
Amazon Dash Button - digitalmud
https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-button/
======
hypertexthero
Harper's Magazine, September 1996:

> From an interview with Kurt Vonnegut in the November 1995 issue of Inc.
> Technology. Vonnegut was asked to discuss his feelings about living in an
> increasingly computerized world.

>> I work at home, and if I wanted to, I could have a computer right by my
bed, and I'd never have to leave it. But I use a typewriter, and afterward I
mark up the pages with a pencil. Then I call up this woman named Carol out in
Woodstock and say, “Are you still doing typing?” Sure she is, and her husband
is trying to track bluebirds out there and not having much luck, and so we
chitchat back and forth, and I say, “Okay, I'll send you the pages.” Then I go
down the steps and my wife calls, “Where are you going?” “Well,” I say, “I'm
going to buy an envelope.” And she says, “You're not a poor man. Why don't you
buy a thousand envelopes? They'll deliver them, and you can put them in the
closet.” And I say, “Hush.” So I go to this newsstand across the street where
they sell magazines and lottery tickets and stationery. I have to get in line
because there are people buying candy and all that sort of thing, and I talk
to them. The woman behind the counter has a jewel between her eyes, and when
it's my turn, I ask her if there have been any big winners lately. I get my
envelope and seal it up and go to the postal convenience center down the block
at the corner of Forty-seventh Street and Second Avenue, where I'm secretly in
love with the woman behind the counter. I keep absolutely poker-faced; I never
let her know how I feel about her. One time I had my pocket picked in there
and got to meet a cop and tell him about it. Anyway, I address the envelope to
Carol in Woodstock. I stamp the envelope and mail it in a mailbox in front of
the post office, and I go home. And I've had a hell of a good time. I tell
you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any
different.

~~~
ChikkaChiChi
In reality, this man of privilege bounds into the store on a cloud of
positivity, only to be met by the sullen face behind the counter, 12 hours
into a double shift on a day that she wasn't even supposed to be here. At the
Postal Convenience Center, the object of his affection barely registers his
presence because she is fears going home to her abusive boyfriend who is
probably halfway in the bag already. When the letter arrives at Woodstock,
Carol has to go through the painstaking trouble of scanning in his chicken
scratch, and she'll spend the weekend fixing that which OCR cannot unearth.

The whimsy of Vonnegut betrays the truth that too many of us suffer from too
little time in the day to create genuine, shareable moments with one another.
Technology can help beat back that tide by simplifying the tedious, and little
by little, we may find ourselves making time to be more present in our
everyday lives.

Technology should be celebrated, and not feared.

~~~
evanlivingston
Why don't we have more free time?

It is precisely the post-industrialized culture of consumption, and economy of
progress that is robbing individuals of our free time.

When did laundry and cooking and doing work at home cease to be a social
function and instead move into the sphere of "work"?

[http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html](http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html)
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society)

~~~
kristofferR
> When did laundry and cooking and doing work at home cease to be a social
> function and instead move into the sphere of "work"?

Do you realize that you're basically implying that housewifes were chilling at
home while their husbands were doing the real work? Home work has always been
real work, but us men didn't really feel it before we had to do more of it due
to gender equality.

~~~
evanlivingston
I didn't mean to communicate this.

housework is indeed real work, real labor. But post-industrialized societies
have worked to strip joy from all chores. The idea of of a housewife is a good
example of this — A woman alone in a house cooking for another person,
cleaning a vast amount of things that endlessly collect dirt. So long as we
don't reach the singularity there will be chores to do, mouths to feed and
things to clean. Is it easier to spend all our waking hours devising
"technologies" to "simplify" life or is it easier to re-evaluate what a simple
life is and embrace that labor is a part of life.

~~~
icebraining
Definitively devising technologies. I don't envy my great-grandparents lives
in their pre-industrialized society. The idea that chores were generally a
joyful activity sounds like rose-colored glasses to me. And the idea of the
housewife is much, much older than industrialization.

------
kristofferR
This makes me envious of you Americans.

Here in Norway online shopping involves finding an online store that sells
what you need (there's no site that sells everything, like Amazon, here),
going through a cumbersome sign-up/payment process, paying a lot of money for
the shipping costs, waiting several days and having to go to the post office
unless the package is really small (or if you're willing to pay even more for
premium shipping).

I really don't get why so many people here dislike the idea behind Dash
Button. Buying essential shit isn't fun, it's a burden that needs to be done.
I can't understand why removing the hassle of purchasing stuff like toilet
paper and detergent is "dystopian consumer hell". Dystopian consumer hell is
what we have here in Norway, where we need to physically go to the store and
buy the same stuff over and over and over again.

~~~
mikeash
I think it's ridiculous just because it clearly involved a lot of effort to
solve a problem that doesn't really need solving. The choice isn't between a
button and the massive hassle you describe. The choice is between a button and
ordering the product on your smartphone in ten seconds, or picking up the
product at the grocery store the next time you're there.

How often do you need laundry detergent? Every two weeks? If this button saves
you ten seconds each time, that's a total of 4.3 minutes per year saved. And
that assumes you buy the stuff one at a time instead of getting a bunch at
once.

Amazon as a whole is great because you can use it for so much stuff. Saving
time on a rare purchase is almost pointless, but saving time on _all_ your
rare purchases put together can be significant. But this button thingy is
inherently single-product.

This is basically the ordering-side equivalent of when you buy three small
items from Amazon and they get shipped to you in three separate gigantic boxes
filled with vast amounts of padding. Maybe it makes sense when you see the big
picture, but I can't help but scream "why??"

~~~
scott_s
This button isn't about saving time, it's about preventing the instances of
not having something when you need it. The moment when you realize you need
more of something is typically when you're using it. If you can literally just
hit a button to order more, that's a significant change from having to _do
something else_ to order more.

~~~
javadocmd
> This button isn't about saving time

... it's about creating a barrier to exit so that your customers won't
comparison shop for different brands of detergent.

~~~
fxthea
The increased switching cost isn't by force, though. Customers are less likely
to switch because of convenience -- you're paying for the conveniene which, I
think, means that Amazon is providing a service that consumers want.

~~~
javadocmd
Naturally. I'm just saying a few months down the road, you forget to care
exactly how much that convenience is costing you.

~~~
vidarh
I never care. I don't comparison shop. I always tick the "Prime only" button,
even if it costs me extra. It's one of the nice luxuries of earning enough
money that prices for consumables generally does not matter.

I don't know what the things I used in the dinner I just prepared costs. I
only know roughly how much my weekly grocery bill comes to (it's all delivered
- the order is auto-populated by Ocado's algorithms, so if I don't do anything
I get a reasonable default set of products based on what I usually buy). And I
_like it that way_.

~~~
TeMPOraL
You're living post-scarcity. Let's hope everyone will be able to, at some
point.

~~~
ssalazar
Everyone who pays $100/year to get free two-day shipping for Amazon products
lives post-scarcity.

~~~
TheTaO
Exactly. The ability to just tap some buttons on your phone and have an item
show up doorstep is magical. The dash button is just another step in that
direction. Its ultimate in convenience for people who want it.

------
bbx
It's a intermediate step towards absolute frictionless purchasing.

