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It's not just a physical button — it's an API. If you develop a hardware product you can apparently integrate with Dash to order supplies from the embedded cont
by tonyhb 12y ago
It's not just a physical button — it's an API. If you develop a hardware product you can apparently integrate with Dash to order supplies from the embedded controller.
Information is here: https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service
Apparently, Whirlpool washing machines and Brita water filters will be using it. This doesn't help for basics like paper towels, but it would work for paper towel holders (if it's true). The IoT is here.
- wspeirs 12y agoI'd worry about an appliance too quickly re-ordering. My printer refused to print because it thought the toner was all gone. A black marker to the sensor on the side of the toner and I'm back and printing. It's been almost a month now and still going strong.
- jader201 12y agoSimilarly, I can definitely see Brita ordering these prematurely, based on their (IMO) very aggressive refill recommendations.
- teddyuk 12y agowhich is why a button makes so much sense, auto ordering is bad, this seems much better
- maratd 12y agoSure, I would love to press a button that will order things for me without seeing the price I'm going to pay ... oh wait, no, Amazon would love that, I wouldn't. This is for people who don't care what things cost and that don't have children (children loooove pressing buttons!).
- oneeyedpigeon 12y agoI can't imagine there wouldn't be a way to limit the price you pay; it might even be illegal otherwise.
- travisp 12y agoMost likely you could cancel or return for a refund.
- exelius 12y agoThis product isn't really aimed at price-sensitive consumers, but I also don't see Amazon fucking over their customers with this. One thing I like about Amazon is that they don't play pricing games: they show you the best price in the search results, period.
- ajanuary 12y agoWhen you push the button you get a push notification to your phone, which will show you the price and give you the option to cancel it, which at least gives you some way to back out if the price is hiked up.
- cdmcmahon 12y ago1. It sends an alert to your phone with the price and easy cancellation. (I was actually surprised at this feature, because I cynically agreed that Amazon would use this to constantly be trying to pull one over on customers.) 2. I also believe it said that repeat clicks will not order until the previous order delivers, which should help somewhat on repeat orders.
- jessaustin 12y agochildren loooove pressing buttons! Haha as I read TFA I envisioned the UPS guy unloading boxes and boxes of toilet paper at the homes of my young nieces and nephews.
- tonyedgecombe 12y agoIt does give the illusion of control.
- TheSoftwareGuy 12y agoI think they make it so you always get alert when something is ordered, so that you can cancel it.
- walterbell 12y agoIs there a one-click IoT purchase/event/signal patent? There must be many open, generic BLE buttons which can trigger users events, sending recurring orders directly to a vendor, without needing to go through a middleman API.
- untog 12y agoGreat, so now when I buy a Whirlpool washing machine it'll be hardcoded to use <brand name> products with its reorder button. Gross, gross, gross.
- iNate2000 12y agoOr you'll have to set up your MyWhirlpool account on their website so that you can pair their app on your iPhone with your washing machine so you can search their incomplete list of detergent brands and add your second choice to your MyWhirlpoolBrandSelect Favorites List and then give up when Amazon seems to stop supporting that brand.
- moe 12y agoThe MyWhirlpool website will also require the Silverlight plugin and you'll have to connect your washing machine with an USB cable in order to do anything. Every once in a while the button will just randomly stop working and you'll have to go through the motions again.
- wlesieutre 12y agoMore like "You'll have to call a technician to replace the machine's motherboard for $1500 dollars because the machine won't start up at all if it can't get a response from the button." Looking at you, printer/scanner combos that won't print because the scanner is failing.
- mortenjorck 12y agoFinally, after several months of struggling against the sunk-cost fallacy that forces you to spend more time working with auto-ordering than you would simply manually ordering detergent because this washing machine cost $700 more than the non-connected model, you concede defeat and return to ordering from your phone.
- wmeredith 12y agoIt would be easier to just wash my fucking dishes.
- famousactress 12y agoI wonder how open they are (they do say open to hobbyists). I'd really like to whip up a RaspberryPi box with buttons for things I actually reorder (instead of depending on particular brand partnerships).
- thearn4 12y agoI'd be interested in that too, just to have a simple stock wifi-enabled button that is easy to configure for a general API endpoint.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- onion2k 12y agoThe IoT is here. Hardware is the easy bit in the whole IoT business model. The tricky bit will be persuading people that it's something they need. For this business model to work it has to solve a big enough problem that taking the time to sign up for something like this button, getting it delivered, setting it up, and actually remembering to press it when necessary is worth the effort. That's a challenging thing to market to people - especially those who live outside of the tech industry. Which is most people. "Build it, they will come" will not work here. Because it doesn't work anywhere.
- exelius 12y agoThis isn't a product for consumers, this is a product for CPG companies. As a result, I imagine a lot of the cost here will be covered by the companies making the products. If Amazon covers the logistics of everything (making the buttons, managing the APIs, stocking and delivering the products, managing payments) then P&G just pays to give you a "Tide" button. CPGs will pay a LOT for this because it makes their brands "stickier". I can't tell you what brand of paper towels I normally buy, but if I always bought them through my "Bounty" button, I would always buy Bounty paper towels instead of whatever is on sale at the store. I doubt this button connects to Wi-Fi directly - that's too much hassle (and too power-hungry). I wonder if Amazon has some sort of Zigbee-like controller embedded in the Amazon Echo that is set up to manage low-power devices like this.
- jessaustin 12y agoCPGs will pay a LOT for this because it makes their brands "stickier". Exactly right, and this is exactly analogous to brands (or more often, their distributors) renting shelf space, and sometimes even hiring their own people to stock shelves.
- tprynn 12y agoWi-Fi is power hungry because it's always on. It seems like these little buttons would only need to connect when you press them, then shut off right after. It's a very minor power draw when you consider the wi-fi will only run for 15 seconds every month or so. Of course, that's my read on it - maybe it does connect to the Echo.
- melling 12y agoIn that case, I'd rather just have a tiny iBeacon/NFC device that launches my phone app then let's me tap on a software button.
- dguaraglia 12y agoHow is that any easier than just pushing one hardware button?
- melling 12y agoI didn't say it would be easier. I want something a lot smaller and less visible. Plus using the beacon is optional. If I'm on the couch and want to place aa couple quick refills...
- bweitzman 12y agoI can't wait to see smart paper towel holders.
- matthewowen 12y agoI feel somewhat uneasy about allowing products I bought to automatically order consumables made by their manufacturer...