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I don't really think people ultimately care that much about turning over information about their domestic economics, if convenience trumps cost. (Have they stop

by koboll 8y ago

I don't really think people ultimately care that much about turning over information about their domestic economics, if convenience trumps cost. (Have they stopped using Facebook and Google?) It simply did not in this instance. Buying something on Amazon is easy. If I know what I want, and all my info is stored on Amazon, it takes 30 seconds tops. Shortening it to 10 seconds isn't worth it. Now, if Amazon offered, say, a RFID scanner that could automatically reorder toilet paper or diapers or toothpaste if the number of units within 3 feet fell below a certain threshold... I would absolutely consider getting it. Delegating that decision completely so I never have to make it again sounds great. Yes, I know they could still screw me over on price, so I'd check periodically to make sure they weren't ramping it up on me over the normal cost of the products. But even if they didn't, they'd still make more money by ensuring they sold the next units the instant they were needed, rather than whenever I remembered to reorder. Sometimes that's too late -- say, when there's a couple sheets on the last toilet paper roll and I have a near-crisis that involves crab-walking with pants down to the paper towels. Accumulated over a lifetime, those extra early days or weeks will really add up.

pjc50 8y ago
> if convenience trumps cost. (Have they stopped using Facebook and Google?) Both of those are so persistent because they are "free at the point of use". This also means they're free of the thought burden of financial decision-making. My opinion is that the limiting factor isn't so much time per se as "executive function" - how much decision making does someone have to do, and how wary they have to be during the process. And as per the German discussion elsewhere in the thread, how much autonomy is it appropriate to take away from the consumer in financial transactions. So, not so much "autonomous buying system locked to dominant retailer" as "self-updating shopping list and inventory". For the majority of people who still buy groceries at retail for near future consumption who are standing in the milk aisle trying to remember whether they have enough in the fridge already. I suspect that much of the HN commentariat is too well off to worry about milk prices, but that's unusual. Of course, the problem with making a product that's very useful at saving money for people who don't have enough is that they can't pay a lot for it.

by koboll 8y ago

pjc50 8y ago

> if convenience trumps cost. (Have they stopped using Facebook and Google?) Both of those are so persistent because they are "free at the point of use". This also means they're free of the thought burden of financial decision-making. My opinion is that the limiting factor isn't so much time per se as "executive function" - how much decision making does someone have to do, and how wary they have to be during the process. And as per the German discussion elsewhere in the thread, how much autonomy is it appropriate to take away from the consumer in financial transactions. So, not so much "autonomous buying system locked to dominant retailer" as "self-updating shopping list and inventory". For the majority of people who still buy groceries at retail for near future consumption who are standing in the milk aisle trying to remember whether they have enough in the fridge already. I suspect that much of the HN commentariat is too well off to worry about milk prices, but that's unusual. Of course, the problem with making a product that's very useful at saving money for people who don't have enough is that they can't pay a lot for it.