We went from physical in-store cash payments to online 1-click delivery. The
purchasing experience has continuously been quickened, to close the gap
between the intent and the action.

Nowadays, running out of coffee capsules (for example) still requires some
interaction, via your phone or your laptop. There's at least a dozen of
seconds between the intent and the action.

Having a button attached to the products container doesn't only remove that
intent/action gap _physically_ but also _mentally_ , because you're actually
consuming the product at that exact moment.

The ultimate frictionless experience would be for coffee capsules to be
delivered _before_ running out of them, through a prediction system _à la_
Google Now. But that would require some kind of physical tracking system...

Some people think it's an April fools joke. I'm not so sure. It makes sense to
me.

~~~
lvs
I don't currently feel any "friction" to purchasing laundry detergent.

~~~
quadrature
As someone without a car, it is annoying buying new detergent along with the
week's groceries.

------
tonyhb
It's not just a physical button — it's an API. If you develop a hardware
product you can apparently integrate with Dash to order supplies from the
embedded controller.

Information is here: [https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-
service](https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service)

Apparently, Whirlpool washing machines and Brita water filters will be using
it. This doesn't help for basics like paper towels, but it would work for
paper towel holders (if it's true). The IoT is here.

~~~
untog
Great, so now when I buy a Whirlpool washing machine it'll be hardcoded to use
<brand name> products with its reorder button. Gross, gross, gross.

~~~
iNate2000
Or you'll have to set up your MyWhirlpool account on their website so that you
can pair their app on your iPhone with your washing machine so you can search
their incomplete list of detergent brands and add your second choice to your
MyWhirlpoolBrandSelect Favorites List and then give up when Amazon seems to
stop supporting that brand.

~~~
moe
The MyWhirlpool website will also require the Silverlight plugin and you'll
have to connect your washing machine with an USB cable in order to do
anything.

Every once in a while the button will just randomly stop working and you'll
have to go through the motions again.

~~~
mortenjorck
Finally, after several months of struggling against the sunk-cost fallacy that
forces you to spend more time working with auto-ordering than you would simply
manually ordering detergent because this washing machine cost $700 more than
the non-connected model, you concede defeat and return to ordering from your
phone.

------
jader201
A lot of negativity posted on this by a lot of people, including myself, just
to be negative.

But here's why I (and I bet many others) _really_ dislike this: it tightly
couples purchasing everyday things to Amazon.

What would be better?

I would have rather seen a third party come out with these little buttons,
with an open API such that they could be connected to things like:

\- Todo/grocery list apps that adds the item as a reminder the next time I run
to the store

\- Tech savy B&M grocery stores that I could place an order for easy pick-up

\- Online sites -- including Amazon -- where I could place an easy order

 _This_ would have me excited. This would allow others to benefit, and me to
have more choices.

But as it is, if this is successful, then it means people are even more bound
to Amazon than ever before.

~~~
run4yourlives2
This. Dash removes any type of "shopping" from the conversation.

Platform lock in for consumables. My bet is they'll just give them away on the
containers themselves to get you to use it.

~~~
jsprogrammer
Or just start mailing them at random a la AOL.

~~~
TheSoftwareGuy
I would be SO okay with this.

------
moe
This looks a little too elaborate for an April 1st joke, but they can't
possibly serious?

I mean, who will scatter these "buttons" all over their house, which will
inevitably need new batteries at ever shorter and diverging intervals...

~~~
notmarkus
Stick a nice Duracell button beneath every one of them.

~~~
hackaflocka
Use Dash to order new batteries when they run out. Simple.

~~~
afandian
Seriously, if a button can order new coffee, it can let Amazon know that it's
running low automatically.

~~~
skorgu
I'd bet you'd just get a whole new button in the mail when the battery is
close to dying.

------
dlgeek
The most interesting part of this is the "Dash Replenishment Service" linked
at the bottom of the page. Looks like they're building APIs to insert the
service back-end into appliances - they give an example of a coffee maker that
automatically orders beans when it runs low.

They list several partners who are going to release products using it - Brita
water filters (buys new filters), Whirlpool washer/dryer (detergent), Brother
printers (ink/toner) and Quirky who seems to have several products that all
re-order consumables.

Looks like Amazon's investing heavily into the "Internet of Things" with this.

~~~
bentcorner
What you need is RFID and smart garbage cans. When you throw something out, it
orders itself for you to be on the doorstep the next morning.

♫ _The cat came back, the very next day_ ♫

~~~
teddyuk
no, i don't want auto ordering I wat ordering when i say so a button that i
can push is perfect

~~~
jgrowl
Well how about automatically compiling a grocery list of things you need for
you... and a web interface that has a one click order for each item you need
restocked?

~~~
IanCal
You might like this:
[https://github.com/danslimmon/oscar](https://github.com/danslimmon/oscar)

------
xux
Not sure why there's so much doubt about itss use. This is amazing for things
like detergent.

When I run out of detergent, I don't want to add it to shopping list. I don't
want to remember when to buy. I just want it outside my door before I run out!
This applies to any item that I don't feel like buying but have to buy
regularly.

~~~
hbosch
This would be perfect for my pets items. I always buy the same products for
them, and the pet store is always a detour from my typical shopping routine. I
would even like to have a macro button, that combined hard food, soft food,
and litter all in one order!

~~~
balls187
Or like a storage container for kibble that when it gets to a certain weight,
orders a new bag.

------
steven2012
To be clear, this is not for 20-somethings. This is for parents that have
screaming babies or have many competing events for their attention. For all
you non-parents, there is a distinct possibility that things get forgotten
between the time you realize something this out, and the time it takes to pull
out your smartphone, navigate to Amazon or Google Express, and order whatever
you need.

~~~
lelandbatey
The use of this by parents immediately had me thinking about how one could
child proof this.

Imagine how much it would suck if your kid got hold of one of these buttons
thinking it is a toy and accidentally ordered 200+ bottles of detergent (at a
cost of $1000)? I foresee this being a hilarious potential problem of the
future: accidentally buying too many things due to user error or a
malfunctioning button.

~~~
drglitch
You mean like this? [http://tv.adobe.com/watch/whats-your-marketing-
doing/click-b...](http://tv.adobe.com/watch/whats-your-marketing-doing/click-
baby-click/)

------
tinkerdol
Next they'll partner with OkCupid and we can just push a button when we want
the next date to show up.

~~~
personlurking
Or maybe it'll go past button-pushing...

Knock, knock. "Hi, I'm Alexa, and my OkCupid profile is a 94% match to yours.
Because of that, OkC unlocked your pre-selected social profiles for my
perusal. Google Now alerted me to the opening in your schedule right now, Uber
took me to your house, and plus I saw you like that Thai food joint down the
street based on your FourSquare, so I brought some. Oh, and I thought we might
as well watch a comedy flick you've been wanting to see according to your
Netflix."

