Amazon Moves "Buy Now" Into the Physical World, With the Dash Button 187
Zothecula writes The Amazon Dash Button is a small device that you can stick to walls or a variety of household appliances. Each button is associated with a certain brand or product, and when you set it up (via smartphone) you associate the button with a specific size or quantity (like, say, two 12-packs of Starbucks K-cups or one 2-pack of 50 oz. Tide detergent) and shipping speed. When you start to get low on said product, mash the button and Amazon takes care of the rest.
Finally, a decent April Fool's Day article from /. (Score:5, Insightful)
This one of those ideas perfectly balanced on the razor's edge between believability and absurdity that make the reader question whether it just might possibly be true.
(Pity it's April 2nd, which just means that somebody at Amazon is merely bonkers.)
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Or it could just be a story from April 1 2012. This is Slashdot after all.
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No, we're still on April 1st in California. They're just messing around with the date.
I know not everyone is in California, but this is the first time I'm seeing a date and time on Slashdot that's not using the local time of my browser.
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Except that Amazon was sending emails and showing it on their web site on 31 March.
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Or it could be a real product: https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-button
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"Don't push the Red Button"
"Don't push the Red Button"
"Don't push the Red Button"
"Don't push the Red Button"
oops
RTFA (Score:4, Informative)
TFA states that the button-based orders are disabled after the first one, until the first order arrives. You're not going to have a child go manic on this thing, and end up with a pallet of Tide.
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Maybe you are.
While base products, like TP or toothpaste, are more expensive on Amazon than in physical stores, the price difference isn't *that* much. To some people, an extra dollar or two is easily worth not having to worry about it at the store next time. If you tally up your yearly usage of toothpaste (say, if you're an insanely prolific tooth brusher, or have a family) to be a giant tube a month, that's $30 a year from Amazon as opposed to, say, $12 from a real store.
If you're well-organized and go to
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I was more thinking what happens when your pets step on it...
Re:Finally, a decent April Fool's Day article from (Score:5, Insightful)
Alternately, Amazon is hoping the price for these buttons becomes negligible as "Internet of Things" chips ramp up. Either way, homeowners buying name brand products through Amazon without even thinking about the price, is good for Amazon.
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Amazon lets you cancel orders while they're being processed. You'll surely get an e-mail confirming the order and price shortly after pressing the button.
It might have some use at the office... (Score:3)
The Dash button might be useful in the office or the enterprise, especially if it could be configured to send the order requests to purchasing:
1: You are running out of tape media, and it is time for a quarterly offsite in a few weeks. Mash the button, get the tapes in a few days, continue on.
2: The office supply cabinet is low on pens. Mash the button for the style of pens that is needed, go on one's day.
3: Paper is low. Hit the button by the copier.
I can see a number of uses for this device, more th
I already love it... (Score:2)
The only problem is, most of this stuff is cheaper at Costco — when they are having a sale, one can load-up until next year's sale of the same commodity.
But this seems like it would be darn convenient. So much so, I'm prepared to revisit the price difference. Everyone here is busy and if a single button-press can really replace a trip to the store, it just might be worth it...
Re:I already love it... (Score:5, Interesting)
The only problem is, most of this stuff is cheaper at Costco — when they are having a sale, one can load-up until next year's sale of the same commodity.
But this seems like it would be darn convenient. So much so, I'm prepared to revisit the price difference. Everyone here is busy and if a single button-press can really replace a trip to the store, it just might be worth it...
Not everyone has room for costco's usual super-sized product packages, I really have no room to store a 6 pack of ketchup, #10 cans of corn, or a 24 pack of paper towels, and many items would expire before I can use them. While I might save money by buying in bulk, without unlimited storage space, I appreciate using Amazon for just-in-time delivery even if I spend a little more money. Plus, as you say, there's the convenience factor -- going to Costco ends up taking at least a few hours from start to finish.
Google Shopping Express to the rescue (Score:3)
The only problem is, most of this stuff is cheaper at Costco — when they are having a sale, one can load-up until next year's sale of the same commodity.
