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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

#811

Post by rickdeckard »

marcosdumay wrote: post #751
rickdeckard wrote: post #628

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comparable unit-pricing: A mandate brought to you by the European Union. You know, this allegedly evil entity that always hassles with the free market and annoys global companies. /s

> and annoys global companies Lol... Meta is doing a huge campaign here in Brazil about how they won't provide us their AI services because they are annoyed by that entity. It has been quite a help to the government popularity.

In Europe Apple follows the same strategy, but in a more subtle way than a full campaign.

And sadly, it seems they found some audience...

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

#812

Post by dylanwenzlau »

I'd love to have spent more on Alexa, but having trust in the quality and pricing was critical to me so I stopped ordering after they messed it up a few times. I now verify my purchases on the website to ensure the bulk facial tissues (or whatever) are actually the cheapest and most legitimate listing for the brand I want.

Our company was acquired by Amazon in 2017 to help power Alexa's general knowledge / informational answers, and that's pretty much what we did. I only stayed for 15 months after acquisition though.

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

#813

Post by fuzztester »

smt88 wrote: post #780
fuzztester wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how about IVR? or an advanced, literally voice-only version of it, where you don't even have to press any digit keys to respond to voice menus? heh. maybe I should become a consultant to Jeff, charge him gigabucks.

> how about IVR? or an advanced, literally voice-only version of it, where you don't even have to press any digit keys to respond to voice menus? Again, no one buys things using only such an interface. I am middle aged and have never done, not even in pre-e-commerce times. It is a non-existent behavior, and there was no reason to think Alexa could will it into existence.

>Again, no one buys things using only such an interface.

I was talking about future possibilities, not the past. I would have thought that was clear from my comment. but maybe it was not worded clearly, or maybe you didn't get it.

>I am middle aged and have never done, not even in pre-e-commerce times.

you are not the same entity as everyone else. you are one, they are numerous.

just the fact that you have never done it does not mean that no one else has ever done it, or would not like to do it.

>It is a non-existent behavior, and there was no reason to think Alexa could will it into existence.

non-existent past behaviours can become future existing behaviours.

I meant Amazon building that feature into Alexa, not that Alexa would create it by itself.

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

#814

Post by fuzztester »

akira2501 wrote: post #616
fuzztester wrote: post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> is there anything wrong with that? >Yes. They are losing billions on the deal biz 101: losses in business commonly happen anytime. losses are not wrong or right. they just happen, for various reasons. it is called an occupational hazard. if getting profits all the time was guaranteed, every tom, dick and harry would be running a business. so companies know about the possibility of losses before they start up. >and…

> biz 101 Don't make 8 generations of products that do not profit while simultaneously changing nothing other than their form factor. > companies don't do businesses for that reason. I didn't say they did. Perhaps you should slow down and use fewer insults while you craft your replies. In any case, if you are losing money and customers are happy, that's certainly different than losing money and customers are not happ…

>fewer insults

I don't see where I used any insults in my earlier reply. saying biz 101, maybe?

as for the rest, I can't really understand what you are saying, so I'll drop out of the discussion now.

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

#815

Post by fuzztester »

NotMichaelBay wrote: post #657
fuzztester wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how about IVR? or an advanced, literally voice-only version of it, where you don't even have to press any digit keys to respond to voice menus? heh. maybe I should become a consultant to Jeff, charge him gigabucks.

IVR is not a good example because it's an annoying interface that people sometimes have to deal with when calling companies. It actually offers pretty poor UX, because users sometimes know what they want when calling but have to wait to hear the options before making a selection. But it's the best we have for over-the-phone interfaces. Are you someone who orders things using the Echo? If not, are you just playing dev…

I do know that IVR has poor UX, since I use it a good amount on my mobile phone.

but did you notice that I also said:

>or an advanced, literally voice-only version of it, where you don't even have to press any digit keys to respond to voice menus?

above?