I'm sure someone (more creative than me) could write a better one

~~~
tinkerdol
Nah, no need for her to say all that, because that info will be pushed to your
phone while she's on her way over. That will give you time to arrange Homejoy
to come tidy your place up real quick, while you use the new Facebook Advanced
Analyics to find out that there's a very strong correlation between how long
she lingers on a guy's page and how short his hair is. So you Magic over a
hairdresser for a quick buzzcut, while turning up some music you think she'll
like (based on her Spotify account).

------
MCRed
Remember what I was saying yesterday about Amazon throwing things against the
wall?

Can you see how this idea is ill considered? IT doesn't make much sense.

I predict in 5 years nobody will remember this and it will be gone from
Amazon's site.

But for this press cycle it's PR that makes Amazon look "innovative" and like
a "tech company".

Just like the Amazon fire phone did... for a little while. How much was wasted
on that idea?

~~~
dkrich
I'll add one more to the list- whatever happened to that ridiculous device
that sits in your living room and listens to your every word, responding when
it happens to hear something it recognizes? I think it was called Echo?

Basically everything you get with any modern smartphone, only larger, more
expensive, and probably technologically inferior!

~~~
GabrielF00
How is it more expensive than a modern smartphone? It's $100

~~~
dkrich
It's $200 and if it only performs a small fraction of the functionality at
what is almost certainly an inferior implementation that's a tough sale to
make.

~~~
GabrielF00
It's only $200 if you don't have prime. Presumably the intended customer is a
prime member.

------
3princip
This looks awful. Imagine a house full of branded buttons. Yuk. Though I'm
sure my toddler would love pressing them endlessly. And all that packaging in
the video, the horror.

It must an April fools joke.

~~~
jader201
The timing is terrible. Even if it's not a joke, they've just set themselves
up for this exact comment.

Surely someone would have thought of this? Just seems like a really bad choice
-- _too_ bad for a company like Amazon to make (the timing, that is, coupled
with a highly-branded product like this).

~~~
function_seven
April Fools jokes don't happen until tomorrow, no? I can't remember any jokes
happening on March 31.

~~~
jader201
That's sort of my point. Most people, with April Fools just around the corner
(and already here, for some), it will still be used in mockery comments about
the product, even though they know it's a real product.

~~~
mcbutterbunz
Its a great marketing opportunity. Get out in front of the other
advertisements... i mean pranks.

------
morgo
This would work great in an office environment. If it's an API, it would be
great if there is a chance for an office admin to manage requests as well
(i.e. still easier to buy milk from the store; additional coffee cartridges
may be in storage locally somewhere.)

------
afandian
The video reads like some kind of dystopian consumer hell. Everything comes in
a packet from a trusted brand who is taking care of you. Consume! Consume!
Consume! See you useless you are when you can't consume! Your whole day is
ruined.

Good job we've got your back. We'll send you some more of those precious
packets.

~~~
ovi256
>Everything comes in a packet from a trusted brand who is taking are of you.

And how is this different from the present ? Everything comes non-packets ?
From an untrusted brand ? That dystopian future sounds better somehow.

~~~
afandian
Depends on your present. I like to make a choice before buying things.
Especially coffee.

~~~
tdaltonc
That sounds exhausting. I need my decision-making-juice[0] for more important
things.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion#Consumer_behavior](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion#Consumer_behavior)

~~~
afandian
Interesting link. Suggests that presenting unnecessary choice leads to passive
behaviour. I'm thinking of active choices rather than seeing a row of a dozen
different identical kitchen towel brands at the supermarket. Like, what are
the ethical standards of this shop, how does it treat it's suppliers, does it
exploit it's workforce etc.

Every decision is important, and every time it is automated for the sake of
convenience is a little bit of disenfranchisement.

Again, it depends what you consider important. Purchasing decisions arguably
dictate much transnational economic concerns. For example palm oil, the fair
trade movement. As a global citizen I would say that was well spent decision
juice.

I'm sitting higher up on my high horse than I started, but discussions tend to
polarise / crystallize views!

------
ChikkaChiChi
Showing this around the office, the best answer I heard was "Someone made the
Staples Easy Button a real thing"

This extends the 'Subscribe and Save' model to products that people are unsure
about how often they will need it. You put a Dash button on the shelf where
you store toilet paper, and you know precisely when to hit it.

This seems like a small thing, but it's not. There are metrics that measure
easily measure how much you forget simply by moving between different rooms in
your house.

I love it. The IoT just got a killer application!

------
cdmcmahon
They say that the full API for this will be openly available in the fall. Am I
correct in understanding that this means that I could make my own service to
order things (for myself only) I'd like at the push of a button? Like could I
set up my own button that buys something I like (regardless of whether the
brand does anything with this? Or will only vendors be able to use this for
their own products? (Maybe my scenario is already possible and I just don't
know.)

------
drglitch
Am i the only one who's reminded of Idiocracy's hospital scene?
[https://s3.amazonaws.com/lardbiscuit/pix/idiothospital.jpg](https://s3.amazonaws.com/lardbiscuit/pix/idiothospital.jpg)

Consider me old fashioned, but what is so hard about a shopping list, or a
problem that's not already solved by amazon subscriptions? Especially on
essential items, usage rate is pretty static, and its not like hitting "OMG IM
OUT OF BOUNTYS!" button will make them instantly appear.

Perhaps this is their implementation of Adobe's "encyclopedia" commercial? (ok
im done with TV references)

What WOULD be cool and useful is a way for me to say "hey, send me this
subscription item a week later/earlier because my usage rate is not what i
thought it would be.

~~~
pixelcloud
If Amazon is successful with drone deliveries, it might end up being "press
the button and X magically appears"

------
m3mnoch
this actually reminds me a bit of the amazon echo in that it is completely and
totally household dependent.

i have an echo and think it's completely amazing. my friend, basically has
siri in his pocket and doesn't understand my crazy-love. the difference is
that he's a single guy with his own apartment who always has his phone or
computer within reach. i'm not.

my house is a family of four (me, the beautiful wife, a couple pre-teen boys)
with a large common area filled with lots of traffic and commotion. the kids
don't have phones. my wife and i have phones and computers, but they're not
always in reach. whether she's making everyone's lunches in the morning, i'm
playing munchkin with the boys, she's helping them with homework, i'm washing
dishes after dinner, etc. -- it's rarely convenient (not to mention the poor
social etiquette around the dinner table) to whip out a phone and do any
60-seconds-or-more task. with a family, you are kind of forced to be fully
engaged most of the time.

this means we use the heck out of the amazon echo for the shopping list (also
the music player, weather check, and timers for the boys) out of pure,
unadulterated convenience.

in a busy household, it may sound cliche, but it's EXTREMELY convenient to
just say "alexa, add sandwich bags to the shopping list" and the like while
you're elbow-deep into putting away leftovers.

but having a free, physical button that magically reorders trash bags or
detergent or paper towels placed in the very location where you would consume
such things? magical!

because, again, in a busy household there are about a thousand other things
you need to get to by the time you notice "oh, we're almost out of toilet
paper" and inevitably, you'll catch yourself standing in costco next week
trying to remember all the things you were almost out of.

and these are just the benefits to me -- for tide? this seems like a huge
opportunity for brand lock-in and is probably even a joint venture between
them and amazon.

~~~
iak8god
> but having a free, physical button that magically reorders trash bags or
> detergent or paper towels placed in the very location where you would
> consume such things? magical!

I don't get it. I keep tens of such things in my kitchen alone (paper towels,
napkins, dish sponges, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, etc, etc). Does anyone
really want a bank of these buttons lined up inside each cabinet? Wouldn't it
be about 1000x more convenient to just have an app for this with all my Dash
buttons running on the little computer that's always within arm's reach?