But this seems like it would be darn convenient. So much so, I'm prepared to revisit the price difference. Everyone here is busy and if a single button-press can really replace a trip to the store, it just might be worth it...
Not everyone has room for costco's usual super-sized product packages, I really have no room to store a 6 pack of ketchup, #10 cans of corn, or a 24 pack of paper towels, and many items would expire before I can use them. While I might save money by buying in bulk, without unlimited storage space, I appreciate using Amazon for just-in-time delivery even if I spend a little more money. Plus, as you say, there's the convenience factor -- going to Costco ends up taking at least a few hours from start to finish.
I regularly order 50lb bags of rice, jugs of juice, fruit 10lbs, all using my phone and the delivery person happily hefts it up the walkway to my door, along with a bevy of other items. I don't even have to talk to the guy - he leaves it in my safebox behind my side yard.
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I'll pay a few bucks to not have to deal with the hoards of people at Costco, and not stand in a line 7 deep because they only ever have 3 registers open with 150 people in the store, each with an order of 10+ items. And, Amazon doesn't default to treating people like criminals with their mandatory loss prevention check at the door.
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Honestly, even
Lazy != Busy (Score:4, Insightful)
Amazon's deliveries need to be a lot more expensive to justify my spending over an hour of the precious personal time on errands per week.
I shop a ton at Amazon but are you seriously going to claim that your week is SO packed that you don't even have 1 hour to spend grocery shopping? Really? You'd have to be unbelievably busy or ill for me to believe that.
BTW, I'm a cost accountant professionally. Using your hourly billing rate as an opportunity cost only works if you would actually forgo that income if you spent that time doing something other than earning wages. Since most people shop outside of work hours there is no lost wages and so the opportunity cost is much smaller.
I for one was lazy decades before I got my first cellular (and not so smart) phone.
So you admit your are lazy rather than otherwise occupied. Got it.
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Using your hourly billing rate as an opportunity cost only works if you would actually forgo that income if you spent that time doing something other than earning wages. Since most people shop outside of work hours there is no lost wages and so the opportunity cost is much smaller
I think of it as putting a value on my time. Even outside working hours, when I won't lose that income for doing other things, it's still about what my free time is worth. How much value do I put on spending my limited free time doing unpleasant tasks, and what's it worth to spend a little more money to avoid the tasks.
On a salary, the money keeps rolling in on a regular basis. If I squander a bit of it, I'll get more with the next paycheck. If I squander my time, it's gone for ever.
Time = Money (Score:3, Insightful)
I think of it as putting a value on my time.
There is a value on your time. But it is demonstrably not your hourly rate on your job unless you are actually taking time away from your job. The rate is something different.
On a salary, the money keeps rolling in on a regular basis. If I squander a bit of it, I'll get more with the next paycheck. If I squander my time, it's gone for ever.
You haven't thought through the full implications of that statement. Earning a paycheck is essentially trading time for money. If you squander the money you earned, the time you spent earning it is wasted at the same time. The only difference is that the waste is time shifted but it is still wasted time that you will never, ever r
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I think of it as putting a value on my time.
There is a value on your time. But it is demonstrably not your hourly rate on your job unless you are actually taking time away from your job. The rate is something different.
On a salary, the money keeps rolling in on a regular basis. If I squander a bit of it, I'll get more with the next paycheck. If I squander my time, it's gone for ever.
You haven't thought through the full implications of that statement. Earning a paycheck is essentially trading time for money. If you squander the money you earned, the time you spent earning it is wasted at the same time. The only difference is that the waste is time shifted but it is still wasted time that you will never, ever recover.
Right, I value my personal (i.e. family time) higher that work time -- I value it at 1.5X my work rate, 2X on weekends. So if my company "needs" me to come in and finish some project, that's what they'd need to pay me to make it worth giving up personal time. And they do (though they pay in comp time rather than dollars - one day of weekend work = 2 days of vacation pay).
