4 ms·

What an inspiring story, shows that true passion overcomes every barrier. And yet, sadly, I have to add this to this beautiful story: is it just me or does thi

What an inspiring story, shows that true passion overcomes every barrier. And yet, sadly, I have to add this to this beautiful story: is it just me or does this feel like Amazon marketing at its finest?

lobotryas 9y ago
Of course it's amazon PR. They are trying to rehabilitate their less than flattering image as both an engineering shop and how they treat their warehouse employees (the latter: terribly, like something out of a Dickensian novel).
- mlevental 9y ago
  of course it's Amazon or: it's on their site
  - themodelplumber 9y ago
    It's on this site, too ;-)
- akhilcacharya 9y ago
  As an engineering shop? In what way? Disclosure: I interned at Amazon
Who828 9y ago
Even if it's done for marketing, I think it's a small price to pay if it can inspire even one visually challenged person to take up programming professionally. Perhaps someone who loved computers might be wondering around the world if he/she can ever work as a programmer. He/She might not have explored how to go about it or he/she might not be confident enough to try. So if this story can change one person's mind, I think it's a sin worth committing.
- mindfulplay 9y ago
  Again if it is about the person I'd agree. This is a fluff piece FOR amazon.
decebalus1 9y ago
> is it just me or does this feel like Amazon marketing at its finest? Not just you. Also, there have been some other 'heartwarming' stories on Reddit today about dogs at Amazon and the 'amazing' perks employees have. The PR machine is trying to balance out the latest developments.
coldtea 9y ago
Yes, it is. For every such story, there are tens of thousands of people working in fear and peeing in a cup covertly. This is a PR story intended to whitewash that. But hey, it's their best option, else they would have found another job, so all is well in the best of all possible worlds. /s
mindfulplay 9y ago
This is Amazon milking the story to the fullest amount. I had the same feeling with the Microsoft marketing for the AI camera thing. They really don't give a shit about employee happiness or anything because the 99.99% cases you hear from Amazon employees lack even the basic dignity or respect. This is just a nice marketing story to portray Amazon in a positive light.
- joering2 9y ago
  I feel important replying: all the stories you heard are about ground-level employees that are packing stuff in Amazon Warehouses. I have four friends working on different levels of profession in Amazon and I can assure you not even junior programmers need to pee in the bottle without bathroom breaks. I am in no way defending Amazon they deserve all criticism, but I think it is unfair to put everyone in the same basked within one organization. You really believe people that built then and manage AWS cloud now are treated so badly that they can't even go pee?
  - bamboozled 9y ago
    Here's the issue with this view, nobody, deservers to be denied basic human rights at work, even if they just pack boxes or built AWS. You can argue that they should be on different pay scales, but as far as taking breaks, working in a safe environment and going to the toilet, they're rights that should be extended to all employees and any level of the corporate ladder. I use Amazon far less after hearing about these issues.
    - joering2 9y ago
      I think you missed this part: I am in no way defending Amazon they deserve all criticism [..]
  - mindfulplay 9y ago
    I am talking about Amazon engineers. I know from data that they treat their warehouse people like garbage.
lucio 9y ago
Is there any way to do it without some people suspecting marketing? If the history is real, which it is, then it's OK in my book, there's no way to tell the history without some people suspecting marketing
- opportune 9y ago
  Yes of course there is, the article could not mention his workplace or at the very least not place it in the title. Plus the article was published on aboutamazon.com. That is blatant marketing/branding unnecessary for the actual story

lobotryas 9y ago

Of course it's amazon PR. They are trying to rehabilitate their less than flattering image as both an engineering shop and how they treat their warehouse employees (the latter: terribly, like something out of a Dickensian novel).

mlevental 9y ago
of course it's Amazon or: it's on their site
- themodelplumber 9y ago
  It's on this site, too ;-)
akhilcacharya 9y ago
As an engineering shop? In what way? Disclosure: I interned at Amazon

Who828 9y ago

Even if it's done for marketing, I think it's a small price to pay if it can inspire even one visually challenged person to take up programming professionally. Perhaps someone who loved computers might be wondering around the world if he/she can ever work as a programmer. He/She might not have explored how to go about it or he/she might not be confident enough to try. So if this story can change one person's mind, I think it's a sin worth committing.

mindfulplay 9y ago
Again if it is about the person I'd agree. This is a fluff piece FOR amazon.

decebalus1 9y ago

> is it just me or does this feel like Amazon marketing at its finest? Not just you. Also, there have been some other 'heartwarming' stories on Reddit today about dogs at Amazon and the 'amazing' perks employees have. The PR machine is trying to balance out the latest developments.

coldtea 9y ago

Yes, it is. For every such story, there are tens of thousands of people working in fear and peeing in a cup covertly. This is a PR story intended to whitewash that. But hey, it's their best option, else they would have found another job, so all is well in the best of all possible worlds. /s

mindfulplay 9y ago

This is Amazon milking the story to the fullest amount. I had the same feeling with the Microsoft marketing for the AI camera thing. They really don't give a shit about employee happiness or anything because the 99.99% cases you hear from Amazon employees lack even the basic dignity or respect. This is just a nice marketing story to portray Amazon in a positive light.

joering2 9y ago
I feel important replying: all the stories you heard are about ground-level employees that are packing stuff in Amazon Warehouses. I have four friends working on different levels of profession in Amazon and I can assure you not even junior programmers need to pee in the bottle without bathroom breaks. I am in no way defending Amazon they deserve all criticism, but I think it is unfair to put everyone in the same basked within one organization. You really believe people that built then and manage AWS cloud now are treated so badly that they can't even go pee?
- bamboozled 9y ago
  Here's the issue with this view, nobody, deservers to be denied basic human rights at work, even if they just pack boxes or built AWS. You can argue that they should be on different pay scales, but as far as taking breaks, working in a safe environment and going to the toilet, they're rights that should be extended to all employees and any level of the corporate ladder. I use Amazon far less after hearing about these issues.
  - joering2 9y ago
    I think you missed this part: I am in no way defending Amazon they deserve all criticism [..]
- mindfulplay 9y ago
  I am talking about Amazon engineers. I know from data that they treat their warehouse people like garbage.

lucio 9y ago

Is there any way to do it without some people suspecting marketing? If the history is real, which it is, then it's OK in my book, there's no way to tell the history without some people suspecting marketing

opportune 9y ago
Yes of course there is, the article could not mention his workplace or at the very least not place it in the title. Plus the article was published on aboutamazon.com. That is blatant marketing/branding unnecessary for the actual story