~~~
m3mnoch
more convenient? no.

i would certainly rather have a small bank of interchangeable buttons for the
1/2 dozen items below my sink (dishwasher pods, 408, windex, sponges, trash
bags, dish soap) than having to (with wet hands) find my
phone/app/screen/button/click. those, of course, would be different than the
small bank of buttons near the shelf in the garage. which would be different
than the small bank of buttons in the laundry room.

would it make the inside of the sink cabinet door nicer-looking to have an app
in my pocket? probably. also, this isn't a zero-sum thing. we can have both!

~~~
iak8god
We'll have to agree to disagree then. I don't want a bank of buttons anywhere.
Do you really want 30 different devices to set up and then worry about whether
they've lost the connection to your wifi or run out of battery life or had
their contacts corroded by your ever-soggy button presses?

 _I 'd_ like an app with a lineup of Amazon Dash consumables. If my hands are
filthy or wet I'll try to keep a single intention in my head for 30 seconds
until that's no longer the case. And if I don't feel like doing that I can
just write a note on a pad.

~~~
pkoh
Luckily along with the buttons they're putting out an API for doing exactly
that ([https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-
service](https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service)). I wouldn't be
surprised if some apps pop up soon that do exactly what you described. The
buttons are just easier to market to the general population.

------
planetjones
This is an April fool right - just leaked a day early.

~~~
asciimo
It has to be. It's such a provocative product that they wouldn't risk
releasing it so close to April 1. Or would they? :)

~~~
aembleton
Gmail was released on April fools day.

------
thecodemonkey
I can't help thinking about the internals of this thing. Does it communicate
via WiFi or Bluetooth? What about battery life time and manufacturing cost per
unit? The form factor looks pretty slim.

~~~
dguaraglia
It says right there you have to setup your wi-fi password on the device, so
that's (kinda) clear.

Manufacturing cost can be off-loaded to the product makers: the buttons look
branded, so if you are Tide you are paying something like $20/40 bucks to get
a constant Tide logo inside my cupboard _and_ getting the path of least
resistance for purchases... if you've ever dealt with marketing numbers,
that's not bad at all!

------
omgitstom
They have removed the last piece of the hassle of shopping. Now you don't need
to even get your computer out and search your past orders.

In all honesty, I don't think I would use the buttons though. The API is the
important piece. I could see me configuring this with IFTTT do button or
something. Do things like order a week of groceries when I know I'm going to
be home for a week, etc.

I'm sure people are going to hate on these buttons, think of the API here.

------
walkon
My wife likes to order some detergents, soaps, and other supplies from Amazon,
but one rather cumbersome aspect is all the extra packaging that has to be
torn down and recycled or thrown away. Since my wife doesn't like to bother
with such things, I end up spending 5-15 minutes a week deconstructing Amazon
packaging. I would rather pick up these types of supplies while getting
groceries, but for some products Amazon is cheaper.

------
zaroth
Those branded face-plates are magnetic and swappable... right?!

Also, knowing Amazon, they will pack a Prime box and ship it with just that
one *$%! bottle of laundry detergent or an envelope with just the pack of
razors. Short press for "some time in the next week", long press for
"tomorrow", and 12-rapid-clicks for "I'm naked and have no clean clothes, send
it on the drone!"

------
maguirre
I am conflicted by this. On the one hand the EE in me is excited to see how
technology is making our lives easier by allowing us to spend less time on
mundane tasks. On the other hand I have this nagging feeling about all this
e-waste. I think about all the electrical components being used for a device
that has a single use and is likely (at this price point) will be very
disposable

EDIT: typo

~~~
13
I'd like to hack one of them to do something more interesting. I suspect it's
probably quite capable under the hood and could be re-purposed. Sort of a
double edged sword though, what if you got malware on your Tide button?

------
javabank
I have to say - this actually looks like a great idea for products like
detergents, etc. I can see how this can work on a laundry machine. Apart from
that... Where would I put the button for Bounty? Or Gillette?

~~~
johnnyo
Wherever you store the product would be my guess. In my case, the paper
towel/toilet paper one could go in the closet where I store these things.

The razor one could go on the side of my medicine cabinet.

------
ysekand
This is clearly an April fools campaign. This approach is simply not the most
viable. How many buttons are you going to have in your household? How are you
going to protect it from kids etc!

~~~
tedks
Are you willing to bet it's an April Fools' joke? If you're not willing to
bet, you don't really believe in it. I'll wager $200 against your $20 that
it's not an April Fool's joke.

Before you give me your money, consider:

* You can have as many buttons as you want. They want you to have as many buttons as you can have. They have hooks and adhesive, which means you can basically have a button physically on every product that needs to be replaced. Your toilet paper holder can have a button. Your shower can have a button for shampoo and conditioner. Your mirror can have five buttons on it. Personally, I would fucking love for my house to be covered with buttons that I can just push to get things sent to me. That's the future I want.

* The button generates a notification on your phone and doesn't respond to subsequent presses, so you can cancel the order on your phone if your kids press the button. But the real solution here is to not have children. The world is overpopulated enough, and with the money you save by not having kids, you can just get more stuff from amazon. Which would you rather have: A new gaming PC, iPad, and iPhone every year, or some brat that won't appreciate you, won't call you more than once a month after you spend the best years of your life trying to raise them into a halfway decent person and failing because their snot-nosed friends ruin them, and keeps asking for money? The choice is obvious.

~~~
Jedd
You had me convinced at 'real solution is to not have children'. While this is
a compelling social message, I don't believe Amazon would knowingly,
consciously, commit to such a message.

Quod erat demonstrandum ... it's an April Fools'.

~~~
tedks
If it's an April Fools', think it'll be announced as such in a month? Willing
to take $200 of my money risking only $20 of your own to put a stake in that
belief?

If you won't even risk the price of four Starbucks coffees on your belief, do
you really have it?

------
samspot
This is really cool! But for price-conscious consumers like me (I'm cheap) it
may not be an option. I'm sure this is going to cost more than if I just buy
whatever is on sale at the grocery store. However, if this becomes ubiquitous,
it may mean the product is even cheaper than it is at the store.

------
brainflake
I think this is great! Some may complain about all of the branding in their
house, but the branding is already there. You have packages of Tide, Bounty,
Clorox, etc. You can just place these buttons where you store the products.
I'd imagine a column of them stuck to the inside of a cabinet door.

~~~
pdiddy
I have started removing the labels from branded products as much as possible:
shampoo, face wash, soap, bleach. I like the simplicity. I avoid wearing
branded clothes as much as possible. The last thing I would do is put an
advertisement for P&G in my home, but I am clearly in the minority.

~~~
brainflake
Interesting. I'd say you're definitely in the minority :) Clothes I can
understand, but removing branding from something like a bottle of bleach that
spends most of it's life out of sight seems like wasted effort. That could
just be me though.

------
rickyc091
For a minute I thought they were getting rid of the Amazon Dash
([https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/](https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/)) and
replacing it with the button. Looks like both products still exist.

------
nickhalfasleep
If I have one for toilet paper next to my toilet.. how fast can they get here?

