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I've called things a silly idea before and been wrong, so who knows. That caveat in place, this might be a time to start from the bottom of the idea tree and t

I've called things a silly idea before and been wrong, so who knows. That caveat in place, this might be a time to start from the bottom of the idea tree and try some of the more obvious limbs. If the problem this solves is absent deliveries, don't we just need bigger mailboxes or maybe even smart mailboxes? Maybe they're thinking about this differently. Maybe it's about building trust, or just getting amazon smartstuff into homes for some other underpants plan. At face value, a cloud connected lock seems excessive.

redm 9y ago
I had similar thoughts. Has Amazon posted any statistics on package theft when packages are left at the front door? I'm wondering if Amazon is acting of perceived fears to strengthen it's foothold in the home or trying to reduce losses by subsidizing a somewhat complex solution?
- arkades 9y ago
  Unlike a smart mailbox, this lets them plug your front door / the smartlock business line into Alexa. They get to do the same with video surveillance of the home, which they’ve been pushing with their fashion app and whatnot - so this means in the future they can possibly integrate these inward-facing cameras into services they’re already developing. It seems like this is a play for pushing a smart home ecology around Alexa.
- brianmartinek 9y ago
  With one of my recent Amazon deliveries, a picture was taken of the package sitting in front of my mailbox. It was accessible through the Amazon app when I received the delivery notification. It's an apartment building, so it was nice to know where it was left since the location of packages delivered seems to vary based on which company delivers it. My very first thought when I saw it was this was a solution to prove that a delivery took place in cases of package theft.
deleted 9y ago
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ghaff 9y ago
Many people with standard on the street mailboxes would benefit from upsizing. I did after Amazon switched to using USPS for a lot of my deliveries. No more (OK--much less) packages crammed into the mailbox, hung off of it, etc. I have a long dirt driveway and the postal carrier somewhat understandably hates to go down it to drop things off at the house.

redm 9y ago

I had similar thoughts. Has Amazon posted any statistics on package theft when packages are left at the front door? I'm wondering if Amazon is acting of perceived fears to strengthen it's foothold in the home or trying to reduce losses by subsidizing a somewhat complex solution?

arkades 9y ago
Unlike a smart mailbox, this lets them plug your front door / the smartlock business line into Alexa. They get to do the same with video surveillance of the home, which they’ve been pushing with their fashion app and whatnot - so this means in the future they can possibly integrate these inward-facing cameras into services they’re already developing. It seems like this is a play for pushing a smart home ecology around Alexa.
brianmartinek 9y ago
With one of my recent Amazon deliveries, a picture was taken of the package sitting in front of my mailbox. It was accessible through the Amazon app when I received the delivery notification. It's an apartment building, so it was nice to know where it was left since the location of packages delivered seems to vary based on which company delivers it. My very first thought when I saw it was this was a solution to prove that a delivery took place in cases of package theft.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

ghaff 9y ago

Many people with standard on the street mailboxes would benefit from upsizing. I did after Amazon switched to using USPS for a lot of my deliveries. No more (OK--much less) packages crammed into the mailbox, hung off of it, etc. I have a long dirt driveway and the postal carrier somewhat understandably hates to go down it to drop things off at the house.