I put going to the store in the same category - it's something that I *have* to do with my personal time, but not something that I *want*
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Which, at today's rates for experienced Software Engineers, is around $100 (considering taxation).
So you work all the time? Sucks to be you.
No, but I value my free time similarly to how my employer values my work time. That's the point. I'd rather not spend it schlepping that box of Tide that I need.
And yes, it does suck to be me, but not for the reasons you think.
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In the UK, national supermarket chains like Tesco's let you have an online account with a "weekly shopping list" of items you always buy. Then you just arrange delivery. The only catch is that they would replace items that were out of stock with something completely different.
You are free to decline any substitute items, you know. They actually tell you that when they deliver.
No one size fits all answer (Score:3)
The only problem is, most of this stuff is cheaper at Costco — when they are having a sale, one can load-up until next year's sale of the same commodity.
Is it truly cheaper at Costco once you factor in all the costs? Are you accounting for your time, gasoline, wear on your car, opportunity cost, membership fees, etc. Are you accounting for the fact that many people don't live conveniently close to a Costco (I'm one of them)? Are you accounting for the fact that many people don't have the storage space or vehicle capacity to transport a pallet of toilet paper to their house? What about those people who don't own a car like many in NYC?
My point is that th
Accidental orders? (Score:4, Insightful)
Step 2: Add a child-resistant packaging for the button, so your 2-year-old doesn't order you fifty jugs of Tide.
Re:Accidental orders? (Score:4, Informative)
Step 2: Add a child-resistant packaging for the button, so your 2-year-old doesn't order you fifty jugs of Tide.
RTFA. The button is idempotent, so multiple pushes result in only one shipment. It resets when your package arrives.
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Step 2: Add a child-resistant packaging for the button, so your 2-year-old doesn't order you fifty jugs of Tide.
RTFA. The button is idempotent, so multiple pushes result in only one shipment. It resets when your package arrives.
So the child only gets to order a new jug of dishwashing liquid every day or so.
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...and the purchase is logged on your phone and you can cancel it. So, every few days assuming you never check on any of your tech at all.
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Is is so hard for you to put the button outside of the 2-year-old's reach; you know the same way you put the actual detergent out of it's reach? Then again, when my child was 2, the detergent was under the sink ("within reach"), but proper parenting prevented any disasters, but YMMV.
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Put the button inside a child-proofed cabinet... such as the same cabinet where you would store the detergent to prevent your broodling from chugging it?
Wait, that's the exact intended purpose!
This + Wine + Drones (Score:2)
This + Amazon Wine + Amazon Drones = WIN
The Other Possibility (Score:4, Funny)
This + Amazon Toilet Paper + Drones = even MORE WIN
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This + Amazon Toilet Paper + Drones = even MORE WIN
You misspelled 'beer'. Or, perhaps lighter things in certain states.
What could possibly go wrong.... (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, though, isn't this taking "lazy" to a whole new level? Or have we been at that level, and no one mentioned it to me?
Only one item? (Score:2)
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Joke's on them, I'm going to get both a Gain and a Tide button!
Oh wait.
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and ISP will love being able to bill an outlet fee per each IP / device
Can I set it up (Score:2)
Would like it if I could pick the product (Score:2)
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If I could pick the product myself, I'd like this. For instance I always forget to order water softener salt until it's too late for instance - would be nice to just stick this on the water so I can press as I'm loading the last of the salt in.
A better solution would be a QR code sticker. You can change the water filter, then scan the code with your phone. The transaction goes through your phone anyway... assuming you left bluetooth on, which I imagine is the technology used for these devices. Better to just use the phone to begin with.
If Amazon would just slap a QR code on everything they sell, you could use your phone to buy another one. It might also be used for verification that a picking robot has located the correct item.
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Couldn't they use the older barcode that's already on everything? I understand that a QR code contains more data, but if grocery stores can manage with the old barcodes, why couldn't Amazon?
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Couldn't they use the older barcode that's already on everything?
