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I think this article is predicated on the belief that we should make it really easy to consume things. Creative works, perhaps yes, but manufactured objects? I

I think this article is predicated on the belief that we should make it really easy to consume things. Creative works, perhaps yes, but manufactured objects? I may not agree. With consumerism as the prevailing cultural narrative, a lot of people are biased toward buying stuff that they don't need. Maybe it's good to counteract that bias by accepting a bit of extra friction in the shopping process. Make space for a modicum of contemplation prior to making an impulse purchase. Here's a tip, sign out of amazon.com. They obscure the button but it's there! Set a complex password and put it somewhere that needs to be manually copy-pasted into the login prompt. You just added a minute of friction to your next purchase. You can also delete saved payment cards so that you need to type them in again. (Also, start a habit of comparison shopping online. What if it's cheaper/faster to buy on eBay? Local big box store?) Often, when accepting this friction, I'll decide that I don't actually need something. That decision is usually a win for both the climate and my bank account. Less plastic junk in the world. That said, Library Extension is my favorite kind of technology and I'm happy to learn someone has made it.

toyg 4y ago
> this article is predicated on the belief that we should make it really easy to consume things. It's not that we "should make" - it's already the case. We live in a society built on consuming things. All the personal hacks in the world will not change that fact, opting out is a delusion. The only choice is between letting the market follow its natural monopolistic instincts, and nudging it towards sharing profits more widely.
- mxkopy 4y ago
  I don't like this take. On one hand I feel naive for thinking we don't have to play prisoner's dilemma. On the other, this feels depressingly fatalistic. Not saying it's wrong. It just feels bad.
  - xwolfi 4y ago
    It changes with age I think. I would have thought the same as that guy in my 20s, but in my 30s now, I dont have accounts anywhere like amazon or facebook or google, I keep 3 people in my phone, I buy cheap stuff, focus on my kid and my work and I dont really feel we live in a consumption world.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - toyg 4y ago
      Well, I'm in my 40s, so I guess eventually you'll come around...
scarface74 4y ago
So are you proposing that we just live off the land like our forefathers? See Also: “I haven’t watched TV in 20 years. You don’t have to watch Tv”
- ziddoap 4y ago
  Adding a minute of friction by making it slightly harder to login and impulse buy off of Amazon is a far cry from "living off the land like our forefathers".
SamBam 4y ago
> You just added a minute of friction to your next purchase. Hmm, barely. Amazon is very smart and actually allows you to add items to your cart while logged out, and they remain between sessions. So you might still find yourself on the couch mindlessly shopping, and then, the next day or so, you say "I want to order those 20 things" and it takes only one login to make the purchase.
- causi 4y ago
  Which comes in handy because they regularly offer lower base prices to non-Prime customers. Add it to your account then log in and keep the discount with free shipping. Sometimes I've saved over ten dollars on a single item this way.
  - gjm11 4y ago
    Do you mean that Amazon's price for a given product is higher for Prime customers? Or do you mean the following? for a given product, some sellers are Prime-compatible and some aren't, and if you're a Prime customer the price they'll show you is for a Prime-compatible seller who may be more expensive. Both of these mean that if you follow the path of least resistance you'll pay more as a Prime customer, but it feels like there's an important difference: in the latter case, but not the former, a Prime customer can get the same prices as the non-Prime customer without having to log out or otherwise try to make Amazon not know who they are. (For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not claiming that you do mean the second of those things, or that they don't do the first of them. I wouldn't trust Amazon any further than I could throw Jeff Bezos, and I am 100% unsurprised if they offer different customers different prices for whatever scrutable or inscrutable reasons they might have.)
    - causi 4y ago
      The first one, for some items.
      - chrismartin 4y ago
        Can you point to a source for this information? This Quora thread has some conflicting reports. https://www.quora.com/Does-Amazon-stealthily-raise-the-prices-of-their-products-for-Prime-users https://www.quora.com/Does-Amazon-stealthily-raise-the-price...
jnovek 4y ago
Anti-consumerist minimalism isn’t everyone’s preference. I have many hobbies. I derive nearly 100% of my enjoyment and satisfaction in life from my hobbies. My hobbies take up a lot of space and require “stuff”. Some people really enjoy collecting things. What’s wrong with that? Personally, I really like when someone gets excited and shows of their collection and all the knowledge they’ve accumulated about it. Their joy is infectious. There are many valid ways to live. Some of them happen to involve buying things. For me, buying and owning things has substantially enriched my life. Edit: this extension is pretty rad, though.
- ziddoap 4y ago
  I didn't really read the parent post as saying your way of living is invalid or that you should never buy anything and live a super minimalist life. They just said it might be good to add a minute of friction so that you may end up skipping some impulse buys.
- chrismartin 4y ago
  To be clear, I wouldn't tell you to live differently! Not a minimalist here. I also have stuff-intensive hobbies. I've just found it useful to stop and consider alternatives before spending money, moreso than people are encouraged to do by modern e-commerce platforms with teflon-coated conversion funnels.
adrianmonk 4y ago
I'm not sure about the assumption that this encourages consumerism or decreases friction overall. In some ways, it should increase friction. Right now, if you visit Amazon (as untold millions do), clicking Amazon's buy button is extremely low friction[1]. This browser extension would add buy-local alternatives, each of which typically will be higher friction[2]. And there's a compelling motivation (supporting smaller, local businesses) to actually choose those higher-friction alternatives. And it also increases friction in a second way: it adds an extra step to the process. You have to make a decision whether to buy through Amazon or through some local retailer. Decisions can be very high friction. Of course, you can look at this at an individual level (changes that an individual might make) or a societal level (how the existence of this extension would change things for the entire populace), and the conclusions might be different for each of those. --- [1] By design, of course. They've spent decades collecting everyone's payment methods, getting people subscribed to Prime, and building the largest and most sophisticated fulfillment network the world has ever seen. [2] You may have to create an account. They may not have your payment method or shipping address on file. The ordering process is probably less familiar. You may have to go in person since many local stores aren't set up for fast, affordable shipping.

