I don't know, looks amazing to me. Yea the branded button isn't great, but let's face it, it's going to be sitting next to the branded box/bottle anyway.

If your toddler presses it, the worst they can do is order once. It's configured to only allow one order until the item is delivered. That isn't to say your toddler still cannot do damage...

If I have to approve orders on my phone as the video suggests, I may as well create the order then and there.

Something about that video (and much of my opinion is based on the video and look of the product) makes me uneasy. It's suggesting my life is a series of purchases and top-ups, and I will be happier when I can click my branded button. Like a junkie or something. When the woman runs out of coffee it looks like she's lost a loved one. Quickly, press the button! A dystopian future, only today.

Then there are questions about when to press the button, will I have to factor delivery time and frequency of use to arrive at that answer? And will everything arrive separately? Will orders aggregate... Time will tell.

This a case of you seeing in the video what you want to see. Practically every advertisement ever created has happy people using a product. This is just a device meant to make life easier - stop overthinking it.

The difference is that while most advertisements show people happily using a product, this one shows people becoming happy merely from the act of purchasing. I also got a very uneasy "consumer junkie" vibe from it.

Of course, it's in Amazon's best economic interest to normalize and associate good feelings with the ideas of endless consumption and perpetually repeating purchasing.

The buttons are to assist with repeat purchases that we All make and that are a hassle for most of us. Detergent, toilet paper, razors, etc. It's not a matter of whether we buy these things - we all do - it's How. And for a lot of us the How is still inconvenient. This is not the perfect solution but that's the problem it seems to want to solve. It IS a problem of Remembering to purchase. How do we make it easier for people to purchase those core items they frequently run out of?

The only "junkie" vibe I got from this was the k-cups.

The button is a cute idea but ...

There should be a button for the construction of Moai and another for a family set of inflatable row boats complete with solar-powered floating kitchen (the latter delivered by amphibious drone, of course).

Clearly, as a species, we have not yet learned anything about the collapse of civilizations, and in so doing, proceed to another Tragedy of Commons at a gentle pace, because it's "not an emergency." ("Boiling frog" parable.)

Carbon emissions need to be cut drastically, and this product sets a terrible example contrary to that.

Nearly everything arrives separately already with Amazon, so not that big of a change. They seem to ship things from different warehouses half the time.

I'm not sure I understand the blowback on how and when to push the button. It's only for amazon prime members right now, so presumably you'll press the button when you need something within the next few days.

Do you wait until you are completely out of something, drop everything and drive to a store and buy it, or do you plan ahead? Same thing here without having to go to a store or write it down on a list to remember.

> If I have to approve orders on my phone as the video suggests, I may as well create the order then and there.

The first shot of the phone is during setup. The second shot is the "an order was made" push notification, which you can use to cancel the order, but no action means it will just go through.

Come now, you can't tell me that you've gone to use $PRODUCT_NAME, only to realize that it's out/almost out. We all forget to replenish our stock once in a while.

This seems like a great product for the post-college individual, living away on their own for the first time (i.e. me). Heck, I know already that I'm low on detergent, yet I keep forgetting to go to the store to pick up more. Obviously that's my fault, but being able to LITERALLY press a button and have what I need appear at my doorstep is pretty sweet.

Though, I'm still not totally convinced that this isn't an April Fool's joke that's a day early...

> Though, I'm still not totally convinced that this isn't an April Fool's joke that's a day early

Spoken like someone who thinks there's a single timezone on the planet.

Hell, it's going to be sitting in my pantry, behind the paper towels. That way, when I have few rolls left, the button becomes visible and then the button gets pushed.

The timing is terrible. Even if it's not a joke, they've just set themselves up for this exact comment.

Surely someone would have thought of this? Just seems like a really bad choice -- too bad for a company like Amazon to make (the timing, that is, coupled with a highly-branded product like this).

You don't remember Google's April 1st announcement of Gmail, then. With gigabytes of storage, it was the perfect joke for the day and naturally carried by news outlets everywhere. And the joke continued on the next day, people realized that it wasn't actually a joke and, naturally, another media frenzy happened. Perfect example of guerrilla marketing IMO.

I completely remember that, which is why companies like Amazon should especially know better.

... wait, what? You specifically remember Gmail's launch (a good thing), and Gmail's launch had multiple phases of publicity (also a good thing).

What should Amazon know better about? Gmail launching on April Fools was a net positive thing.

It's excellent timing, no one knows if it's a "joke". Amazon gets coverage either way.

I guess, if your philosophy is "bad coverage is still coverage". But hasn't this happened with an Amazon product announcement before, and backfired? Amazon Echo comes to mind.

Not even sure that was around April fools, but my point is, bad coverage can, and has often, backfired.

April Fools jokes don't happen until tomorrow, no? I can't remember any jokes happening on March 31.

That's sort of my point. Most people, with April Fools just around the corner (and already here, for some), it will still be used in mockery comments about the product, even though they know it's a real product.

Its a great marketing opportunity. Get out in front of the other advertisements... i mean pranks.

It's April 1 in much of the eastern hemisphere.

They're innovators.

> It must be an April fools joke

Maybe considering their history of product announcements (Amazon Echo), they're being cautious about it this time. If it gets mocked, they'll just say "Oh it was an April Fool's joke"

That's terrible. Imagine being the team who built that product, only to have them say, "Too many people thought it was a joke, sorry"

That's my guess. Nor eat way to test the waters with a product announcement without putting your neck fully out there.

This happens every year. Lots of product announcements do go out around April 1 because it's the end of first quarter. Also there's lots of B.S. april fools day jokes. Hilarity ensues.

You think having branded buttons is bad? Imagine having kids in a house full of buttons ;-)

Agreed, but I would give up the micro-locations of having all these buttons throughout my house for a single panel with a half dozen or 10 buttons which are configurable for products I actually re-order pretty regularly (coffee filters, etc.)

It seems you're more worried about your toddler having access to the button than the detergent and bleach it's next to. Why would one be out of reach but not the other?

I want a Ubik button.

Put the button for your laundry detergent where you keep the laundry detergent - presumably somewhere a toddler can't get to.

I don't think it is.

No it's not. That was Goat Grazer.

Hum, wait a minute...

Another small step of society pulling the moral wool over their eyes in exchange for convenience...