They could, but a QR code sticker would take you straight to the product ordering page whether you used their app or not. I'm pretty sure the Amazon app already does that, anyway?
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https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/ [amazon.com]
Pretty simple to do. (Score:2)
The "button" connects to a local wifi and all it does is send a serial number to Amazon. The user just associates that number with a standing order. When the button is pressed the standing order is processed and the item or items are shipped.
It is pretty cool in it's simplicity.
To those who call this lazy, I prefer to call it efficient with my time. Why do you drive a car? Are you just too lazy to walk? This is actually very good for people with ADD. We can't seem to remember to do things from one minute to
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Dear jklovanc,
your comment makes a lot of sense, however - that AA battery is fully charged, I have to remove it from the charger.
Hey, the washing cycle is over, I need to put clothes in the dryer.
It's 10:45, I should really start thinking what I'm going to prepare for lunch...
Poor memory anyone? (Score:2)
I know exactly what would happen in my case. I'd forget I'd pushed the button and end up deluged with toilet paper.
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As many have said, multiple button pushes will have no effect as a new order is placed only after the current order has been received.
Joke meets reality. (Score:2)
I know it's a joke, but this does pretty much sum up the 'internet of things'.
* Sigh *
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The joke is on you!
It's real! (Or at least a beta).
Lazy? (Score:3)
Why use the button? Are you too lazy to use a smartphone app?
Why use a smartphone app? Are you too lazy to use a website on a desktop?
Why use a website? Are you too lazy to pick up a phone and call?
Why pick up a phone and call? Are you too lazy to write an order and mail it?
Why write and order and mail it? Are you too lazy to go out to a store and get it yourself?
Why go to a store? Are you too lazy to make it yourself?
What one person calls lazy is what another person calls efficient. Everyone is not like you. Stop judging other people based on your own experiences. Their's have been different.
Useful for some, pointless for others (Score:2)
No. It's not more efficient. Picking, boxing, and shipping a single bottle of detergent hundreds of miles to your house because you are too lazy to walk two aisles over to the detergent aisle on your regular trip to the grocery store is a waste of the world's resources and generates extra CO2.
So instead the bottle gets picked, palletized and shipped to a resource intensive grocery store near me where I have to drive a several thousand pound vehicle and waste an hour of my time to go get it. There is nothing eco-friendly about me driving to the grocery store. Not that having it delivered is eco-friendly either but the marginal difference in resources between the two is fairly minimal. Not zero but not huge.
Stop assuming everyone goes to the grocery store on a regular basis. Your lifestyle is
But wait, there's more! (Score:2)
Molly-Guard child resistant enclosure: $3.95
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One step closer . . . (Score:2)
to WallE as people become fatter and fatter from less physical activity. Why bother going outside when one can lie on their floaty chair and press a button?
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Or, this will give them more time to be able to actually make it to the gym.
What is up with this crazy backlash against any sort of convenience these days?
I wish Slashdot were like the good old days when we could just say: "Cool use of technology! I like how they optimized the battery efficiency to allow it to be disconnected for a long time yet still connect to wifi! I don't know if this fits my lifestyle - but I could see quite a few people using it."
For myself: I signed up to get a few. I mean, why not
Backup system (Score:2)
Instead of "running out" of something, use the backup system. It's useful for things like laundry detergent, coffee, water filter, toilet paper, etc.
Always have two of everything. One that you're currently using, the other is the backup. When you finish the one you're using and open the backup, it's time to buy another one. That leaves you plenty of time to do so, usually at least a week depending on the item. Put it on your groceries list.
No need for such widgets or online ordering.
This is actually a goodidea (Score:2)
"Buy Now" feature sucks in the virtual world. (Score:2)
The "Buy Now with One Click" sucks bad enough on a desktop or laptop. It's even worse on Android devices. I actually read part of the Amazon appstore terms of service and it states that by using their appstore, you agree to this "one click" BS and that all sales are final. Way too easy to buy an app you didn't intend to purchase.
