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I think what Amazon is doing is more ambitious and far reaching that everything else Google does. Even now choosing amoung an astronomical amount of goods in an
by hrktb 13y ago
I think what Amazon is doing is more ambitious and far reaching that everything else Google does. Even now choosing amoung an astronomical amount of goods in an app and have them delivered reliably in days->dozen of hours[->hours->minutes in the future ?] is near the sci-fi realm, is more desirable than self-driving cars, and has more impact on everyday life than any computing product (bar 3D printing).
Even on digital goods Amazon dos better than Google's content shops, with the exception of apps.
Retail as a concept feels boring, but what Amazon does has real practical effects on everyday life, and they are pushing the boundaries further and further where no company cared to go until now.
Thinking that on top of all of this their business model is actually sane, I'd root for Amazon any day (except for how they treat warehouse employees, but that would be another topic)
PS: An anecdote: after an heavy earthquake, when everyone is busy hording food and water supply from brick and mortar chains, amazon was still delivering anything including emergency goods anywhere accessible at day+1 delivery. It was mind blowing.
- devinj 13y agoI don't actually think that's more significant than self-driving cars -- getting things faster is one thing, changing the way we travel is another. Imagine a world where nobody dies in traffic accidents anymore? No drunk driving nonsense, etc. -- that's a far different and better world than one where the only new thing is "hey hey I can use my phone to get stuff in ten minutes".
- hrktb 13y ago> Imagine a world where nobody dies in traffic accidents anymore? > "hey hey I can use my phone to get stuff in ten minutes". If I get the replacement parts for my vacuum cleaner for tomorrow, I won't get in a car or any transportation mechanism to get it to some store. As a side effect, your traffic accident number is down (less individual people driving) and the system efficiency is also up (efficient vehicles moving the goods).[] What amazon does goes toward the goal you state. It does it in a small way, but it's here today, you can use it now, and it should continue doing it better and better everyday. Google's self driving car might reach your goal to some point in some distant future. If infrastructure gets a lot better. And legislation problem get solve. And Google is still around by then. Is it so much better ? [] BTW, You'll still have drunk people, but this problem might as well be solved by other means than self-driving cars.
- dredmorbius 13y agoAddressing the challenges of population, energy, food, other resource availability, and negative environmental impacts comes to mind. Self-driving cars could be a part of that. But small in the bigger picture.
- mark_l_watson 13y agoEven though I am a big fan of some Google tech and their internal platforms, if I am asked who my favorite tech company is, I always say Amazon both because of AWS and their business/tech models. I have had only one major consulting client in the last 5 years who has not at least partially used AWS, and that was Google :-)
- dredmorbius 13y agoAmazon impresses me, but the personal culture there seems pathological. As much as I distrust Google, the people working there seem happy. Not so sure I can say that of Amazon.