4 ms·
Us old timers remember what was happening at the time. It turns out it was an incredible deal for both sides. The 1-click patent didn't have a great deal of cr
by jm4 8y ago
Us old timers remember what was happening at the time. It turns out it was an incredible deal for both sides.
The 1-click patent didn't have a great deal of credibility at the time. Many people in the tech industry were railing against Amazon and 1-click. It seemed like such a stupid patent and I think a lot of people didn't expect it to hold up.
Apple launched the iTunes store with $0.99 mp3's during the same period and the whole thing hinged on 1-click shopping. You could click a button to preview and there was one right next to it that would buy the song. No confirmation screens or checkout process. Downloaded and added to your library. It was so easy and people were spending a fortune on there because there was nothing else like it. Keep in mind this is one the heels of the decline of Napster and other mainstream P2P apps. People were being ratted out by their ISPs, sued and settling for $3000 for downloading some crummy song. Here you could do it legally and inexpensively and with a great UX because of 1-click. And for the first time you could buy a single song instead of an entire album. Prior to that, we had "singles" that contained a radio song from the album and a couple b-sides for like $5-8.
Apple had to launch iTunes with 1-click for it to be successful. The $1M license fee cost far less than the inevitable lawsuit would have. They made a fortune with iTunes and used it to enter new product categories. You could argue that that was one of the pivotal moments that transformed the company into what it is today. That licensing fee was highway robbery.
You also have Amazon who, at the time, had an outstanding selection, the best prices, fast handling times, reliable shipping and the most friction free buying process anywhere. Many retail sites didn't even have user accounts back then. You would enter your info with each order. The ones that did have accounts still made you click through several screens to place an order.
Amazon's end of the deal is they got paid $1M to not have to sue anyone (and possible lose) and have their ridiculous patent become credible overnight. The result was they maintained their superior online shopping experience by preventing others from mimicking it and leveraged it to become the beast they are today.
- fapjacks 8y agoIt seemed like such a stupid patent because it was a stupid patent. These are exactly the kinds of patents that represent what's wrong with our patent system.
- cuboidGoat 8y agoWas just thinking, if the click takes you to a page with a countdown timer and a big cancel button, and the page then makes the purchase at the end of the countdown, with the timer length being part of the user account settings, as long as the timer is not zero, that is not presumably a one click purchase, under the terms of the one click patent, as it is not a single action by the customer that purchases the product. Also, it would be nice anyway to have an adjustable brief cooling off timer on an order, so is a nice implementation idea regardless of the one click patent.
- jm4 8y agoI have no idea. In any case, Jobs never would have allowed it. The iTunes Store has the optimal purchasing process that happened to be covered by Amazon’s patent. They took the cheap way out. That same UX morphed into the AppStore after the iPhone. Then it made its way into the Apple TV. Everyone has it now. I wonder if they got as good a deal as Apple did. We all expected someone big to fight that patent. Apple basically said “f- this” and took the easy way out even if it meant everyone else would get screwed. One of the few times Apple had first mover advantage.
- cuboidGoat 8y agoJobs wouldn't have allowed it because it is something that would at first glance reduce purchases, as it allows people to back out immediately if they click buy. As far as design patterns for purchasing go, I would say it is probably more optimal than a simple one-click, if optimising for both the buyer and seller's interests. One-click is more optimal if you are only optimising for the seller.
- InitialLastName 8y ago> Also, it would be nice anyway to have an adjustable brief cooling off timer on an order, so is a nice implementation idea regardless of the one click patent. As a rule of thumb, people trying to sell you a thing are unlikely to give you extra time past the "I need to buy this" impulse to decide not to buy it.