store. There's a larger convenience in having all these products at your fingertips, trying different brands, shopping for lower priced items, seeking deals, etc. You lose this flexibility with the Dash. Its also really ugly to have what look like ads plastered all over your home.

I'm surprised we all don't have a home robot with enough computer vision and fuzzy logic to figure out what we're low on and produce a list of items that need to be bought that week. I feel like some kind of robot revolution that was supposed to happen never did, so we're finding weird automation solutions that don't really work. I imagine this is what is was like when computers were rare and you could only use the ones at work because home computers weren't a thing yet. Smith-Corona kept making better and better typewriters but you really just want a word processor and printer.

Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#76

Post by nemik »

joezydeco wrote: post #66
nemik wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CC3XXX "SmartConfig" was complete garbage the last time I was evaluating it on a CC3200. It didn't work on 802.11n networks, only b/g. And that was when it worked. I got it only once trying on both an iPhone and Nexus 5, I would hate to have to answer any customers' support questions about using something so flaky. The audio thing does require an app though to do provisioning, which I suppose isn't a problem for…

Totally agree about the SmartConfig. Interesting idea, very convoluted method. Thankfully most devices I've been working on have a touchscreen to provision the SSID/PW, or we just ask the user to put it in a text file and inject it via a thumb drive. It really doesn't have to be this hard.

Agreed, but touchscreens and SD or USB means connectors, which are often a significant part of BOM cost and take up space. If you can do it all from the one-chip/module you have in there it's a big benefit when it comes to making something small and cheap.

Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#77

Post by hammock »

pelf wrote: post #17

Is it just me that finds the entire concept of the Dash ridiculous? I mean, what's the idea, having a button for every single product we buy? And we need to set it up first. How is that any better than recurring ordering or just opening the website and ordering it? Are we expected to have an entire wall of dashes at our place? I guess we'll need to sort them alphabetically or by color, so we don't waste time searchin…

I believe it's not intended to be an actual product for very long. Its a stepping stone to get consumers to the point where they are making purchases in situ, via the Amazon Echo for example. It's a behavior grooming thing, a social test balloon.

Re: Disassembling the Amazon Dash

#80

Post by jacobr1 »

rtkwe wrote: post #71
pelf wrote: post #17

Is it just me that finds the entire concept of the Dash ridiculous? I mean, what's the idea, having a button for every single product we buy? And we need to set it up first. How is that any better than recurring ordering or just opening the website and ordering it? Are we expected to have an entire wall of dashes at our place? I guess we'll need to sort them alphabetically or by color, so we don't waste time searchin…

I don't see this becoming a single button for ever item in the house. I see the Dash button riding the middle ground between objects that you have highly predictable usage patterns or have a proscribed life span like toothbrushes where recurring orders make sense and less predictable items like paper towels where usage is harder to predict. I think the goal is also to make using the button easier than just opening th…

Or have it built into the bottle, perhaps even measuring the current fill level.
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