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Amazon Introduces $20 Dash-Like Button For IoT (slashgear.com)

An anonymous reader shares a Slashgear article: Amazon has revealed a programmable Dash Button which can be assigned to any product or purpose, a customizable version of its one-touch reordering gadgets. The AWS IoT Button looks just like the existing Dash Buttons, which allow products from more than 100 brands to be ordered with a single tap -- no web browser required -- and delivered to a preset address, but is designed for developers and Internet of Things tinkerers to dig into. So, rather than having a new multipack of toilet rolls, or a fresh box of laundry detergent added to your shopping list, the AWS IoT Button could be used to trigger your lights, integrate with popular APIs from Twitter, Slack, Facebook, or others, or summon a car through Uber.It appears Amazon has already sold out its current batch.

52 comments

  1. For all of you who are INCREDIBLY lazy by NotDrWho · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...and also don't have a cat.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:For all of you who are INCREDIBLY lazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your cat can summon a car through Uber???!!! That's one hell of a cat! ;)

    2. Re:For all of you who are INCREDIBLY lazy by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

      My CAT could crush your puny car.

    3. Re:For all of you who are INCREDIBLY lazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's one hell of a cat!

      Mr. Peepers takes shit from no one.

  2. Perfect! by bistromath007 · · Score: 2

    Who needs an Arduino or some shit like that? It's such a hassle programming one to be a light switch that sends telemetry data to Amazon on my own.

    1. Re:Perfect! by blueshift_1 · · Score: 1

      Well considering the arduino + a case + interface, I think they are saying hey for $20 - give us some of your data and we will give you something in a nice package.

    2. Re:Perfect! by zlives · · Score: 2

      actually, they already have your data from buying from amazon. what this does is lock you in to amazon so you never have to think about supporting your local stores at all.

    3. Re:Perfect! by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 1

      Well since I live in a high rise apartment in a city and don't own a car, I don't give a fuck about "supporting" local stores that are out of walking distance anyhow, so I'm fine with that.

      I'm not going to go out of my way to pay higher prices, have to go to the store when it's OPEN, and deal with service drones.

      Sorry, that's the way it is.

      --
      "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    4. Re:Perfect! by GNious · · Score: 1

      Here's a problem: If this requires sending data of any kind to Amazon in order to turn on my lights (see: examples above), then it WILL fail eventually, and it wont score a sufficiently high WAF.

    5. Re:Perfect! by zlives · · Score: 1

      convenience is king, this is exactly why i own an SUV,

  3. Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's trivially easy to hack these things without going through sketchy amazon IoT services.

    https://github.com/dekuNukem/Amazon_Dash_Button

  4. This already exists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People have been using the original dash buttons to accomplish various things since they were released. So this IoT button only provides limited use.

    For example, you could watch your current network and when the button is pressed, do a certain action such as turn on a light or send an SNMP requesting a switch port to be activated. You simply block the dash button from getting access to the internet and no purchases will be made.

    1. Re:This already exists by Ksevio · · Score: 3, Informative

      Even easier than blocking it, you can just not set up the button to buy anything when pressed. When you first get it you have to select which product to buy so just don't do that step.

    2. Re:This already exists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better yet, set it up to purchase random products from Amazon, randomly billed.

  5. Pointless by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've read on the website that the battery cannot be replaced or recharged and that the life expectation is around 1000 button presses.

    It's fine if you only push the button once a week to order something regularly (lasts a bit over 19 years) but for IoT usage it's not going to last nearly long enough for anything useful.

    1. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "No user-serviceable parts inside" is usually a lie.

    2. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I've read on the website that the battery cannot be replaced or recharged

      Not with that attitude!

    3. Re:Pointless by stephanruby · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've read on the website that the battery cannot be replaced or recharged and that the life expectation is around 1000 button presses.

      It's fine if you only push the button once a week to order something regularly (lasts a bit over 19 years) but for IoT usage it's not going to last nearly long enough for anything useful.

      The solution is easy. You get yourself a meta button, basically a second button to order new buttons.

      And voila, you have yourself a self-sustaining recursive solution.

    4. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Apparently it's just a AAA battery spot welded in place. Just cutoff the metal tabs holding the battery in place and solder in some springy tabs from an old device and 3D print a new removable bottom cover. Simple!

    5. Re:Pointless by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Although replacement batteries often cost more than the device itself did originally.

    6. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's OK. If you do your coding in Java, you can't even be sure your device will run after the next Java update..

    7. Re: Pointless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless its done on purpose like broadcom likes to do. "Practically useless without documentation" is broadcom's slogan.

    8. Re:Pointless by branchingfactor · · Score: 1

      TIn 19 years none of the cloud infrastructure used by the button is going to work. You'll be lucky if the APis last a year. So that's like 3 button presses a day before your IoT button stops working anyway.

  6. YES! by Eyezen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can push a button to turn on my lights! I've always wanted to do that.

    1. Re:YES! by zlives · · Score: 1

      i just wait for the sun to come out, without a light button (tm) it was too much work lighting fires in each room.

