6 ms·

Looks like Amazon picked up the buffer box [1] idea. Such a shame Google bought them and shut them down, it had such potential. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wi

Looks like Amazon picked up the buffer box [1] idea. Such a shame Google bought them and shut them down, it had such potential. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BufferBox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BufferBox

dannysu 9y ago
I thought BufferBox was a copy of Amazon Locker [1]? [1]: https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_366591722_2?_encoding=UTF8&node=6442600011
- clvcooke 9y ago
  Seems like they were launched around similar times (both came out in 2011) so that a definite possibility. However from what I know about Waterloo's design projects (as this was a final year design project) this project was most likely started in 2010, so technically amazon's locker came out later. Although who knows who copies who when things get released so close to each other.
  - wavefunction 9y ago
    I would imagine that Amazon began working on their solution for some time before its release as well. Not that it matters to me who beat who but just to point out that they still likely started around the same time.
    - hosh 9y ago
      So ... I wonder how this is going to play into Amazon's drone delivery tech.
neptunespear 9y ago
I did some digging in the /r/uwaterloo subreddit and it turns out that some customers were getting packages at no cost. Perhaps it wasn't financially viable.
- canistr 9y ago
  I used it a bunch of times and having it on campus was pretty great. It was way safer than having the packages left randomly at the front of your residence. So as far as a "solved problem" is concerned, this definitely wasn't solved in any shape or form at Waterloo until BufferBox arrived.
lampenrad 9y ago
DHL has been operating Packstationen in Germany since 2001: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packstation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packstation >There are 3,000 Packstation machines in Germany[1] and 90 percent of the people living in Germany were within ten minutes of a DHL Packstation.[2] There are also Paketboxen, which are smaller installations for residential areas. The whole system works pretty well for me. The one big downside is, that it only works with DHL/Deutsche Post parcel. They are the dominant player here, but sometimes delivery by them is not available.
- prodmerc 9y ago
  I lived briefly in Koln, my local DHL driver was a fucking asshole. Driving by my home, marking me as "not home", not leaving the notices and shit. It was always the same guy, I literally saw him pass by me waiting for him, then checking the delivery status it was marked as "undeliverable" or "recipient not home". What a fucking dickhead. The DHL member card allowed me to send packages to the nearest post office or a Packstation. I just used the former. The cunt actually tried to tell me it was for German citizens only, I told him to give me the fucking package (containing the membership card) and get lost. Turkish piece of shit.
  - megous 9y ago
    Type A?
  - pdabbadabba 9y ago
    > Turkish piece of shit. And you wonder why he doesn't want to deliver your packages...
    - prodmerc 9y ago
      I'm fucking tired of filtering everyone individually. 3 people from an ethnicity/nationality fuck me over - all of them are shit unless whitelisted.
  - sctb 9y ago
    We've banned this account for continuing to violate the guidelines after we've asked you several times to stop. We're happy to unban accounts if you email hn@ycombinator.com and we believe you'll post civilly and substantively in the future. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
hosh 9y ago
Looks more like Amazon Locker to me.

dannysu 9y ago

I thought BufferBox was a copy of Amazon Locker [1]? [1]: https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_366591722_2?_encoding=UTF8&node=6442600011

clvcooke 9y ago
Seems like they were launched around similar times (both came out in 2011) so that a definite possibility. However from what I know about Waterloo's design projects (as this was a final year design project) this project was most likely started in 2010, so technically amazon's locker came out later. Although who knows who copies who when things get released so close to each other.
- wavefunction 9y ago
  I would imagine that Amazon began working on their solution for some time before its release as well. Not that it matters to me who beat who but just to point out that they still likely started around the same time.
  - hosh 9y ago
    So ... I wonder how this is going to play into Amazon's drone delivery tech.

neptunespear 9y ago

I did some digging in the /r/uwaterloo subreddit and it turns out that some customers were getting packages at no cost. Perhaps it wasn't financially viable.

canistr 9y ago
I used it a bunch of times and having it on campus was pretty great. It was way safer than having the packages left randomly at the front of your residence. So as far as a "solved problem" is concerned, this definitely wasn't solved in any shape or form at Waterloo until BufferBox arrived.

lampenrad 9y ago

DHL has been operating Packstationen in Germany since 2001: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packstation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packstation >There are 3,000 Packstation machines in Germany[1] and 90 percent of the people living in Germany were within ten minutes of a DHL Packstation.[2] There are also Paketboxen, which are smaller installations for residential areas. The whole system works pretty well for me. The one big downside is, that it only works with DHL/Deutsche Post parcel. They are the dominant player here, but sometimes delivery by them is not available.

prodmerc 9y ago
I lived briefly in Koln, my local DHL driver was a fucking asshole. Driving by my home, marking me as "not home", not leaving the notices and shit. It was always the same guy, I literally saw him pass by me waiting for him, then checking the delivery status it was marked as "undeliverable" or "recipient not home". What a fucking dickhead. The DHL member card allowed me to send packages to the nearest post office or a Packstation. I just used the former. The cunt actually tried to tell me it was for German citizens only, I told him to give me the fucking package (containing the membership card) and get lost. Turkish piece of shit.
- megous 9y ago
  Type A?
- pdabbadabba 9y ago
  > Turkish piece of shit. And you wonder why he doesn't want to deliver your packages...
  - prodmerc 9y ago
    I'm fucking tired of filtering everyone individually. 3 people from an ethnicity/nationality fuck me over - all of them are shit unless whitelisted.
- sctb 9y ago
  We've banned this account for continuing to violate the guidelines after we've asked you several times to stop. We're happy to unban accounts if you email hn@ycombinator.com and we believe you'll post civilly and substantively in the future. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

hosh 9y ago

Looks more like Amazon Locker to me.