News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box ... by harimau777 on Sunday May 30, 2021 @09:13AM (#27333001)
I think that it varies.

Due to network effects, there often aren't good alternatives for social media like Facebook or collaborative cloud tools like Google docs.

For games, it's not unusual for indy games to only release on Steam. Even when there is a physical release, that option is becoming increasingly difficult (e.g. many computers no longer have a built in disc drive, many stores no longer carry PC games, etc.).

This is less common than the previous two examples, but it may be difficult to find niche products outside of Etsy. For example, I haven't been able to find another place to purchase this specialized martial arts equipment: https://www.etsy.com/listing/175827423/

Re:Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box ... by ericmay on Sunday May 30, 2021 @09:29AM (#27333089)
Sure, kind of.

So Steam and Etsy themselves trend toward some amount of centralization, but in the case of Stream for example you have Playstation, Microsoft's platform, Stadia (soon to be cancelled I'm sure), Switch, Epic game store, iOS, and others. They aren't all exactly 1-1 comparable but I think that's ok. Frankly, you can get games from a lot of sources. You might say you can't get an indy title from one of these sources that you can on Steam, but you can't buy Halo on Playstation either - that doesn't make things centralized. It's a very competitive market.

In the case of Etsy I think you're a little more right, but there's no reason that has to continue to be that way.

Re:Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box ... by ghaff on Sunday May 30, 2021 @09:35AM (#27333134)
People clearly differ.

Steam and Etsy are actually two companies that, if I were unable to use them starting tomorrow, that would basically have zero impact on my life.

Whereas, although I do order from a variety of online retailers, going cold turkey on Amazon would be a fairly significant inconvenience for me--although some seem not to use them much.

Re:Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box ... by ericmay on Sunday May 30, 2021 @09:56AM (#27333267)
Right but you wouldn't be able to make the claim that the market is centralized based on these factors.
Re:Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box ... by sokoloff on Sunday May 30, 2021 @10:18AM (#27333416)
Centralization is a float not a Boolean. I use Amazon a lot, am generally happy, but am slightly concerned with the amount of centralization that Amazon retail represents.
Re:Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box ... by ericmay on Sunday May 30, 2021 @05:02PM (#27336718)
Centralized in what way?
Re:Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box ... by Peaches4Rent on Sunday May 30, 2021 @03:14PM (#27335767)
You'd just create a new account for Amazon.

But what about your gmail? You'll lose all access to your email