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

#816

Post by ghaff »

Izkata wrote: post #810
ghaff wrote: post #787

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, in spite of living in an ex-urban location, there's a Walmart a 10 minute drive away. But I can absolutely see (and know people) for whom picking up a big package of paper towels in Brooklyn is sort of a pain.

Yep, I'm in a city and don't own a car. I walk to the grocery store and bulky items like that are a pain, so I get them from Amazon.

There are many/most of us for whom getting bulky/heavy consumables aren't even on the radar but they certainly are for some.

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

#817

Post by fuzztester »

NotMichaelBay wrote: post #657
fuzztester wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how about IVR? or an advanced, literally voice-only version of it, where you don't even have to press any digit keys to respond to voice menus? heh. maybe I should become a consultant to Jeff, charge him gigabucks.

IVR is not a good example because it's an annoying interface that people sometimes have to deal with when calling companies. It actually offers pretty poor UX, because users sometimes know what they want when calling but have to wait to hear the options before making a selection. But it's the best we have for over-the-phone interfaces. Are you someone who orders things using the Echo? If not, are you just playing dev…

no I don't use the Echo. but I was not playing devil's advocate. I was just arguing against some people's statements on the basis of logic as I see it. do you think there is anything wrong with doing that? I see it happening on hn all the time. and I think it is the only basis for rational discussion. otherwise what should we go on, emotions? those have their place, but I think are out of place in debates.

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

#818

Post by Shocka1 »

alexa_throwaway wrote: post #500
OrigamiPastrami wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Today we're valued at more than that number and Alexa's core experience hasn't changed in the past year. They haven't been able to copy us. The Alexa leadership team has some hubris IMO. I can't really evaluate you since you want to stay anonymous, but you're not really giving any credibility here. FAANG being arrogant isn't really any different than flavor-of-the-year tech startup being arrogant. There are numerou…

Thanks for writing that. It may be that Alexa made the right decision to pass (time will tell, you're right the valuation itself isn't the best barometer) but the point of my post was simply that the Alexa leadership team felt very arrogant and disrespectful regardless of whether they made the right decision. They acted like we needed them, whereas in my opinion time has shown it was more the opposite. I can't speak…

This is wonderful to hear thanks for mentioning it. My last position as a software engineer at a very well known company I was in countless meetings where third parties or contracting companies were treated downright disrespectfully. Any time I brought this factor up to management or co-workers I was looked at like I was speaking a foreign language. Even in fast paced engineering environments, there is never room for disrespect. I enjoy stories like this and wish you and your company the best.

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

#819

Post by akira2501 »

fuzztester wrote: post #814
akira2501 wrote: post #616

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> biz 101 Don't make 8 generations of products that do not profit while simultaneously changing nothing other than their form factor. > companies don't do businesses for that reason. I didn't say they did. Perhaps you should slow down and use fewer insults while you craft your replies. In any case, if you are losing money and customers are happy, that's certainly different than losing money and customers are not happ…

>fewer insults I don't see where I used any insults in my earlier reply. saying biz 101, maybe? as for the rest, I can't really understand what you are saying, so I'll drop out of the discussion now.

If you didn't know calling someone naive is often perceived as an insult.

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

#820

Post by ipaddr »

hinkley wrote: post #752
ipaddr wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have one supplier of a book. You have many suppliers of generic products. Target gets from one supplier. The multi vender estore offers something different. The low prices, large selection more supplied inventory are some benefits.

See I don’t understand how they have multiple vendors for Kraft or Johnson and Johnson products. There are no multiple suppliers. Coca Cola I can understand, but those are all franchisees and the parent company watches them like a hawk. Mostly what they make is purified water to mix with the syrup they got from corporate to reduce shipping costs and losses.

For branded products a seller would need an agreement with Kraft or Johnson and Johnson as a reseller before Amazon will let you list. Many companies do have multiple reseller (most with geographical limitations) but some like shoe companies are more strict.

Then you have Apple and Amazon creating the brand Amazon renewed to sell watches.

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