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Amazon Go

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Re: Amazon Go

#721

Post by JustSomeNobody »

pshc wrote: post #664
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Social experience at feels contrived and not everyone may want it." This pretty much sums up _everything_. So, why do we even try to have societies? Edit: You use an example of going to a bar. You realize "... not everyone may want ..." to socialize at a bar? Some just go to drink.

The point of a bar is to socialize, or at least have company. Otherwise why not buy a bottle and stay home?

Some people don't want to socialize, but just be "around" people. There seems to be a difference.

May be the stigma of drinking alone, where one is sometimes considered a drunk if one drinks alone.

Re: Amazon Go

#722

Post by BoysenberryPi »

pimlottc wrote: post #405
BoysenberryPi wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except to a layman it is basically magic. Using X technology we did Y so you can do Z. I'm sure in coming months you'll get the in depth technical explanation you are looking for but this announcement isn't for you it's for the average person.

That's a rather defeatist attitude to have about explaining technology to laymen. For example (not saying this is how it actually works): "Scanning your phone when you enter lets us know who you are. Then, our advanced vision tracking system follows you around the store and lets us see what you're choosing. Finally, scanners in our turnstiles verify your purchases as you're leaving the store."

This is an advertisement announcement not a technical breakdown. There is no need to even say that much.

Re: Amazon Go

#723

Post by TeMPOraL »

BorisMelnik wrote: post #688
crazypyro wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trying to save jobs that are no longer the most efficient way of solving a problem is not the way to promote the value of humanity, in my opinion. People want groceries as cheap and fast as possible. They don't go to the grocery store for social interaction and forcing the majority of people to pay extra for something that only the minority get value out of is not a competitive strategy. If humanity were to take your…

Have you considered that life isn't all about efficiency? People shop because of the experience. This is why book stores are coming "back," eBooks just aren't cutting it for people. This is why "smart lights" won't ever truly take off, people don't want to log onto an app to turn their lights off.

> This is why "smart lights" won't ever truly take off, people don't want to log onto an app to turn their lights off.

They will, one day, when companies stop with the vendor lock-in bullshit. An app - a siloed, sandboxed program that cannot meaningfully interact or seamlessly share information with any other program on the device - is a very crappy interface for doing anything. But we're stuck with it, because it's easier for companies to make money off apps, and cooperation is hard.

Re: Amazon Go

#724

Post by politician »

tekklloneer wrote: post #529
subdane wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes sense from a suburban, car-based perspective. From a walking, city-based lens, neighborhoods and social interactions make a lot of sense. It's why coffee shops haven't been made obsolete by vending machines - at least here in New York. Point is, it depends on your perspective.

> It's why coffee shops haven't been made obsolete by vending machines I really don't think that's why. Vending machines can't compete with humans still for freshly produced goods. There have been a few shots across the bow, but producing food that requires adjustment is still beyond the range of our sensors. I can't imagine a robot "dialing in" an espresso machine based on taste like a barista would, at least for an…

Well, at Starbucks they appear to literally press a single button to pull a shot. So, not much art to that.

Re: Amazon Go

#725

Post by davidw »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #706
davidw wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it makes sense whatever way you get around. If people value something, by and large, they'll pay for it. Most people want to get their shopping done quickly and efficiently. However, I could easily see niches keeping people around. The first thing that comes to mind is a higher end sort of place where customers want some knowledgeable help in selecting what they're buying. Spend some money on a few people who…

It also depends on the state and stage of one's life. For instance, as a student, I loved chatting up clerks in grocery stores. I actually met my SO this way. Being older and working full time now, I would vastly prefer to never visit any store ever, and buy everything on-line. It's not cheap enough yet though, so that's why today after work I'm visiting the cheapest store around to restock my fridge...

Yeah, I could easily see things kind of sorting out along some lines like that, just like we have everything from 'convenience stores' to small local markets to supermarket chains to Costco.