toyg 4y ago

> this article is predicated on the belief that we should make it really easy to consume things. It's not that we "should make" - it's already the case. We live in a society built on consuming things. All the personal hacks in the world will not change that fact, opting out is a delusion. The only choice is between letting the market follow its natural monopolistic instincts, and nudging it towards sharing profits more widely.

mxkopy 4y ago
I don't like this take. On one hand I feel naive for thinking we don't have to play prisoner's dilemma. On the other, this feels depressingly fatalistic. Not saying it's wrong. It just feels bad.
- xwolfi 4y ago
  It changes with age I think. I would have thought the same as that guy in my 20s, but in my 30s now, I dont have accounts anywhere like amazon or facebook or google, I keep 3 people in my phone, I buy cheap stuff, focus on my kid and my work and I dont really feel we live in a consumption world.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - toyg 4y ago
    Well, I'm in my 40s, so I guess eventually you'll come around...

scarface74 4y ago

So are you proposing that we just live off the land like our forefathers? See Also: “I haven’t watched TV in 20 years. You don’t have to watch Tv”

ziddoap 4y ago
Adding a minute of friction by making it slightly harder to login and impulse buy off of Amazon is a far cry from "living off the land like our forefathers".

SamBam 4y ago

> You just added a minute of friction to your next purchase. Hmm, barely. Amazon is very smart and actually allows you to add items to your cart while logged out, and they remain between sessions. So you might still find yourself on the couch mindlessly shopping, and then, the next day or so, you say "I want to order those 20 things" and it takes only one login to make the purchase.

causi 4y ago
Which comes in handy because they regularly offer lower base prices to non-Prime customers. Add it to your account then log in and keep the discount with free shipping. Sometimes I've saved over ten dollars on a single item this way.
- gjm11 4y ago
  Do you mean that Amazon's price for a given product is higher for Prime customers? Or do you mean the following? for a given product, some sellers are Prime-compatible and some aren't, and if you're a Prime customer the price they'll show you is for a Prime-compatible seller who may be more expensive. Both of these mean that if you follow the path of least resistance you'll pay more as a Prime customer, but it feels like there's an important difference: in the latter case, but not the former, a Prime customer can get the same prices as the non-Prime customer without having to log out or otherwise try to make Amazon not know who they are. (For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not claiming that you do mean the second of those things, or that they don't do the first of them. I wouldn't trust Amazon any further than I could throw Jeff Bezos, and I am 100% unsurprised if they offer different customers different prices for whatever scrutable or inscrutable reasons they might have.)
  - causi 4y ago
    The first one, for some items.
    - chrismartin 4y ago
      Can you point to a source for this information? This Quora thread has some conflicting reports. https://www.quora.com/Does-Amazon-stealthily-raise-the-prices-of-their-products-for-Prime-users https://www.quora.com/Does-Amazon-stealthily-raise-the-price...

jnovek 4y ago

Anti-consumerist minimalism isn’t everyone’s preference. I have many hobbies. I derive nearly 100% of my enjoyment and satisfaction in life from my hobbies. My hobbies take up a lot of space and require “stuff”. Some people really enjoy collecting things. What’s wrong with that? Personally, I really like when someone gets excited and shows of their collection and all the knowledge they’ve accumulated about it. Their joy is infectious. There are many valid ways to live. Some of them happen to involve buying things. For me, buying and owning things has substantially enriched my life. Edit: this extension is pretty rad, though.

ziddoap 4y ago
I didn't really read the parent post as saying your way of living is invalid or that you should never buy anything and live a super minimalist life. They just said it might be good to add a minute of friction so that you may end up skipping some impulse buys.
chrismartin 4y ago
To be clear, I wouldn't tell you to live differently! Not a minimalist here. I also have stuff-intensive hobbies. I've just found it useful to stop and consider alternatives before spending money, moreso than people are encouraged to do by modern e-commerce platforms with teflon-coated conversion funnels.

adrianmonk 4y ago

I'm not sure about the assumption that this encourages consumerism or decreases friction overall. In some ways, it should increase friction. Right now, if you visit Amazon (as untold millions do), clicking Amazon's buy button is extremely low friction[1]. This browser extension would add buy-local alternatives, each of which typically will be higher friction[2]. And there's a compelling motivation (supporting smaller, local businesses) to actually choose those higher-friction alternatives. And it also increases friction in a second way: it adds an extra step to the process. You have to make a decision whether to buy through Amazon or through some local retailer. Decisions can be very high friction. Of course, you can look at this at an individual level (changes that an individual might make) or a societal level (how the existence of this extension would change things for the entire populace), and the conclusions might be different for each of those. --- [1] By design, of course. They've spent decades collecting everyone's payment methods, getting people subscribed to Prime, and building the largest and most sophisticated fulfillment network the world has ever seen. [2] You may have to create an account. They may not have your payment method or shipping address on file. The ordering process is probably less familiar. You may have to go in person since many local stores aren't set up for fast, affordable shipping.