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I recall an episode of Software Engineering Daily where the host, Jeff was interviewing some Microsoft guys and they suggested AWS was the result of Amazon sell

• emodendroket 9y ago
  I've always wondered about how Target can maintain this image as some kind of forward-thinking retailer when they're no better than Walmart is on most of that stuff, but I think the answer is honestly mostly "the Wrong Kind of People shop at Walmart."
  • Spooky23 9y ago
    They offer better service and selection in many areas than Walmart. This is particularly true outside of the south, where Walmart is just better for some reason. Here in the northeast, Walmart is like DMV especially when benefit checks come in. They also appeal more to women, and eschew product categories that men and poor folk flock to like car parts, guns, fishing, Jesus books, crafting, etc.
    • bdcravens 9y ago
      > eschew product categories that men and poor folk flock to like car parts, guns, fishing, Jesus books, crafting, etc. Other than guns and car parts, I've seen all of the above at Target. (However I'm in Houston, so product selection may vary regionally)
    • dragonwriter 9y ago
      > They also appeal more to women, and eschew product categories that men and poor folk flock to like car parts, guns, fishing, Jesus books, crafting, etc. Target does not eschew most of those categories (guns and car parts are the only ones I think they consistently don't carry). Also, as an aside, crafting isn't a “men and poor people” category, anyway, but a famously huge interest for middle class women.
      • Spooky23 9y ago
        My local Walmart probably has two full aisles for crafting stuff... probably about 200 linear feet. The next aisle is ball jars and canning. Target probably has about 40 feet of that stuff, mostly scrapbooking and similar stuff. No yarn, no knitting needles, etc. Fishing in my local Target in a single 4-ft section, next to 12ft of water bottle and Thermos jars. Walmart is probably two half aisles of stuff.
        • emodendroket 9y ago
          While I don't doubt that there are some differences in focus, Walmart generally has more of everything than Target.
      • emodendroket 9y ago
        Women are also more religious and more likely to attend religious services.
    • emodendroket 9y ago
      I live in Massachusetts. My experience is that the selection is smaller and more expensive but the goods are not of a higher quality (especially if you have a Walmart Super Center). But I think the "especially when the benefit checks come in" aside illustrates exactly what I am talking about.
      • Spooky23 9y ago
        Walmart targets the market, it isn't a good or bad thing. Walmart is sort of an ersatz bank for under-banked folks and folks on the margins.
  • ericd 9y ago
    For me it's as simple as making it so the stores don't look like they've been through a looting riot recently. I still go to Walmart sometimes, but I'm generally not happy about it.
• stordoff 9y ago
  > Jeff interrupted him and said that was “not accurate.” Not accurate to say that Amazon is selling its own infrastructure, or not accurate to say that they had the internal competencies to launch AWS due to building their own infrastructure? I've always assumed it's the latter -- AWS is an abstraction of tools they needed to build anyway -- rather than literally sharing compute etc. with Amazon services.
  • gt_ 9y ago
    I think this was some lazy paraphrasing on my part. I’m pretty sure the latter is what they meant. Personally, to me, it sounds like ones of those business idea myths that may have some bit of truth but it’s mostly a viral spin.
• ghaff 9y ago
  What I assume is being referred to is the story that AWS got started to sell Amazon's spare compute capacity. Werner Vogels has publicly stated that this is a myth: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8658383 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8658383