Or condoms next to my bed? Awkward!

~~~
bentcorner
You joke, but...

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/condom-ambulance-
se...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/condom-ambulance-service-
_n_2250898.html)

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3775771.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3775771.stm)

------
joshstrange
I can see this being really cool for some products but for a number of the
ones they show on that landing page I already use subscribe and save. If you
aren't using S&S you should check it out. I use it for items that I am going
to buy no matter what (needs more or less) and things I have pretty consistent
need of. Currently I get the following through S&S which means I just don't
even have to worry about them anymore:

* Paper towels

* Toilet Paper

* Shaving Cream

* Razor Blades

* Body Wash

* Shampoo/Conditioner

* Tissues

* Deodorant

* Some K-cups

* Dryer Sheets

* Dish Washing soap

* Laundry Detergent

* Dishwasher powder-stuff

And I'm sure there are a few more I'm forgetting. It's awesome to never have
to worry about these things and have them just show up. If I start piling up
with too many of certain item I just go online and adjust how often they send
it to me. I highly recommend it!

~~~
ghaff
My problem with S&S is that I travel a lot and don't want stuff to pile up
when I'm away. It's a good concept but just doesn't work for me.

------
jay_kyburz
I'm really late to the game on this one, and there are too many places I want
to put this comment, so hell, I'll just drop it here at the top level.

This button prevents you from playing the "specials" game.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Australia, our groceries are
put on special once month for a week or so 30-50% off regular retail. (I would
love to see this graphed out somewhere.)

I assume the reason is so that, people that don't care how much their
groceries cost, or don't have the foresight to buy in advance pay 30-50% more
than somebody who buys things when they are on special.

I like to think the special price is the actual price, and the regular price
is the suckers price.

------
orsenthil
My 1.5 year old will be excited to see this button in our dishwasher. Every
time we goes that side, he will make sure to press it at least 11 times. More
so, if he gets a good music feedback when the button is pressed.

------
discardorama
I have no need for this, but I signed up anyways to play with it and hack it,
if possible. Imagine hooking up these buttons to call the kids to the dinner
table... :-D

Added later: is anyone else reminded of CueCat, from the 90s?

------
gnvkay
It has a full Terms of Service, but I still refuse to believe this is real.

~~~
giarc
You thinking this is one day early?

~~~
ownagefool
Depends on your location, it's already April in the far east. What does the oc
stand for anyway?

------
yellowapple
While this rendition of such a concept seems... odd, I can picture something
similar on a more flexible scale with, say, a cheap e-Ink-based touchscreen
(or maybe a column of physical buttons to the left or right of the screen)
tablet of sorts dedicated to being a sort of household ordering kiosk; just
preload it with the sorts of products you might need for a particular room,
then set and forget. When you need to restock on something, just press the
button.

For example, in my bathroom, I'd load up my preferred choices of, say, soap,
shampoo, hand soap, toilet paper, toilet bowl cleaner, toothpaste, etc. onto
this cheap tablet, mount it somewhere in my bathroom (maybe on a wall
somewhere near the sink or something), and forget about it until I realize I'm
nearly out of shampoo, at which point I'll hit the "Head & Shoulders" button
on my little bathroom kiosk and Amazon will have a bottle of seleniumy alien-
invasion-stopping goodness delivered to my front door within 2 business days.

My laundry room would then have a similar little e-Ink kiosk loaded with
options for detergent, dryer sheets, and the various cleaning supplies I store
in there. The kitchen's kiosk would have buttons for things like dishwasher
gel, soap, and some commonly-purchased food items like Top Ramen and Deschutes
porter and glass-bottle Mountain Dew.

Basically, I can see a future where such a concept of integrating restocking
with day-to-day activities can be reality, and while these Dash buttons ain't
perfect, they're a step in the right direction in ways that current
smartphone-centric methods can't easily replicate.

------
run4yourlives2
Linking yourself to a brand in this way completely removes any power you have
as a consumer. I don't understand why people do it. And to be honest it seems
more prevalent the younger you are.

If you like a brand, you should really be doing a quick c/b analysis prior to
making any purchase. Why? Because it changes often.

A seller's entire goal in life is to extract maximum profit, so they tinker
endlessly, with formulas, package sizes, prices, etc, etc.

As a consumer, you should be looking at how this movement affects your
personal cost benefit analysis. At some point, the price may become too high,
the formula not ideal, etc. for you.

Simply disregarding that and saying "no matter what, I buy Tide" is a sure way
to be taken to the cleaners.

This is a genius bit of technology for businesses that want to maximize
profits, so I'm sure they will be all over it. P&G would love to sell you Tide
without you even looking at other brands, or the size of the package, or the
price. It's a seller's dream.

It's horrible for a consumer though. I'd suggest all consumers give careful
thought to relinquishing any bargaining power they may have in an already
unbalanced equation.

Case in point: Disposable razors.

EDIT: Heh, didn't think this would be a popular post. Go figure.

~~~
mathattack
Here's why people do it... If you have something you like, it's frequently
easier not to have to rethink the purchase decision every time. We have finite
attention spans. We can spend it on price shopping staples, or programming, or
being with our families. For many people, the $10/order of rethinking prices
isn't worth the hassle of 15 minutes and uncertainty in a less important
decision. They'd rather invest the time picking software, clothes, cars,
schools, or whatever. It's the same reason people won't drive an extra 15
minutes to Walmart.

~~~
ZanyProgrammer
There are people (perhaps not the denizens of HN who make high 5/low 6 figure
salaries) who are very sensitive to price. This really screws them.

~~~
kenjackson
How does it screw them? Is the gov't requiring people to use it?

As far as I can tell you can decide if you think the price/convenience
tradeoff works for you.

As it stands right now, when I go to get replacement razor blades from Amazon,
I don't price compare anyways. I know what the ballpark price is, and if its
in that ballpark I order. I could spend 2 hours on SlickDeals and other
various sites finding the best price, and doing auctions on EBay, but I
decided that saving a buck or two isn't worth it (especially since half the
time I'd end up saving no money).

------
kbenson
I think what we may have here is Amazon using hardware to simulate interest
and jump-start eventual software. While this seems really cool, it also seems
so wasteful that I'm not sure I can bring myself to really use one of these.
What I think would be good though is an Amazon quick-list of essentials that
you can access in a very streamlined way through the Amazon phone app.

A quick list of purchasables through the phone app is something essentially
have, or could have with very minimal work. Getting people to use what
essentially doesn't sound like that interesting of a feature is the problem. A
cool swizzy new hardware device fits that need, and once people are using
that, the App just pre-fills the quick list with items they are using through
hardware. People can then decide whether they want a new button for a new
essential, or just to add it to the app, and eventually people are just using
the app more because there don't exist certain buttons or waiting for them is
a hassle.

Not the kind of thing just any company could pul off, but it is the kind of
thing I think Amazon could.

------
sleepyhead
A Swedish startup launched the same product last year:
[http://flic.io/](http://flic.io/)

------
detaro
It being so extremely single-purpose makes me think it is a joke.

But it could easily be made real: Add a camera and you could have something to
either scan a bar code or recognize the product label. Press button, hold the
item in question still for a second, done. No need for 2 rows of buttons in
the kitchen ;)

(I've actually seen something like this for shopping list creation as a DIY
project somewhere, years ago)

~~~
sib
That is effectively what the Amazon Dash (stick) does.

