Nice idea, although I'd rather it just updated a notepad document on my NAS for me to take shopping at Sainsburys.
I'll stick to my mobile phone.
Great that I can now order a fiesta at the push of a button
Fine publication.
Should sell it in an Andrex/Olay triple-pack
On a serious note, seem like a fairly good idea (my first thought was exploitable gimmick, but the pricing model is right and looks like you can't be bankrupted by click-happy kids). A customiseable version would be good (configure it with the product ID and print your own label). Ideal for recordable media or printer ink.
I can see the idea but surely people too busy to buy such products the usual supermarket way aren't free to take deliveries at random points in the day… Until they solve a way to take deliveries at a house without being in it just looks like a gimmick to me…
On a side note - Wonder if these can be reflashed to do other jobs…
virtuo
Great that I can now order a fiesta at the push of a button
Fine publication.
Should sell it in an Andrex/Olay triple-pack
On a serious note, seem like a fairly good idea (my first thought was exploitable gimmick, but the pricing model is right and looks like you can't be bankrupted by click-happy kids). A customiseable version would be good (configure it with the product ID and print your own label). Ideal for recordable media or printer ink.
I'd give a real consideration for one to get printer ink
I believe there's a Dash button API so you can indeed customise them, although I can't find the article I read about it off hand…
EDIT:
Special customisable button:
https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/I believe you can program it to do almost anything as long as the target is “connected”…
scaryjim
I believe there's a Dash button API so you can indeed customise them, although I can't find the article I read about it off hand…
EDIT:
Special customisable button: https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/
I believe you can program it to do almost anything as long as the target is “connected”…
Cheers ScaryJim - interesting but this quote from link you posted worries me:
“How long will the battery last?
The battery should last for approximately 1,000 presses. When the device battery runs out of charge, there is no way to recharge or replace the battery.”
Does this mean more electronic junk with each one of these buttons (not just the programmable one)? Seems very wasteful.
cheesemp
Cheers ScaryJim - interesting but this quote from link you posted worries me:
“How long will the battery last?
The battery should last for approximately 1,000 presses. When the device battery runs out of charge, there is no way to recharge or replace the battery.”
Does this mean more electronic junk with each one of these buttons (not just the programmable one)? Seems very wasteful.
Shame as they are just regular batteries in there, ultrasonicsonic welded cases though so you'll destroy the casing opening it up - wouldn't take much for amazon to just add clips:
https://mpetroff.net/2016/07/new-amazon-dash-button-teardown-jk29lp/Thinking about it, 1000 purchases of stuff like washing powder will see you many years anyway, and the cost of the buttons is technically zero as long as you use them. I have since read elsewhere that some smart appliances can in theory talk directly to them as well, so your fancy fridge could order a replacement water filter (for example) a few days before it's due to run out.
I also saw that the “payload” that gets sent to Amazon is very simple JSON with a device ID - so as long as the source MAC address isn't validated you could whip up a simple NFC based app to do the same thing from your phone. Which sounds more flexible.
virtuo
Great that I can now order a fiesta at the push of a button
Fine publication.
Maybe team it up with the one beginning with D, for when you're feeling posh.
Don't shop around. Don't support your local businesses. Only buy from us. Good citizen.
Nobody else seen the durex one, get that stuck on your bedside cabinet!
I use a sophisticated JIT (just-in-time) inventory management, update and control system with automatic monitoring.
What? Oh, a pen and list.
Why JIT? Because I usually remember to get to the shop just in time.
Actually, my system is a bit more complex. Normally, I keep a ‘reserve’ item(s) in the pantry, storeroom or freezer, depending on what it is, and when I get the reserve out and start using it, I put it on the Version 1.0 list and replace it.
The sophisticted bit is my advanced technology, called “a brain” that has a pretty damn good grasp of how many of an item I use per day, week, etc, for high-use items, and I actually keep several if just having one in reserve would leave insufficient time to replace, so it goes on the list when the amount in stock approaches the amount used in the availabls lead time before the next shop run.
And I manage it all without sticking stupid buttons all over the house.
I mean, really? Are people really getting this pathetic, this inept?
Dear Deity in Nirvana, whatever next.
virtuo
Thinking about it, 1000 purchases of stuff like washing powder will see you many years anyway, …
Perhaps that is an estimate based on a 7 year battery life.
But they are using Duracell, so in 7 years time the insides will be covered in battery gunk and best left sealed up. They should have stuck to Energizer, could have dremelled it open and re-used it then.
Saracen
I use a sophisticated JIT (just-in-time) inventory management, update and control system with automatic monitoring.
What? Oh, a pen and list.
Why JIT? Because I usually remember to get to the shop just in time.
Actually, my system is a bit more complex. Normally, I keep a ‘reserve’ item(s) in the pantry, storeroom or freezer, depending on what it is, and when I get the reserve out and start using it, I put it on the Version 1.0 list and replace it.
