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I don't mean to be a downer, but stuff like this bums me out. There are so few people working on important things yet half the town is working on delivering fo

I don't mean to be a downer, but stuff like this bums me out. There are so few people working on important things yet half the town is working on delivering food and packages to tech workers who can afford what is genuinely a pretty insane price to pay for these services. I know that this is a pretty awesome convenience, but its just so meh. This is what we're doing with all these resources? Building online delivery service number 45248923942?

masukomi 13y ago
I can empathize, but unless you're growing your own food and meat, you're not in much of a position to complain. Offloading the logistics of resource delivery to allow us to do other things is a massively important part of any advanced society. Do we really need to take it to this level? Probably not. But it's not right to dismiss "unimportant" things like this out of hand either.
- ryguytilidie 13y ago
  Wait what, you're seriously claiming that unless I hunt my own dinner I cannot be dissapointed that some of the brightest minds of our generation are building ANOTHER delivery site? How does this logic work?
codegeek 13y ago
"pretty awesome convenience but its just so meh" You are underestimating how much people are willing to pay for awesome convenience.
- untog 13y ago
  No, he isn't. He's saying that he's sad that people only care about how people are willing to pay for awesome convenience and not something more interesting.
nkrumm 13y ago
I also agree, but I think the key here is balance: as pointed out above, convenience services such as these are wanted (i.e., people pay), and perhaps allow for more important things to take place -- however, we should think in terms of social responsibility and greater good as well. In this case, Luna could actually cut down the number of delivery attempts per package, and potentially reduce the carbon footprint of the delivery.
king_magic 13y ago
I don't think it's particularly "meh". I live in NYC, in a building without a doorman. Because of that, "package delivery" is not in my vocabulary (well, Amazon Locker has helped a bit with that), and therefore I spend less money online because it doesn't make sense to ship them to my apartment. Would I pay $6.99 for it? Probably not. But is it "meh"? No, I think it solves an actual problem, possibly in enough of a way to build a sustainable business.
- mimiflynn 13y ago
  I completely agree with you. Too bad some of the more convenient Amazon lockers shut down. I might have to get a PO box. I'd much rather use something like Luna.
  - dsl 13y ago
    You can't get stuff shipped to PO Boxes generally.
    - largote 13y ago
      He probably meant a private mailing box (PMB) rather than an actual PO Box.
      - msandford 13y ago
        What I'm curious about is how these folks are solving the Form 1583 problem. Congress passed a law in 2001 requiring any commercial entity to receive mail for another to submit a Form 1583A registering with their local post office as Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA). And then all their customers are required to complete a regular Form 1583 which is designed "verify" their identity and prevent mail fraud. If they go without the CMRA the USPS can't legally deliver anything to them for their customers so all the small stuff you buy off of Amazon, eBay, etc are all right out. And for a lot of that stuff you're not going to know ahead of time if someone is going to send it via USPS or UPS or FedEx because it'll go whichever way is cheapest. If they do the CMRA route then getting new customers is a big pain in the ass. I know this because I used to work for a well known CMRA and it was the Achilles heel of the business.
rebel 13y ago
I think there are a few things at play here that should help you to feel better. Firstly, you're reading a website that is targeted at affluent tech workers. Who's most likely to market their product here? Second, the whole world is transitioning to online sales. Those people will go from stocking shelves at the grocery/department store to delivering it directly to you. I'm sure there are plenty of people working on important things that you just haven't heard about lately.
pyoung 13y ago
I think improving the efficiency and logistics of delivery services actually qualifies as 'an important thing'. It might not be as sexy as curing cancer or eliminating poverty, but it provides a service that allows individuals the opportunity to maximize their own productivity, which has both economic and quality of life impacts. While this service isn't exactly revolutionary, it could put pressure on competitors to improve their customer experience. I think the end game (as does Amazon apparently) is sub-30 minute deliveries done using energy-efficient and autonomous technology, but that is a ways away, but at the very least, incremental improvements by upstarts will put pressure on the industry as a whole to improve their services (think about it, why doesn't Fedex/UPS already offer evening services to residential areas, they should have been doing this years ago).
dmishe 13y ago
You can always build photo sharing services
Aloha 13y ago
Real problems are hard to solve and no ready way to pay for them. Convenience services have less challenges, and a ready market waiting to pay for them. If this service was in Seattle (and I didn't live in an apartment complex that essentially provides this service for free) I'd use it.
nknighthb 13y ago
Going to a UPS, FedEx, or USPS location to get a package can easily kill the better part of an hour just doing it, nevermind the wider effects of any interruption. Meanwhile, one delivery guy can probably handle 10+ deliveries an hour. One guy can easily save us a work-week every night. The guy who delivers lunch to a company can be delivering the lunch of 100+ people every day. Even if it only saves 10 minutes per person, he's just saved 16 man-hours. What does it take to qualify as "important" to you?