------
harshaw
Like google glass this seems almost more interesting in a business or office
environment.

There are many situations where your inventory runs low of something fairly
obscure. Having the employee press the "order more" button and have shit show
up is productivity boost. Sure, you could accomplish the same with a barcode
and scanner app, but it is a little bit more automation.

------
jasonkolb
This is incredibly cool. I love the way it blurs the line between the physical
and the digital. I very much dislike the trend towards touchscreens on
everything, I personally like physical controls that have a single purpose,
like a volume button.

I could easily order laundry soap on my phone, but this is far quicker and
easier, and a genius move by Amazon.

------
arkhifoxx
I still can't help but think, tomorrow is April first. It's a odd but
interesting idea, however, the timing....

------
zeristor
I imagine April the first starts at noon on the 31st March. Those Pacific
Islanders are the first into the future.

------
technologia
Apparently not an April Fools Prank: [http://nypost.com/2015/03/31/no-april-
fools-joke-amazon-test...](http://nypost.com/2015/03/31/no-april-fools-joke-
amazon-tests-tiny-push-to-buy-buttons/)

------
meesterdude
I think it will surely be useful for many people and in the end that's what
really matters here. But will I use it? unlikely. I'd much rather have
something on my phone, a bunch of icons for things i order frequently, and
single tap there.

How long until these light up and start talking to you, begging you to press
the button whenever it senses motion near it?

But whatever - they're pushing the ball. If this takes off, eventually you'll
be able to build your own - something I have been waiting for at a reasonable
price point. It also means other market engagement - things like food or
medical monitoring - some good possibilities there.

But I don't think this is an april fools joke. If it is, they're the fools.
It's only march 30th.

~~~
muppetman
Not in New Zealand or Australia it isn't.

------
digisth
Not much of an opinion on this, but a step beyond this seems like it could be
interesting.

1) You register all the products you reorder with any frequency (detergents,
napkins, whatever)

2) Each package comes with a remotely readable electronic tag

3) A device periodically scans for inventory (I'm assuming very little
intelligence in the tags, so an evented system is out)

4) When the number of packages per type reaches some critical threshold, you
receive an email/app alert asking if you'd like to reorder

Some refrigerators have this, but it would be much more interesting to have it
be all products. One of the first steps would be to have some kind of open
standard for the tags so any manufacturer could include them.

~~~
mmanfrin
I tried for about 5 minutes to find it, but I was unable: there is a startup
that does this. It ships you things in a box, you keep them there, and when an
item leaves the box, it will reorder that for you (so the box is always
stocked).

Bummed I couldn't find it, though.

------
rexreed
My 2 year old and 5 year old will be clicking this button like crazy. I'll
come home one day and find 20 boxes of Tide and Toilet paper and a bill for
$900.

"Button! Must Click it! What does it do? I don't know! Click it again!"

~~~
paragraft
As well as the one click limit, there's an easy fix for this assuming your
kids aren't aberrantly tall for their age.

------
itsaprilfools
Works over Wi-Fi? Is there a screen on the back and a keypad to type the
password and select the network? Wifi takes a lot of power. Does it use AAAs,
or do you have to periodically recharge the batteries? That surely would be
impractical. Especially if you have a button for multiple products in your
house, as shown in the video - maintaining five or six of these things would
be a pain. A separate Amazon app or a component of the Amazon app with a list
of products you plan on reordering periodically seems much more practical.

Just doesn't seem plausible. April Fools is tomorrow.

~~~
ceejayoz
The app on your phone uses wifi. I'd expect the buttons use Bluetooth's low-
energy variant.

~~~
engendered
My reading of it is that the app on the phone is used to configure the button,
and the button from then on operates independently (which would be good in
that it would allows others to use it when the original person isn't around).
It's ambiguous, though, and could go either way.

Given that it would literally only have to connect to the wifi and do the API
calls when the button is pressed, the power usage would be minuscule.

------
mthmohan
IMHO, this is a long game. What if every branded product (or ones that cared
enough or could afford it) shipped with a dash button or was given one at
checkout? What would brands pay for that? Customers wouldn't have to. And yes,
I see the anti-incentive for a Safeway to disintermediate themselves unless
Amazon was the delivery agent anyway. I can see brands willing to try this
out. Given the amount of money spent on promotions and coupons with no clear,
trackable value, this seems like something they would get behind once some
basic metrics are in place.

------
agounaris
I like going out shopping the essentials, i like to pick up my own coffee and
maybe check what else is on the shelve...this product looks a bit depressing
"just stay home and order from amazon"

------
kozak
I'm not from the United States, so forgive me if I don't understand how Amazon
works. But does this system imply that orders through this system will be
delivered in individual mail packages, with delivery fees paid (either
explicitly or implicitly) for every package? When a normal human makes an
order, she will group several items in one delivery package most of the time.
Especially for the inexpensive and non-urgent stuff like the laundry
detergent. Will it cause more wasted packaging materials and more fuel
spending overall?

~~~
SoftwareMaven
With Amazon Prime (required for this, at least for now), you pay one time per
year and get free two-day shipping for the year (along with other benefits
like Amazon's Netflix-like video service and free delivery of
diapers/nappies). With Prime, you generally don't think about combining
shipments, since there is no benefit in doing so _.

_ Except for those intangible benefits like reducing carbon footprints. I tend
to feel guilty purchasing one-off small items and tend to group those
purchases, even though I don't have to.

~~~
chicknbig0
The cost is at least another box to fold, move along a conveyor belt, fill
with padding, attach a label, route for shipping, gas/diesel/electric energy
to deliver from end-to-end and waste to recycle.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
Those aren't costs I pay. Anything it costs Amazon is absolutely meaningless
to me; I've already paid for it in my Prime membership, and I already brought
up the point about the intangible costs.

------
sbt
This disruptive solution really helps me solve my only remaining excuse to not
get out of the house. Buying detergent at the store nearby every 3 months was
such an ordeal. Thanks Amazonistan.

------
moonbug
Was ever a product more obviously invented by someone without children?

~~~
m3mnoch
i suspect you don't actually have children.

as a parent, the places these buttons would need to be for me are already
child-proofed. if it's sitting next to where i keep my laundry detergent, that
space is already child-proofed. if it's under the sink next to my bottle of
409, it's already child-proofed.

know what i mean?