  7. Hack existing ones for cheaper. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    $20 to get a blank one, or $5 to get one with a Tide logo or whatever on it but you can just hack it.
    https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wifi-button-to-track-baby-data-794214b0bdd8

    1. Re:Hack existing ones for cheaper. by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      This. If Amazon wants people to take it seriously in this space, you have to actually get something of value for that extra $15. You know, like a way to replace the battery. I was ready to order one until I saw that bit. If I'm going to buy something where the hardware is just going to fail in a few months, then it will always be a lousy hack, and I might as well save $15 and make it an only slightly bigger hack by using the standard buttons and sniffing the packets.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  8. Re:Why not call it the ISIS button? by NotDrWho · · Score: 2

    It's also good for when there is something strange in your neighborhood, and you're wondering who you gonna call.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  9. Built-in obsolescence? by Yggdrasil42 · · Score: 4, Informative

    "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."

  10. Dash by Livius · · Score: 2

    a programmable Dash Button which can be assigned to any product or purpose

    Also known as a 'button'.

    1. Re:Dash by Ksevio · · Score: 2

      A button with wifi and no power usage when not pressed.

    2. Re: Dash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And no documentation in the wifi chip in it. Good luck getting it to do anything really useful.

  11. I think I just had a stroke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no idea what could possibly be the value in having a device that connects to the internet that is a single button. Is this some kind of singularity technology? "Oh, I am out of laundry detergent. Rather than use my abilities as a living creature with a rich combination of mental and physical abilities to purchase more detergent before I need to do another load of laundry, I would rather rely on a unreliable electronic device, hooked up to an unreliable internet connection, to order a product whose packaging and delivery will have a non-zero carbon cost. If only they would sell laundry detergent in single load packages, my life would be even more wasteful and meaningless."

    1. Re:I think I just had a stroke. by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Alas, I don't have a rich combination of mental abilities. If I see the milk carton's empty, I should add it to my shopping list. But by the time I get to the shopping list, I've forgotten I need milk.

      Worse, my SO discovers no milk and doesn't tell me.

      So I can see the advantage of a few buttons here and there. Just don't want them hooked up to the Amazon/NSA servers, that's all.

    2. Re:I think I just had a stroke. by zlives · · Score: 1

      do you have this issue with only milk. other items on your grocery list do not experience this amnesia or are you going to have a button for each item.

    3. Re:I think I just had a stroke. by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      You have found me out. A milk button, a pet food button, a laundry detergent button and a great big red coffee panic button.

      That's what Amazon envisioned. All I want is for me to control it and not them.

    4. Re:I think I just had a stroke. by zlives · · Score: 1

      i envision a launch control type panel with buttons :)
      maybe they could make it a gui with a list of items that you could add to a virtual... cart rather than physical buttons. ;)

  12. Doorbell button by omnichad · · Score: 2

    Would make a great wireless doorbell button, if you could get in there and make the battery easily replaced.

    1. Re:Doorbell button by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They need to make the battery replaceable for most applications that spring to mind.

    2. Re:Doorbell button by branchingfactor · · Score: 1

      How many visitors do you have? Seriously. 1000 button pushes is a LOT. Battery life is the least if your problems if you're getting that many visitors.

    3. Re: Doorbell button by omnichad · · Score: 1

      I'm not saying it won't last 5 or 6 years, but with package deliveries often getting a doorbell push when I'm not even home, I would expect 100 per year minimum.

      It's true that $20 every 5 years isn't a lot, but there's no guarantee of there being a replacement still available by then. And on principle, I wouldn't pay $30 to replace a battery.

  13. Dash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The dash button really needs a wireless recharge/power source like Qi and an LED.
    Push button, LED flashes until product is delivered, LED goes solid when delivered for n hours, and then turns off.
    If you use a bi-color LED, you could also alert for trouble/problem.

  14. Doesn't FLIC do all this? by davecotter · · Score: 1

    I got me these flic buttons https://flic.io/ to control my LIFX bulbs, but they could be programmed to do literally anything a script on your computer could do, or anything from dozens of included IoT plugins... I think the only difference is that FLIC requires a computer or other device to act as go-between (doesn't connect directly to your wifi)

  15. Here's a dismemberment video from 6 months ago: by ClarkMills · · Score: 1

    https://youtu.be/bYYAzSzgU9c

    Published on Oct 29, 2015
    This video shows how I managed to hack Amazon's Dash Button as well as wire up one of Amazon's AWS IoT Buttons with Node.js to order me beer via Drizly. I teamed up with Drizly to get access to their API and will always have my favorite beer available at the press of a button!

  16. The Dash button singularity by Thud457 · · Score: 1
    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  17. Slashdot special! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    "Slashdot has signed an agreement with Amazon for an IoT button registered Slashdotters can get for free! It will 1-push reorder boxes of kleenex!"

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  18. Meh by wwalker · · Score: 2

    You can get an Arduino Mini board with WiFi module for less than $10 total and have as many buttons as you like, and a replaceable/rechargeable battery. It won't be as small though.

  19. Twitter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So a single button for a whole new generation of Twitter Shitters?

  20. Great - now I can order stuff I don't want by DidgetMaster · · Score: 1

    It was annoying enough when you pocket dialed your wife when you sat down with your phone in your pocket. Now you might have to explain to the FedEx driver that you didn't really mean to order $2000 worth of stuff.

  21. Why doesn't Amazon just add a color e-Ink display? by mlts · · Score: 1

    Amazon has a bunch of Dash buttons, but I wonder if they would do better making the buttons with an e-Ink display so only one model is needed, and depending on the function or product it is paired/activated with, would display the logo of that.

    This would definitely be useful for IoT.