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Comment by duxup | Hacker News Reader

This fits into the category I saw a reporter describe as "Things 20 something engineers wish their mom still did for them."

Similar to juicero (spelling), Amazon proposal to deliver packages inside your house....etc.

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> Amazon proposal to deliver packages inside your house

Wasn't this just to prevent assholes from stealing packages from your yard/door/...?

Yes. I believe they shifted to putting it in your car in driveway

Pretty much my experience, ups and FedEx at least put it on my porch where it is sort of hidden.

Amazon leaves it in plain sight on the driveway..... like guys no....

In my case the vast majority of amazon packages are ups, and most of the remaining are usps.

Also I live in an apartment and no porch/driveway, maybe that's why I dont lose packages :)

> I believe they shifted to putting it in your car in driveway

Huh? How is that supposed to help?

People aren't less likely to steal a package out of your car than out of your driveway.

Yes they are. Lack of package visibility, unclear accessiblity (vehicle locks), potential of car alarms, requirement for unlawful entry, increased likelihood of occupents associated with vehicle presence, expanded threat for forensic discovery, fear of spontaneous Tesla combustion and vehicle interiors that smell of soiled diapers and spoiled milk are the biggest deterrents.

> fear of spontaneous Tesla combustion

heh.

I'd be amazed if that was true. Even if the packages were visible from the road, surely the barrier of breaking into a possibly alarmed car is greater than just picking up a box from the floor.

I didn't say in driveway. I said in car.

That was the selling point.

I don't think it was a fundamentally bad idea, the problems are that their product doesn't work well enough and is too expensive.

The fundamental mistake they appear to have made was failing to research their market. Five minutes on Google would have shown them most clothing factories still use people to do the job they're trying to replace - that's in ideal conditions, completely controllable, and well-resourced ... and still the best solution is a person (with specialised tools).

They should have started by trying to replace that person. Make a $50,000 machine and sell it to businesses, then take what you learn doing that and make the home version.

I mean, that's the point, right? Getting rid of tedious work is a win. Every new task we automate liberates billions.

The lever on "things mum did for me" is long.

Have you had to the laundry for a house of 5 people? It's hours of work a week to put the clothes away, and it's mindless work to boot. It is parents of multiple children that would benefit the most from this, just like how they benefited from automated dishwashers and clothes washing machines.

I do the laundry for 4 people.

I wouldn't mind the product, I still think the product fits that category.

These damn entitled white males, inventing products to make the world more efficient.

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