Amazon's hardware is poised to utterly dominate the holiday season
Amazon has built up a lot of trust over the years as it's evolved from digital storefront to ecommerce empire. Now it's testing the limits of that trust with Amazon Key.
It's a simple enough concept, and it really solves a problem: The main thing Amazon does is deliver packages to your door, but there's always the question of what happens when you're not home. In many cases, that package may find a different home if it doesn't get through your door right away.
Amazon Key, which includes a smart lock and security camera, will let the delivery person in your front door and let you keep an eye on them, from wherever you are. In cities where lots of people live in apartments, the idea has merit.
It also has a lot of connotations Amazon would like to avoid. The company is already a presence in many households through its Echo devices and Alexa voice assistant, and Amazon Key feels like a bridge too far. It also speaks to just how much we're willing to allow tech companies encroach into our lives, including in places where we'd never trust the government to intrude.
In this week's MashTalk podcast, the Mashable team unpacks what Amazon Key means for the company and tech in general, and answers the question: Is it worth the tradeoff? We also discuss the company's now-bloated line of Echo devices. Is this really fragmentation, and even if it is, does it matter for a voice-powered device like the Echo?
Finally, we reveal the gadget you should definitely get this holiday season. Surprise — it's from Amazon.
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Topics Amazon Amazon Echo
Pete Pachal was Mashable’s Tech Editor and had been at the company from 2011 to 2019. He covered the technology industry, from self-driving cars to self-destructing smartphones.Pete has covered consumer technology in print and online for more than a decade. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Pete first uploaded himself into technology journalism at Sound & Vision magazine in 1999. Pete also served as Technology Editor at Syfy, creating the channel's technology site, DVICE (now Blastr), out of some rusty HTML code and a decompiled coat hanger. He then moved on to PCMag, where he served as the site's News Director.Pete has been featured on Fox News, the Today Show, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC and CBC.Pete holds degrees in journalism from the University of King's College in Halifax and engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. His favorite Doctor Who monsters are the Cybermen.