Now they're going to have a physical button that can buy things if you knock it on the floor or the cat steps on it? I can just imagine a 2 year old playing with this thing and
173 cases of Sam Adams? (Score:2)
This will be great, until the day you discover your toddler has been repeatedly mashing the Dash button while you weren't looking. :-)
Personally ... (Score:2)
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I have a corn cob for your cornholio
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I present... the Easy Button from Staples. let the lawsuits begin.
seriously... think about this... you are doing laundry. you set the 3-year-old inside the washer basket because it keeps the little whirlwind out of the way, she/he cannot fall and get hurt, and besides, you know how messy kids get with chocolate. bored kid looks around, up and down, and hey! -- looky! -- there's a little orange button on the wall that looks like a toy. whack-whack-whack-whack for several minutes until you look up.
how are you going to return three semi loads of Tide Pods?
BAD idea.
There's a really helpful document linked in the summary that addresses this
Once connected, a single press automatically places your order. Amazon sends an order alert to your phone, so it's easy to cancel if you change your mind. Unless you elect otherwise, Dash Button responds only to your first press until your order is delivered.
Re: Prior Art Exists (tm) (Score:2, Funny)
You mean you read the article?
Turn in your membership at the door please.
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Apparently (as usual) no one bothers to read TFA:
"What about accidental orders? Unless you set it up to do otherwise, Amazon only registers your first press of the button until your order is delivered. The company will also send you a confirmation alert via smartphone, giving you a chance to cancel any mistaken orders. Households with young children (or perhaps rascally teenagers) will want to be careful with this, or risk making canceling orders a regular routine."
So I suppose your scenario is possible, bu
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These have no reason to exist. They will just create more electronic wastes, not to mention the manufacturing cost.
A simple app for smartphones would've done the same thing, and more.
But that's not the same. When you're reaching for the detergent and notice that it's almost empty, you may not have your smartphone with you, and even if you do, you probably don't want to stop and launch the app so you can order more detergent, you'll just try to remember to order it next time you're at your computer. Though if you had a button right there on the cabinet, then you'd probably hit it right while you have the empty detergent bottle in your hand.
Admittedly this seems like unnecessary overkill,
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These have no reason to exist. They will just create more electronic wastes, not to mention the manufacturing cost. A simple app for smartphones would've done the same thing, and more.
But that's not the same. When you're reaching for the detergent and notice that it's almost empty, you may not have your smartphone with you, and even if you do, you probably don't want to stop and launch the app so you can order more detergent, you'll just try to remember to order it next time you're at your computer. Though if you had a button right there on the cabinet, then you'd probably hit it right while you have the empty detergent bottle in your hand.
Admittedly this seems like unnecessary overkill, but it is definitely difference than a smartphone app and I can see why some might find it useful.
They will just create more electronic wastes, not to mention the manufacturing cost
Many people would say the same about smartphones and their (mostly) 2 year obsolescence schedule.
If you are like me, you'd need a rack of these things in the shower. That seems to be the only place I think of certain tasks... always forgotten by the time I get out.
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you may not have your smartphone with you
C'mon, it's the 21st century, no one lives like that anymore, do they?
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you may not have your smartphone with you
C'mon, it's the 21st century, no one lives like that anymore, do they?
People under 30 have those things welded to their hands. Problem is, they are all living at home, and mommy and daddy pay for the groceries.
Its a millennial thing.
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you may not have your smartphone with you
C'mon, it's the 21st century, no one lives like that anymore, do they?
I can't tell whether you're kidding, but I'll bite. Lots of people aren't chained to a smartphone 24/7. I know quite a few people who only have their phones on their persons when they're out of the house. I usually put my phone in airplane mode and plug it into the charger when I get home from work; it doesn't wake up until I leave for work the next morning. It's not unusual for the phone to go untouched from Friday night until Monday morning unless I go someplace where it might be handy to have it with me.
Has (almost) already happened to me... (Score:2)
No way would this work in our house, kids are 6 and 22 months.
I've already found items waiting for me in my Amazon cart after my daughter has played with apps like the Easy Bake Oven - which is a cute app, but includes links to add related supplies to your shopping cart...