------
flibble
Anyone know where you can buy hardware like this (a wifi button) that you
could then use for your own stuff? Eg. Using your own little web server: Press
to order an uber etc.

~~~
joezydeco
It sure looks like Amazon's hardware team has optimized the package size, but
for tinkering you could start with some of the products from Spark:

[https://store.spark.io/](https://store.spark.io/)

------
a_c_s
This seems like a cool idea, but in my experience Amazon's prices for
household goods fluctuate dramatically. Sometimes things are a great deal, but
a month later they could be more expensive than purchasing at a local store
(and I'm in NYC, the stores I'm comparing them to certainly aren't cheap).

So I'd be willing to use a button like this for a store with consistently low
prices like Costco (or even WalMart), but not for Amazon.

------
p4wnc6
I can't wait for Amazon to release the Amazoniotic Sac, a revolutionary new
technology to make everyday hassles easier for the common man. You just step
inside the goo-filled sac from Amazon, place the Nutrient Nozzle like a scuba
mask over your mouth and nose, place the Dross Duct (Rubbish Funnel? I haven't
market-tested these) you-know-where, sit back, and relax comfortably until the
inevitable heat death of the universe.

------
_tomasz
I'm still holding out that this is an April fools joke

------
gdulli
Am I alone in thinking that it's already more than easy enough to buy things?
E-commerce is great the way it is and sometimes I enjoy going out into the
world to shop at a real store.

All this lock-in to Amazon does is obscure that these days you can find the
same deal or better elsewhere with a little bit of looking. Especially with
groceries and household items Amazon has never been as competitive as they
consistently are with media.

------
chrisper
Did you guys see this one?

[https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/](https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/)

------
jebblue
Brilliant idea! I can't tell you how many times I've gone to do some chore
around the house and didn't have paper or a smart phone with me to make a
note. I only hope they don't patent it such that a generic version of this
can't be done. Like, using a few cleverly placed Rasberry PI's that wirelessly
update a TODO list on my computer.

------
VonGuard
I predict about 10 minutes before my asshole friends have ordered me 100 boxes
of Tide by pushing this button about 100 times as a gag.

~~~
ryandetzel
Did you read it, it only activates once until the product has been delivered.

------
jkap
It's being reported on as if it's not a joke, so I'm now assuming it isn't:
[http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/31/8316775/amazon-dash-
button...](http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/31/8316775/amazon-dash-buttons-turn-
homes-into-shopping-carts)

------
JosephRedfern
Can't we machine-learn when people need new items based on past order history,
instead of requiring them to push a button?

------
adeptus
So people have to authorize the purchase via their smartphones anyway, so why
not just have a simple amazon app with the list of your frequent consumable
purchases and have a 1 click shop button for what you need? That way you can
order it even from work if you remember you are about to go out of laundry
soap. Less e-waste waste.

------
khaki54
April fools?

------
AliEzer
Reminds me of Evian's Smart Drop back in 2012.
[http://www.danoneaunaturel.fr/espace-
presse/nos_marques/evia...](http://www.danoneaunaturel.fr/espace-
presse/nos_marques/evian/smart_drop_la_goutte_qui_va_connecter_votre_frigo.html)

------
jcashion
This has to be an April fools joke, right?

------
web007
I hope this is real.

It feels like a joke, but I could use this. I already have Amazon Subscribe-
and-Save set up to deliver products on a regular basis, but the available
schedules don't always meet my usage patterns. Having a button for "I took the
last box of diapers out of the closet" would be perfect.

------
czk
I can see the headlines now, "Boy Racks Up $15000 in Shaving Cream on Dad's
Amazon Bill"... :)

~~~
icelancer
Do people ever read the articles before commenting? It specifically says this
isn't a thing. It only responds to a push until the item is delivered.

------
bl4ckm0r3
This is an april fools' joke right?

------
MattyRad
Assuming this isn't an April Fools joke, it would be interesting to discuss
this idea in the context of a growing shut-in culture.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9265817](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9265817)

------
demiraven
I might find this more interesting when and if they connect this to brands and
products I would buy. Linking this solely to major brands owned by mega-
corporations is a significant turn-off.

I want to be able to modify it to buy the things I want, not just from the
limited set it confines me to.

------
Scryptonite
I think that if they are remotely serious (being almost April 1st) I think I'd
like to see them offer to bundle NFC stickers with each product purchase, so
that I can place them near the product's point of use should I want to replace
it at some point in the future.

------
jedanbik
Well, if they can beat the prices I pay for baking soda and vinegar at the
grocery store, I'm in.

------
thedangler
All I want is to know what products are offered for same day delivery. That
way we can make services that empowers the consumer to purchase items they may
need on a weekly basis or need by days end. If there is currently such a way,
by all means please let me know.

------
j2kun
What would be really great is if it could _learn_ how often to order refills.
Then I don't even have to think about buying essential goods at all, and it
could optimize, e.g., how to package goods together to minimize the amount of
wasted shipping costs.

------
Morieris
You can hate this all you want, but the next time your office is out of
coffee, imagine having a button that makes it show up.

This doesn't have to be for the home. There are thousands of things that it
won't be good for. There are more that it will be good for.

------
filsmick
I think announcing a product on April 1st is a genius strategy. They can see
if customers want it or think it's a joke; if nobody likes the product, they
say it's for April Fools, if, on the other hand, people like it, they launch
it for real.

------
doki_pen
I can never tell if an Amazon product is an April Fools Day gag or not. I'm
guessing yes.

------
decisiveness
Often, it doesn't register that I need a household item replaced until it's
gone. In this case, going to the store would fulfill my needs immediately
whereas ordering from amazon could cause me to wait two days for a roll of
toilet paper.

------
jonnycowboy
Can't wait for my 2-yr-old to try and push all the buttons around the house...

~~~
lkbm
Does your two-year-old also turn on your stove burners? That seems a lot more
dangerous. Put them out-of-reach. Worst case: they press the buttons anyway
and you have to open an app and cancel the orders.

~~~
xyclos
I can easily go behind my two-year-old and switch the burners off. I can't as
easily return 42 jugs of Tide and get refunds.

~~~
chrisper
You can cancel the 42 jugs of Tide before it gets even shipped as you get a
notification when someone presses the button.

------
joshdance
Beautifully done Amazon. No one will ever comparison shop. They won't price
check. They will happily order whatever the button is linked to for the rest
of time.

Next up, buttons for kids, to get em hooked early. A Cheerio button! :)

------
wheels
It seems like for a lot of products a less gaudy solution would be a recycling
bin with a barcode scanner. Combined with reorder thresholds, that would seem
to also have a seamless process without the fugly.

------
enthdegree
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMacTuHPWFI#t=8s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMacTuHPWFI#t=8s)

Apparently amazon likes their mac and cheese a little dry...

------
tylermac1
Interesting idea. Seems like having one button per item would be overkill.

Maybe have one generic button that opens an app on your phone to choose an
item from your 'frequently purchased' items.

~~~
CheckHook
That would actually be the same amount of steps as the current situation.

I often leave re-stocking items till later and ultimately end up forgetting.

~~~
tylermac1
True, I guess I imagined it more as building a shopping list throughout the
day/week and ordering once at the end of the day, not separate orders for
every button click.

------
mc32
Whatever you do, keep it out of the reach of kids...

Thankfully by default it only registers the fist press, till delivery resets
it. But if you have one for many things and a kid goes on a tear...

------
castratikron
Just tape a Mountain Dew button to the back of my xbox controller.

------
prawn
Eventually these buttons may be on the boxes themselves somehow if there was a
way for a new box to read from a master device in the house and know which
account it was tied to?

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TWAndrews
This would be great until one of my kids pushed it like 50 times.

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arkhifoxx
The timing is a bit suspicious to me. Tomorrow is April first...

------
ryangittins

      O brave new world, That has such consumers in't!

------
njharman
Really, I'm not sure if this is April 1st joke...

pro: It's kind of absurd, impracticably too many products/buttons

con: It's 3/31, no one else is thinking it's a joke...

