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Literally any article about Amazon on HN inevitably devolves into a bunch of useless anecdotes about how much Amazon supposedly sucks. You could set a watch to

Literally any article about Amazon on HN inevitably devolves into a bunch of useless anecdotes about how much Amazon supposedly sucks. You could set a watch to it. It's beyond tiresome. If you did nothing but read HN you'd think Amazon was filing for bankruptcy imminently.

unethical_ban 6y ago
The fact that amazon sucks as a place to get reputable items or find brand-specific stuff, and that they are rolling in money, should show several things: * They still satisfy consumer demand "enough" * They don't have enough competition in enough spaces * They can suck at some things, be good at others, and make money
- bedhead 6y ago
  Feel free to provide basis for any of these claims.
  - unethical_ban 6y ago
    This isn't an academic journal, and none of those opinions are that hard to rationalize. Points 1 and 2 are assertions and point 3 is self-evident.
  - hombre_fatal 6y ago
    Sure: everyone I know almost exclusively uses Amazon (20-40 age bracket) aside from the grocery store, so Amazon clearly can't be as bad as HN's Chicken Littles suggest. If only my friends read HN to know how useless Amazon was!
    - unethical_ban 6y ago
      One final comment on this thread for me: I don't think people are saying "Amazon is useless" or "Amazon is going to go out of business". They are bloated with Chinese knock-offs. No name brands that are all the same thing with a different sticker and a bribe to offer a 5-star review. Listings are manipulated to get max reviews. There is so much wrong with trying to find consistent brands and any quality. That said, if you want knock-off stuff that may work as well as you expect for the price, it's not bad. When the pandemic isn't here, you have quick shipping on everything. And certainly, many other stores have inferior navigation to Amazon. One more time: No one is saying Amazon is going anywhere or that it sucks for everything. For the goal of looking for non-Chinese crap, though, it has regressed significantly.
bedhead 6y ago
Is there a more efficient way to get downvotes on HN than saying something positive about Amazon, or simply say that Amazon doesn't suck? Probably not.
- gdubs 6y ago
  If we’re going to overgeneralize, there’s a comment like yours on every article criticizing any of the big companies. It’s more productive to the conversation to simply state why you don’t think the conversation is accurate, or why you feel like the company in question is not being criticized fairly. I would guess the downvotes have more to do with the lack of substance to the comment than anything specially about Amazon. Like most things on HN, things look biased one way or another to us — but usually you can find plenty of posts and comments that go in both directions on any given topic.
cambalache 6y ago
But Jeff you have to understand why people act that way.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  Because internet commenters trample over each other to hop on the bandwagon once they ID any situation as "oh, it's pet peeve time? Everyone must hear my story about how things aren't perfect!" People love hearing themselves whine.

unethical_ban 6y ago

The fact that amazon sucks as a place to get reputable items or find brand-specific stuff, and that they are rolling in money, should show several things: * They still satisfy consumer demand "enough" * They don't have enough competition in enough spaces * They can suck at some things, be good at others, and make money

bedhead 6y ago
Feel free to provide basis for any of these claims.
- unethical_ban 6y ago
  This isn't an academic journal, and none of those opinions are that hard to rationalize. Points 1 and 2 are assertions and point 3 is self-evident.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  Sure: everyone I know almost exclusively uses Amazon (20-40 age bracket) aside from the grocery store, so Amazon clearly can't be as bad as HN's Chicken Littles suggest. If only my friends read HN to know how useless Amazon was!
  - unethical_ban 6y ago
    One final comment on this thread for me: I don't think people are saying "Amazon is useless" or "Amazon is going to go out of business". They are bloated with Chinese knock-offs. No name brands that are all the same thing with a different sticker and a bribe to offer a 5-star review. Listings are manipulated to get max reviews. There is so much wrong with trying to find consistent brands and any quality. That said, if you want knock-off stuff that may work as well as you expect for the price, it's not bad. When the pandemic isn't here, you have quick shipping on everything. And certainly, many other stores have inferior navigation to Amazon. One more time: No one is saying Amazon is going anywhere or that it sucks for everything. For the goal of looking for non-Chinese crap, though, it has regressed significantly.

bedhead 6y ago

Is there a more efficient way to get downvotes on HN than saying something positive about Amazon, or simply say that Amazon doesn't suck? Probably not.

gdubs 6y ago
If we’re going to overgeneralize, there’s a comment like yours on every article criticizing any of the big companies. It’s more productive to the conversation to simply state why you don’t think the conversation is accurate, or why you feel like the company in question is not being criticized fairly. I would guess the downvotes have more to do with the lack of substance to the comment than anything specially about Amazon. Like most things on HN, things look biased one way or another to us — but usually you can find plenty of posts and comments that go in both directions on any given topic.

cambalache 6y ago

But Jeff you have to understand why people act that way.

hombre_fatal 6y ago
Because internet commenters trample over each other to hop on the bandwagon once they ID any situation as "oh, it's pet peeve time? Everyone must hear my story about how things aren't perfect!" People love hearing themselves whine.