Re: I hope this is a april fools. (Score:4, Insightful)
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And how many people will hit it by accident?
Hitting the button sends an alert to your phone, and you can cancel if it was placed mistakenly.
Just keeps getting handier and handier. I probably have 50 different things in my refrigerator, so let's say 25 of them I will want buttons for. Seems like a pretty good prank to hit all 25 of them, have me get 25 messages to verify, and make for a major PITA.
Improvements are supposed to be improvements, not a convoluted clusterfsck. Seriously it's harder to make a list, then order online or just go to the grocery store?
Besides, were will Grandma put her refrigerator magnets now?
It's a perfectly fine idea, the problems you cited are easy to address (and indeed, have been addressed).
Its a solution in search
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And how many people will hit it by accident?
Hitting the button sends an alert to your phone, and you can cancel if it was placed mistakenly.
Just keeps getting handier and handier. I probably have 50 different things in my refrigerator, so let's say 25 of them I will want buttons for.
Gee, it's almost as if sticking 25 of these on your refrigerator for products you use often is not the use-case Amazon had in mind. I wonder if that's why they are only handing out up to 3 free buttons per customer.
Seems like a pretty good prank to hit all 25 of them, have me get 25 messages to verify, and make for a major PITA.
Maybe you should be more choosey about who you let into your house and/or you should set boundaries for your children so they don't order products as a "prank"?
Improvements are supposed to be improvements, not a convoluted clusterfsck. Seriously it's harder to make a list, then order online or just go to the grocery store?
Well, yes? That's kind of the entire point of this product -- convenience. I don't keep my laundry detergent in the refrigerator, it's do
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Corporate America has done worse. Remember the LCD animated magazine?
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No, but I remember the Cue Cat [wikipedia.org]. No less than $185 million was invested in this ridiculous venture. I could never figure out how anyone ever thought this was a good idea, even before the benefit of hindsight. Not only ridiculously impractical, but privacy-invading and prone to security issues? Woot!
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No, but I remember the Cue Cat [wikipedia.org]. No less than $185 million was invested in this ridiculous venture. I could never figure out how anyone ever thought this was a good idea, even before the benefit of hindsight. Not only ridiculously impractical, but privacy-invading and prone to security issues? Woot!
Isn't the concept behind that CueCat thing basically the same as what is behind QR codes these days?
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Except that QR codes are read by a device that can to other thing as well. The CueCat was a one function device.
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I never used it for it's intended purpose but I found the cuecat (along with a 50 line perl script) to be a great help in cataloging all my books years back.
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It is still just a bar code reader. What you do with the code after you get it is up to you. Most QR codes are scanned by smart phones that can also do things completely unrelated to QR codes like make phone calls. QR codes are useful because you probably already have the device to read them. Carrying a separate device to read QR codes would not be as popular.
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QR codes [wikipedia.org] are actually a general purpose matrix barcode, not just used for storing URLs, of course. They were originally designed by Japanese industry for inventory management.
That aside, yeah, it was like mobile tagging with QR codes, except the Cue Cat reader (unlike a smartphone) was physical device attached to your PC, which in turn had to run proprietary software that was intended to launch a website when you scanned a code. It was just a horribly clunky system that few people would be interested in t
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These have no reason to exist.
Yes they do. They push people into buying the expense brands that are willing to pay Amazon for the privilege of having their own buttons. They also mean you'll have visible ads for particular brands in your house when friends visit.
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create a leisure society for all, by sending people to school longer and longer
FTFY. Most of the people I know who are going to school for "longer and longer" have more leisure time than ever before in the history of humanity. Not all, but most.
Re:What does this actually solve? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't like Amazon as a company. I don't like the way they deal with vendors. I really don't like the way they deal with their own employees, down to the recent non-complete agreements for warehouse laborers! As a consumer, I love Amazon, though I do try to not support them.
Why do I want this button?