The sophisticted bit is my advanced technology, called “a brain” that has a pretty damn good grasp of how many of an item I use per day, week, etc, for high-use items, and I actually keep several if just having one in reserve would leave insufficient time to replace, so it goes on the list when the amount in stock approaches the amount used in the availabls lead time before the next shop run.
And I manage it all without sticking stupid buttons all over the house.
I mean, really? Are people really getting this pathetic, this inept?
Dear Deity in Nirvana, whatever next.
This (and Anazon Dash) is only stop-gap technology. When your fridge and cupboards have barcode scanners on them, you'll be able to scan items in and out and preset your default stock level, and preselect a supermarket of your choice - better still, replace the bar scanner with an RFID tag, then it removes the need to scan anything.
Oh, wait
Wouldn't work for aluminium foil though - oh well, back to the back of the envelope for the next design….
peterb
… When your fridge and cupboards have barcode scanners on them, you'll be able to scan items in and out and preset your default stock level, and preselect a supermarket of your choice - better still, replace the bar scanner with an RFID tag, then it removes the need to scan anything. …
And weight sensitive shelves, so every time you take something out then put it back it can work out how much you've used. Just think of the research possibilities in terms of optmising the restocking schedule for the minimum number of deliveries… ;)
peterb
This (and Anazon Dash) is only stop-gap technology. When your fridge and cupboards have barcode scanners on them, you'll be able to scan items in and out and preset your default stock level, and preselect a supermarket of your choice - better still, replace the bar scanner with an RFID tag, then it removes the need to scan anything.
…
That conjures up a mental image of me buying some new concoction to try, the fridge detecting it, and despite me deciding I really wasn't very impressed, ending up with permanently being resupplied because my bleeping fridge keeps reordering it for me. No doubt after the fridge reorders, Amazon drones will deliver and drop it through the chimney, where the tidyness bot will immediately “help” me by putting it in the fridge or freezer, and I won't be able to dig fresh carrots out of the garden because the door SmartLock will decide it's too cold, or too hot, or something, out in the workd and “protect” me by refusing to open.
As I suspect you know, or at least should guess, few things appal me more than the notion of “smart” devices like fridges monitoring what I put in them and commincating directly with Amazon or any other retailer. No, no, no and oh hell, no.
The only way my energy supplier is even putting a smart meter in my home is if it's legally mandatory or they refuse to supply, and even then, I'll be trying to find a practical and affordable way of being energy self-sufficient first.
Smart fridge? Over my dead body.
I look forward to the Daily Mail stories of embarrassing things turning up in the post being blamed on faulty/hacked buttons.
DanceswithUnix
I look forward to the Daily Mail stories of embarrassing things turning up in the post being blamed on faulty/hacked buttons.
Or blamed on friends having a laugh with a button that was also bought as a laugh and not really intended to be used.
I would have bought one of these if programmable.but the pre programmed products are not something I would buy from Amazon. All cheaper at costco :)
Personally I am more interested in Alexa when that comes to the UK, or the full Dash when they bring fresh up to Manchester (early next year, or maybe even for Christmas).
Could make my own for less than £4.99 though from an Arduino clone and a push button I guess. 5 minute job.
It's going to be a long time for automated fridges. Even if I train myself for the sake of technology, there is no way the rest of the family will remember to scan things in and out, and manage the number of slices of bacon in the fridge.
What we've got into recently is doing a once round of the kitchen and tapping that into our usuals list on our local supermarkets online shop and then either collect or wait for delivery.
Dashers
It's going to be a long time for automated fridges. Even if I train myself for the sake of technology, there is no way the rest of the family will remember to scan things in and out, and manage the number of slices of bacon in the fridge.
What we've got into recently is doing a once round of the kitchen and tapping that into our usuals list on our local supermarkets online shop and then either collect or wait for delivery.
Google the “Smarter Fridge Cam” and their mat accessory. The camera takes images of whats in your fridge to show you what is left, and with an aim of automatically reading certain items/expiry dates etc. The mat accessory is something you place on the shelf which will weigh individual items and determine how much is left in each packet. Most useful for things like Milk where it can calculate there is 200ml remaining or whatever and alert you to buy some more.
How well it really works remains to be seen - but the concept is really interesting..I am not so sure on the camera aspect but the mats are a cool idea imo and I can see myself using them.
You can (in America at least), buy these buttons unprogrammed. They're more expensive though. The work simply by calling a HTTP URL. So you just set them up to call
http://myserver/?id=1 and you've captured a click.
What I could do with one, is wire it into a script that will remotely open my garage door. Although I'd need to link up the circuitry for my door opener to my server so it could signal that. Or… I could just use the remote.
It seems like a vaguely neat idea, but at £5 a pop, that's a hella expensive way to reorder your dishwasher tablets.
Having just got an Amazon Dot I can see the practicality of telling Alexa to add stuff to a shopping list for later processing as I am wandering around my place, but having a button that went further than adding to a shopping list i.e. ordering and paying for the item just aint right.