Amazon Dash lands in UK and people are sceptical
Amazon has rolled out its Dash purchase devices in the UK, allowing Prime members to buy cleaning supplies, pet food and laundry products simply by pressing a physical button.
The Wi-Fi-connected gadgets, which are to be placed near the items in question, such as a toilet-roll holder, will cost £4.99 each and are available to Amazon Prime customers -- though there will be a £4.99 discount with the first purchase.
More than 40 brands -- including Andrex, Ariel, Kleenex and Wilkinson -- are on board with the service and more are set to follow.
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The one-click buttons come with a reusable adhesive and a removable hook to hang or place them wherever you want.
“Dash Buttons offer the convenience of 1-Click shopping from anywhere in the home -- they can be placed near those frequently used items you don’t want to run out of, and when you see supplies running low, the Dash Button makes it easier than ever to order more. Just press the button and your item is on its way," Daniel Rausch, director of Amazon Dash, said in a press release.
As soon as the order is placed, customers receive a mobile notification confirming the item with a delivery date and price. A green button will light on if the order is successful. Customers can cancel orders on the mobile app.
Amazon has also launched Dash Replenishment Service (DRS), which can be built directly into a printer or a washing machine, for instance, and allows customers to automatically reorder ink or washing detergent when low using a simple set of APIs.
The Dash service, which is part of the so-called internet of things, was received with scepticism when launched in the US.
Naturally, the Brits were even more suspicious. This is what BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones wrote:
Are we so lazy now that we are happy to have one pack of soap powder make its way from Amazon's fulfilment centre down busy city streets to our door, with all the environmental impact that entails, rather than heading to the shops and getting everything in one go? Shouldn't we have the weekly shop delivered to us by a British supermarket? Are we happy to tie ourselves to big brands whose buttons we will push, or whose appliances will buy their perhaps pricey supplies on our behalf.
And this is how Twitter reacted:
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To its credit, people have in the past made a point about how the device could be a godsend for some disabled people:
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