We keep paper towels and toilet paper in the garage. When we're getting down to one (or no!) rolls left, either I or my wife will say "Oh, we only have one more roll of paper tolls left--let's make sure to get more next time we go to the store." Of course, sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes we forget to add paper towels to the list. Sometimes our beloved family cat will decide to spray rancid piss down the hallway, and we exceed our EPTU (estimated paper towel usage). If we had a button in the garage next to our paper towels, and every time we were getting remotely low we just tapped a button and didn't think about it again...that's brilliant.
I would normally never buy this kind of product from Amazon as the local store prices are _always_ better (especially if you keep an eye out for coupons, sales, etc--but even without that). The button might change my mind.
This is seriously one of those ideas that's so simple and yet so brilliant at the same time.
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wouldn't it just be cheaper to, uhmm, get rid of the cat?
(I bet there's an app for that, too)
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wait - I think I finally understand this IoT thing.
its really the Internet of Towels.
(to wipe up after pussy).
Only makes sense for some people (Score:2)
I don't like Amazon as a company. I don't like the way they deal with vendors. I really don't like the way they deal with their own employees, down to the recent non-complete agreements for warehouse laborers! As a consumer, I love Amazon, though I do try to not support them.
You sound a little conflicted. If you don't like them then don't do business with them. Nobody will be offended I promise.
Why do I want this button?
Odds are you don't. I can see use cases where this sort of thing might make sense but for most people I don't really see it being practical. I already go to the grocery store about once a week so the convenience value of this button is pretty minimal for me. However I could see it making sense for a busy person who lives somewhere like NYC where getting to the local Costco isn't exa
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When we're getting down to one (or no!) rolls left, either I or my wife will say "Oh, we only have one more roll of paper tolls left--let's make sure to get more next time we go to the store." Of course, sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes we forget to add paper towels to the list.
Keep your list on your phone. Ours is a shared Dropbox file - if I notice we are low on paper towels, I just add it right then. No harder than pushing a button, really (especially if you've got five or ten buttons to keep straight).
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That could be a cool app- something where you could take a picture of the UPC label and it would scan a list of stores for price and availability. I would be surprised if it doesn't already exist.
Re:What does this actually solve? (Score:4, Interesting)
I can't see why I - or anyone else - would want this. So what exactly do I gain from getting one or more of these?
It's not hard to imagine use cases. Take, for instance, an 88-year-old senior who is trying to age in place but for whom a trip to the store isn't a trivial undertaking, and who has no interest in a smartphone (and sure isn't going to see a 4" HD screen).
Boom - more detergent shows up the day after tomorrow. Iterate through typical consumables - the UI is damn simple and the button is big enough for somebody with Parkinson's to manage. That's worth the effort for the responsible child to set up.
Now take a new mom who's half-covered in crap and hasn't slept all night. Only 10 diapers left. Boom - nap time.
I'm assuming there's a reasonable "boom" sound effect here. How much are ringtones?
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It's not hard to imagine use cases. Take, for instance, an 88-year-old senior who is trying to age in place but for whom a trip to the store isn't a trivial undertaking, and who has no interest in a smartphone (and sure isn't going to see a 4" HD screen).
Unfortunately, he will not be able to use this product because it requires a smartphone.
I can't blame him for not wanting to buy things via smartphone. I sure as heck would never buy anything using my smartphone, or even configure it so that I (or anyone who steals it from me or finds it laying around) could.
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It solves the problem of Amazon not being on the front page of news sites for a couple of days.
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You want each and every container of every product to have built-in detectors and wireless hardware? Do you not know about the problems of electronic waste?
Your idea would work and be better if Amazon had made their Dash hardware into a weighing scale instead of a tiny key fob. Each product has a known weight when full and a known weight when empty. Obviously put the ordering on a timer and put some logic into it: did the person just take some of the product? Has the container been put back on the scale for
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Another person mentioned adding a button similar to a watch crown and a color e-Ink display, which would list one's favorite items.
Even without the selector, it would be nice to have this with an e-Ink display just so it can be reused for other items.