Re: Amazon Go

#726

Post by falcolas »

makecheck wrote: post #294
0xfeba wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sorry but if you cost the store $25 by leaving a damned ROAST in the cereal aisle, I would be perfectly happy to never let you in the store again. Wouldn't a better solution be to charge the customer for the roast and if they complain, you explain: "sorry, you didn't put it on the proper shelf, the technology considers that as a purchase", and possibly eat the cost in the form of some incentive to come back to…

Aside from putting up the odd sign to discourage certain behavior, no, I do not think that stores have any good reason to bend over backwards to keep individual customers. Retail is far too accommodating already. Some people figure that being a “valued customer” means they can be an unending source of sunken costs in time, effort and stress, among other things. And those costs can be multiplied across the other custo…

> I do not think that stores have any good reason to bend over backwards to keep individual customers.

Funny; want to know how Amazon CS became so popular with people? They gave complainers what they wanted, and only shut down repeat abusers. You want to exchange or return this TV for no reason at all? Go ahead. You bought this a year ago and want to return it now? Get a rep on the phone and it's done.

It was fascinating to watch from the inside. CS reps became easier to hire (no need for independent thought when 95% of the calls can be answered with binary flags determined by a "follow the prompts" wizard), Amazon's CS approval rating skyrocketed, and they're still making money to this day.

So, yeah, they have proven that there is a really good reason to keep all but the most abusive individual customers.

Re: Amazon Go

#727

Post by homakov »

delegate wrote: post #387

Look, I know this might not be a popular view here on HN, but I think this is useless. And bad. I'm not talking about the technology behind it (I think it's an amazing achievement).. I live in Barcelona and I have at least 5 medium-sized supermarkets within 5 minutes walking distance from my home. Plus there are several smaller shops that sell fruits and vegetables. I know all the people who work in these supermarket…

It is fine to be loyal. If you all will ignore Amazon Go then maybe it will not become popular. However if you are the minority, nothing will stop Amazon.

Re: Amazon Go

#728

Post by SippinLean »

Nacraile wrote: post #474
delegate wrote: post #387

Look, I know this might not be a popular view here on HN, but I think this is useless. And bad. I'm not talking about the technology behind it (I think it's an amazing achievement).. I live in Barcelona and I have at least 5 medium-sized supermarkets within 5 minutes walking distance from my home. Plus there are several smaller shops that sell fruits and vegetables. I know all the people who work in these supermarket…

Your situation in Barcelona sounds nice and all, but it is does not describe the typical American's grocery experience at all, and therefore does not really apply to what Amazon is doing in downtown Seattle. The typical grocery store here (i.e. what Go is actually going after) is basically a warehouse, with checkout lanes staffed by apathetic teenagers. The process is already almost entirely devoid of meaningful huma…

It can be even worse, at the NYC Union Square Trader Joe's, the line wraps the entire inner perimeter of the store and you shop as you wait.

Re: Amazon Go

#729

Post by herval »

Ph0X wrote: post #469
CrLf wrote: post #450

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am unsure we are evolving. We have evolved in many areas that solve real problems, like healthcare and such, but I'm not sure today's society is any better for all the technology that allows us to save a couple of minutes in a queue. To improve the efficiency of a particular group, we create problems elsewhere. The result may not be net positive. In fact, I think it isn't, since those saved "couple of minutes" will…

The point isn't that we save 2 minutes, it's that there's now 10 less job we need. And that may seem as a negative at first, but the idea is that as more and more job get automated, prices should go down until the point where people will not have to work full weeks anymore, or rather, focus on learning and reaching higher education, rather than doing dummy work all day (aka just scanning items non stop for 8 hours).

Is there any evidence that reducing the number of jobs correlates to lower prices?

Re: Amazon Go

#730

Post by preordained »

delegate wrote: post #387

Look, I know this might not be a popular view here on HN, but I think this is useless. And bad. I'm not talking about the technology behind it (I think it's an amazing achievement).. I live in Barcelona and I have at least 5 medium-sized supermarkets within 5 minutes walking distance from my home. Plus there are several smaller shops that sell fruits and vegetables. I know all the people who work in these supermarket…

Yah, it's the benefit nobody asked for...or at least I didn't. Save me another minute off my grocery trip that's already very reasonable, and remove employment opportunities from people--"drudgery" or not--without replacing them.

Oh, that, and I get to be more self-absorbed and isolated from people in my community than I already am...not that I couldn't make a greater effort, but there is something to be said for a world where face to face interaction used to be expected and normal.

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