masukomi 13y ago

I can empathize, but unless you're growing your own food and meat, you're not in much of a position to complain. Offloading the logistics of resource delivery to allow us to do other things is a massively important part of any advanced society. Do we really need to take it to this level? Probably not. But it's not right to dismiss "unimportant" things like this out of hand either.

ryguytilidie 13y ago
Wait what, you're seriously claiming that unless I hunt my own dinner I cannot be dissapointed that some of the brightest minds of our generation are building ANOTHER delivery site? How does this logic work?

codegeek 13y ago

"pretty awesome convenience but its just so meh" You are underestimating how much people are willing to pay for awesome convenience.

untog 13y ago
No, he isn't. He's saying that he's sad that people only care about how people are willing to pay for awesome convenience and not something more interesting.

nkrumm 13y ago

I also agree, but I think the key here is balance: as pointed out above, convenience services such as these are wanted (i.e., people pay), and perhaps allow for more important things to take place -- however, we should think in terms of social responsibility and greater good as well. In this case, Luna could actually cut down the number of delivery attempts per package, and potentially reduce the carbon footprint of the delivery.

king_magic 13y ago

I don't think it's particularly "meh". I live in NYC, in a building without a doorman. Because of that, "package delivery" is not in my vocabulary (well, Amazon Locker has helped a bit with that), and therefore I spend less money online because it doesn't make sense to ship them to my apartment. Would I pay $6.99 for it? Probably not. But is it "meh"? No, I think it solves an actual problem, possibly in enough of a way to build a sustainable business.

mimiflynn 13y ago
I completely agree with you. Too bad some of the more convenient Amazon lockers shut down. I might have to get a PO box. I'd much rather use something like Luna.
- dsl 13y ago
  You can't get stuff shipped to PO Boxes generally.
  - largote 13y ago
    He probably meant a private mailing box (PMB) rather than an actual PO Box.
    - msandford 13y ago
      What I'm curious about is how these folks are solving the Form 1583 problem. Congress passed a law in 2001 requiring any commercial entity to receive mail for another to submit a Form 1583A registering with their local post office as Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA). And then all their customers are required to complete a regular Form 1583 which is designed "verify" their identity and prevent mail fraud. If they go without the CMRA the USPS can't legally deliver anything to them for their customers so all the small stuff you buy off of Amazon, eBay, etc are all right out. And for a lot of that stuff you're not going to know ahead of time if someone is going to send it via USPS or UPS or FedEx because it'll go whichever way is cheapest. If they do the CMRA route then getting new customers is a big pain in the ass. I know this because I used to work for a well known CMRA and it was the Achilles heel of the business.

rebel 13y ago

I think there are a few things at play here that should help you to feel better. Firstly, you're reading a website that is targeted at affluent tech workers. Who's most likely to market their product here? Second, the whole world is transitioning to online sales. Those people will go from stocking shelves at the grocery/department store to delivering it directly to you. I'm sure there are plenty of people working on important things that you just haven't heard about lately.

pyoung 13y ago

I think improving the efficiency and logistics of delivery services actually qualifies as 'an important thing'. It might not be as sexy as curing cancer or eliminating poverty, but it provides a service that allows individuals the opportunity to maximize their own productivity, which has both economic and quality of life impacts. While this service isn't exactly revolutionary, it could put pressure on competitors to improve their customer experience. I think the end game (as does Amazon apparently) is sub-30 minute deliveries done using energy-efficient and autonomous technology, but that is a ways away, but at the very least, incremental improvements by upstarts will put pressure on the industry as a whole to improve their services (think about it, why doesn't Fedex/UPS already offer evening services to residential areas, they should have been doing this years ago).

dmishe 13y ago

You can always build photo sharing services

Aloha 13y ago

Real problems are hard to solve and no ready way to pay for them. Convenience services have less challenges, and a ready market waiting to pay for them. If this service was in Seattle (and I didn't live in an apartment complex that essentially provides this service for free) I'd use it.

nknighthb 13y ago

Going to a UPS, FedEx, or USPS location to get a package can easily kill the better part of an hour just doing it, nevermind the wider effects of any interruption. Meanwhile, one delivery guy can probably handle 10+ deliveries an hour. One guy can easily save us a work-week every night. The guy who delivers lunch to a company can be delivering the lunch of 100+ people every day. Even if it only saves 10 minutes per person, he's just saved 16 man-hours. What does it take to qualify as "important" to you?