------
pistle
I am so putting one behind the toilet paper roll to enable "the button press
of shame."

My hope is that this is for April 1.

I can't believe this isn't already built into Keurigs.

------
WalterBright
This device is an intriguing idea. I wonder what other cool things can be done
around the house with a single purpose wireless button connecting to the
internet.

------
Aardwolf
Is there also a button with which you can order the batteries to put in all
the buttons? Do they also provide the service of replacing all the batteries
for you?

~~~
mrtron
Battery life is probably a few years, and it looks like the device is designed
to be disposable then.

~~~
zaroth
I hate taxes beyond respite, but if this exists, and is disposable, it should
come with a landfill tax.

------
negamax
It seems like automation gone too far? There can simply be dash button(s) in
the smartphone app itself like a quickdial list, but for pre populated Amazon
items

------
stephengoodwin
Wait...this isn't an April Fools' joke?

~~~
millerm
That's what we're hoping at my office. Yikes.

------
wrsh07
Amazon sure is innovating with the internet of things. I just don't think
they've hit on anything with their innovation.

------
Harimwakairi
How easy will it be to reverse engineer these and use them for other purposes?
And is anyone else old enough to remember Cue Cat?

------
bigdubs
Why not just make a smartphone app? Maybe customize which virtual buttons you
have based on what you need? Am I missing something?

------
eva1984
Somehow I feel like this would actually be useful! For things like toothpaste
or my favorite snacks, this is exactly what I want!

------
Cshelton
I skimmed quite a few comments and didn't see a mention of it...but does this
not scream April Fools to anyone else...?

------
dheera
I'm honestly more excited about whether I can hack up these buttons to do
things _other_ than talk to amazon.com.

------
cypher543
I wonder how hackable these will be. I'm sure people could find plenty of uses
for a simple WiFi-connected button.

------
enlightenedfool
Convenient, but I think this should be made a standard and configurable so
that consumers can easily switch vendors.

------
pedrorijo91
I wonder if it's just an April fool joke. In some countries it's already April
1st due to time zones...

------
blakeja
Wife's reaction - "Creepy."

------
shitlord
Didn't Dominos do this a few years ago with a pizza delivery button? It was
pretty cool but I never got one.

------
stegosaurus
Am I the only person that buys sensible amounts of things?

I don't buy one bottle of detergent. I buy 5. When there's two left or
whatever, I have weeks to get another 5. If the item has high shelf life and I
know that I need it for essentially forever, I might even get 10 or 15 or
more.

And no, my home isn't especially cluttered.

Boggles my mind. Why is pasta even sold in 500g bags?

------
grandalf
This is a placebo button for subscribe and save. I guess whatever works (I
plan to sign up).

------
cfontes
I like novelties just like the next guy but one thing that gets me wondering
is:

Are we really that lazy now?

------
kendallpark
April Fools?

------
gchokov
Never run out of toilet paper again.. and don’t forget to put the “Innovation”
badge.

------
alexchamberlain
I really hope this is true... my fiancee thinks it's an April Fool's joke.

------
dismal2
When I clicked I was expecting some kind of custom hardware interface for
AWS...

------
LukeHoersten
This is the coolest thing I've ever seen. Nice work innovating, Amazon!

------
popper189
This is truly awesome! Incredible how technology is advancing, quickly. :o

------
eka808
Imagine that you could buy cigarettes with that... Cancer button literally

------
avinassh
If this is an April Fool's joke, then it's brilliantly done.

------
hbbio
So, it's about Dash + Home Services + Goat Grazer.

That beats Pacmaps for sure!

------
ape4
"Honey, did you press the button to order more coffee?"

------
zotovas
I just can image kids clicking on it over and over again...

~~~
cdmcmahon
I believe it said the default setting is that it will only register a click as
an order after the previous one was delivered. I could have misread that,
though.

------
sandGorgon
so, the conversation is all about how useful/useless this.

Anybody know what stack are they using ? For e.g. Paypal Beacon used some
combination of Go running on Arm5

------
icosahedron
Is this real or is this an early April Fool's joke?

------
edward
It would get dirty, it would be another thing to clean.

------
bogrollben
Just don't put it where your kids can reach it.

------
NewDimension
I would venture to say this is an April fools joke

------
petersouth
Cats and toddlers are going to go nuts on these!

------
stasel
Are we sure it is not another April fools joke?

------
endymi0n
April fools leaked early or is this for real?!

------
ck2
Geez I cannot stand april fools anymore.

------
charlie_vill
Watch kids press these uncontrolably.

------
hobarrera
Isn't the 1st of April tomorrow?

~~~
JonnieCache
It's already 5 hours into april the first in australia. This is surely a
cross-branded april fools joke. I'm just shocked that so many people are
taking it seriously. It's testimony to the insane state of the industry/world.

If it's real then I might need to go and have a little cry.

------
devy
April Fool's joke comes early?!

------
vzhang
Good luck to the people with cats!

------
benb_
April fools!

------
carsonreinke
Will this be delivered by drone?

------
gburt
Is it April 1 already?

------
kalefranz
I had to check to double-check to make sure it wasn't April 1st today.

------
kylan
April Fool's

------
vzhang
good luck to the people with cats.

------
verkter
April Fools?

------
benb_
April Fools!

------
restlessmedia
April fool?!

------
imranq
April Fools

------
curiously
I wanna know the tech behind this button. is it sending 3g signals to amazon?

------
emergentcypher
This must be the most elaborate April Fools joke I have ever seen.

------
dbloom
I wonder if they're pulling a Gmail by announcing this on April Fools Day
(it's April Fools Day somewhere, right?).

(Like most stuff coming out of Amazon, I can't actually tell if this is a good
idea)

------
natar
There has been a Radiolab episode about the slave-like conditions the workers
at Amazon face:

[http://www.radiolab.org/story/brown-
box/](http://www.radiolab.org/story/brown-box/)

~~~
CraigRood
As someone who has worked in a warehouse facility as a picker - though not
Amazon. I find the 'slave-like conditions'a bit unfair.

Now I can't speak for Amazon themselves, most of the complaints seem to stem
from the fact that being a picker IS a skill. Not everyone can be good at it.
It's physical - which I personally found fantastic, getting paid to stay fit,
and on company time. You need to have somewhat a good memory, but more
importantly an analytical brain to process the information on the scanner.
Whilst the locations of the items might not have any seemingly logical order,
the layout of the facility does. If you can process the bin locations
immediately then you save many seconds of your target. Which brings me to the
targets. It may seem 'slave-like' to have a timer between picks but each and
every one is achievable (through analysis of every other pick ever made), and
even if you miss a pick by 5 seconds, you've probably saved 5 seconds
somewhere else during that same day/week/month (depending on how they evaluate
your performance). Again though that's no to say that everyone has the skill
to do so.

The episode you highlighted mentions that employees at Amazon tend to enjoy
their work. If you can do the job, there's very little stress, pay can be good
- we're talking about a generally unskilled job, certainly more than most
retail stores. Decent benefits - vacation, healthcare etc. Shifts can be very
favourable depending on the facility - 4 in 4 off can mean long weekends and
plenty of opportunity for family time.

Some days I wish I was just picking.

