All Things Amazon

scotchandcigar

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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IdRatherBeSkiing said:
The sale is done by the retailer in the mall so that is good for them is it not?
Click to expand...
Yes, for the retailer it's an additional source of sales; but only if one assumes the couch-potato hiring the runner would otherwise not go to the mall himself - which is a pretty sad prospect. In general, retailers would prefer that the actual customers got off their asses and went to the mall themselves. Because then, in addition to the purchase the runner would've made for them, there are additional sales opportunities from the window shopping effect.
 
IdRatherBeSkiing

IdRatherBeSkiing

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Oct 11, 2008
31,882
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Toronto, ON
scotchandcigar said:
Yes, for the retailer it's an additional source of sales; but only if one assumes the couch-potato hiring the runner would otherwise not go to the mall himself - which is a pretty sad prospect. In general, retailers would prefer that the actual customers got off their asses and went to the mall themselves. Because then, in addition to the purchase the runner would've made for them, there are additional sales opportunities from the window shopping effect.
Click to expand...
Good is a relative term. Would runner buying specific thing be worse than somebody browsing amazon directly and providing them 0 sales opportunity?
 
sadchild

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
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NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
sadchild

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
15,120
16,465
168
55
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
Alexa, what's a quick way to lose ten billion dollars?

www.businessinsider.com

Amazon is on pace to lose $10 billion this year from Alexa and other devices

In the first quarter of this year, the "Worldwide Digital" unit of Amazon's business, which includes Echo and Alexa, had a $3 billion operating loss.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com

But even better: Elon, how do I lose a hundred billion dollars?

markets.businessinsider.com

World's richest man Elon Musk's wealth has taken a $100 billion hit in 2022, thanks to plummeting Tesla shares

Elon Musk's net worth has sunk by $100.5 billion in 2022, the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaire's index, after peaking at $340 billion last year.
markets.businessinsider.com markets.businessinsider.com
 
sadchild

sadchild

Dude
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Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. He's quickly dropping its worth to zero. What else could he have done with that money instead?

1. End famine worldwide

$44 billion could legitimately help 42 million people facing famine, and Musk should probably do that, seeing as he promised he would back in October.

2. End US homelessness

In 2012, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated the cost of solving homelessness in America would come to around $20 billion. That number is a decade old now, but it says something about the ridiculousness of Musk’s deal that he could have done it twice over a decade ago.

3. Clean water and toilets worldwide

$600 million a year is enough to get clean water & toilets into every health centre in the 46 least-developed countries - keeping staff & patients safe and helping to avoid future pandemics. $44 billion would finance 73 years of this.

4. Buy Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $35 billion debt. He could bail them about and have $9 billion left to fix whatever got them into this trouble.

5. Fix US bridges

According to the 2021 Bridge Conditions Report by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, one in three US bridges are in need of repair or replacement. The cost to repair and replace all these failing bridges? About $42 billion.
 
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JHDK

JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
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Speaking of Alexa, Amazon can clearly hear every single word I say anywhere in my house at all times.

I've gone echo crazy. So I had the old echo Dot, the one that looks like a hockey puck and then yesterday I bought the new echo. The sphere one that's a little more expensive with better speakers or whatever and just now I bought one more echo and two more echo dots. By the end of the day I will have five echoes in a two-bedroom one bath apartment. I think that's almost sufficient. Haha.

The plan is to use the two echoes as my television speakers and then the echo dots all around the house so I can link them all together when I want to listen to music.

Also, I'm very tempted to get the echo studio as part of my TV speaker setup, but I'm going to hold off on that because I assume I'll be getting a bunch of Amazon gift cards for my birthday and Christmas and I'll use them for that.
 
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HecticArt

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
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Those SOBs are listening for sure.
Last weekend the Mrs mentioned something (I forgot exactly what it was) but within a half of an hour we were both seeing adds for it. We've never talked about it before.
 
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JHDK

JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
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Hyrule
Well I may have gone too echo crazy. The two echos don't work better than my soundbar as TV speakers. For music the echo dots get drowned out. I think I'll be returning the two dots. I'll still have my original dot and I'll figure out something to do with it.

The echos do have very good sound. They are double the price of the dots and I'd say more than double the sound quality so I'm happy about that. One replaced the dot in the living room and the other now calls the bathroom home so I can blast playlists while in the shower.
 
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Jon

Jon

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
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Amazon video is putting Ads on the service, unless you're willing to pay an additional $2.99 a month, which essentially puts prime at $175 a year.

I had considered cancelling for a while since the shipping has gone downhill and they're adding so much crap to the video service that it's no longer worth it. You can get free shipping anyway with $35 minimum purchase, but places like Walmart and Target do the same thing, and you can pick up from a local store if you choose to.
 
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Channel98

Channel98

Don't yell or hit.
Feb 2, 2019
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I'm going to beat Mister scotch to this one: There's a thread for that.

Things That Nobody Needs

Because of my recent move, I've had to call into a lot of automated phone systems, due to changes in my medical and utility providers, notifying change of address, and so on. And each time, it starts with "Please listen carefully, as our menu has changed". I won't go into all the reasons that...
digitalradiocentral.com digitalradiocentral.com
 
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scotchandcigar

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
29,548
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168
Vacationland
geosync said:
The Smart Bowl. What does it do better than mine???
Click to expand...
Without even mentioning the Alexa integration, it does all this:

You can adjust the temperature and water pressure of the bidet spray. And the stainless steel wand is automatically cleaned with a UV light every 24 hours. The seat is heated, "ergonomically designed" to be comfortable, and motion-activated so the lid automatically opens and closes. It also comes with a warm-air drying system with adjustable temperature settings. And if you're ever in need of a bathroom nightlight, it comes with LED lighting.
 
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