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Most Amazon Prime Subscribers Say They Don't Want To Buy the Amazon Key That Lets Delivery People Into Their Homes (recode.net)

A reader shares a report: Next week, Amazon will start delivering packages straight into Americans' homes, using a smart lock and camera device called Amazon Key. But will anyone bother paying for what seems like an invasive service? Most wouldn't. About 58 percent of people who have Amazon Prime definitely would not buy Amazon Key, according to a SurveyMonkey poll done on behalf of Recode. That's only slightly less than the 61 percent of all U.S. adults who wouldn't buy the product, suggesting it's broadly unattractive, regardless of whether people are Amazon customers. Among Prime subscribers, only 5 percent said they would definitely buy Amazon Key. Of all U.S. shoppers, even less -- 4 percent -- said they would. Nearly 60 percent of the respondents have Prime subscriptions.

357 comments

  1. You want to hear howls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just wait until this fucking thing is cracked. Amazon stock will drop 150 points in a day.

    1. Re:You want to hear howls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other news, Jeff Bezos just sold 1,000,000 shares for $1,000,000,000.00...

    2. Re:You want to hear howls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All they have to do is allow access to the trunk of a car (change lock to one that doesn't also open the doors.

    3. Re:You want to hear howls? by KingBenny · · Score: 1

      actually consider the options here : MY NEW 10K smart tv and my wifes jewelry was stolen !!!!!
      but yea ... theres a delivery service here that uses "local" people to do it on the cheap (for them cos they dont cost less for it) but i have no idea which of the natives would be delivering my groceries ... so it could be one of the local ancient nazis who calls the cops on my ass every time they see me passing ... cos im looking at a car or something I DONT WANT THOSE PEOPLE NEAR MY GROCERIES i can imagine i wouldnt give them the key to my house LOLolo;lol
      woaw thats like woaw, you always see that in 1980s american sitcoms everyone comes just in through the backdoor .... i never knew that was for real , i always thought they were supposed to be annoying characters theres like maybe two or three people here in the whole hood i would entrust to come feed my cat when im gone, definitely not strangers who might be fucking scouts for east european drive by burglars omg i guess thats why no one in the gravelpits has smartwatches or tvs ... a bit not 'down with the times' ... but i think this is really asking a LOT ... trusting total fucking freakos with you key, face it ... all weirdness tries to find a place from which it can do best what it likes the most
      hide your panties ladies, check them for snot-dna, they might be sniffed .... check your cables, dad, for sniffer dna ... your packets might be sniffed too LOLOlolol
      besos my man ... what the fuck are you thinking ?
      you WANT liability or what ?

      --
      Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
  2. Did Amazon buy out Slashdot? by FatCashewsSlapMe · · Score: 0, Interesting

    We got two Amazon stories back to back. Can we get a third Amazon story to go with these two?

  3. Nope... by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

    I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    1. Re:Nope... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

      If 5% of Amazon Prime members buy this Amazon Key- that's still 4.25 million users in the US alone (estimated 85million Prime Owners). I think they will make a profit off this. I personally wouldn't sign up for it, but sounds like this will be profitable to Amazon.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Nope... by hawguy · · Score: 1

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

      I think this is probably targeted at the people that have no safe place to leave packages at their house and want a way to receive Amazon packages at home without someone stealing them.

      For those people, this could be an attractive service.

    3. Re:Nope... by Arzaboa · · Score: 1

      Interesting point. Is this the beginning of have it delivered in your home, or we don't wan't to hear about your stolen goods?

      --
      "Smithers" - M. Burns

    4. Re:Nope... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Suuure.

      Your neighborhood is so bad that you can't leave packages outside, yet you're fine with having a delivery person just let themselves in.

      Perfect self-nuke.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    5. Re: Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazon engineers live in safe upper class White communities, so it only makes sense they'd design a product to prevent a stray Tyrone or Pedro from stealing their order

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

      A better solution is to keep a stray Tyrone or Pedro from safe neighborhoods. Just have a drone flying around and shooting anyone with a hoodie. That should get the job done.

    7. Re:Nope... by hawguy · · Score: 1

      Suuure.

      Your neighborhood is so bad that you can't leave packages outside, yet you're fine with having a delivery person just let themselves in.

      Perfect self-nuke.

      There are lots of reasonably safe, suburban neighborhoods that are targeted by package thieves where residents might want to use this service.

    8. Re:Nope... by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

      Could be a millennial thing who basically lives on Amazon purchases but is often not around to wait for them and doesn't want to leave boxes of Amazon stuff on the front porch.

      So they would love for Amazon to have the driver drop the stuff off inside the house rather than wait for the delivery themselves.

    9. Re:Nope... by swb · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm sure the group of people who thought this was a good idea are:

      1) Super rich senior managers at Amazon that have a flood of service people through their houses all the time -- maids, cooks, pool cleaners, whatever. They think it's totally normal.

      2) 24/7/365 corporate climbers who live in hotel rooms. To them this is just maid service, and they don't own their hotel room.

      3) Millennials sharing an apartment with 3 people who think it's totally normal when you're roommates girlfriend's sister is in and out of the place all the time. They have no expectation or experience with privacy.

      I can totally see the groupthink among these people that having Amazon in and out of someone's home is a perfectly fine idea.

      I think it sucks, unless Amazon wants to sign a confidentiality agreement and post a $1,000,000.00 surety bond payable upon demand for any suboptimal outcome associated with this service.

    10. Re:Nope... by Moof123 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      More to the point, those 4.25 Million people are likely the ones living in apartments or crime prone neighborhoods where rightly paranoid people currently shy away from delivery to the home due to theft fears. If people are already frustrated by difficult delivery issues Amazon will become a disproportionate winner with those customers.
      Not only will the paranoid buy stuff they were not ordering online previously, but they will buy stuff from Amazon that they could actually get cheaper elsewhere because of the reassurance that their stuff will not be stolen or require them to be present to sign (a major hassle for those with jobs...).

    11. Re:Nope... by parkinglot777 · · Score: 1

      If 5% of Amazon Prime members buy this Amazon Key- that's still 4.25 million users in the US alone (estimated 85million Prime Owners). I think they will make a profit off this. I personally wouldn't sign up for it, but sounds like this will be profitable to Amazon.

      Assuming there are no law suits against Amazon later on, they may still profit. Or Amazon has sneaked in a clause where those who bought their Amazon key can't sue Amazon because they <sarcasm>legally</sarcasm> authorize Amazon to enter their home.

    12. Re: Nope... by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      Amazon engineers live in safe upper class White communities, so it only makes sense they'd design a product to prevent a stray Tyrone or Pedro from stealing their order

      Except that these are prime targets and exactly where you'd want to go to steal shit, or if you're using your spare time for some extra cash to deliver amazon goods, exactly the kind of neighborhood you'd want to deliver to and rob from if you got to pick.

    13. Re:Nope... by AdamThor · · Score: 1

      I've had a package stolen from my porch, but I'd be much more likely to install amazon key on a discreet cabinet on my porch than in my house.

      --
      -- "Oh. This guy again."
    14. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure the group of people who thought this was a good idea are:

      1) Super rich senior managers at Amazon that have a flood of service people through their houses all the time -- maids, cooks, pool cleaners, whatever.

      Super rich? I'm just a upper-ish middle guy class who's got all of those service people [in Brazil].

      Cap: shamed [I'm not]

    15. Re:Nope... by sh00z · · Score: 1

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

      Clearly, they're such geniuses that they completely overthought the problem. Simpler solution? The wall-mounted button for EVERY garage door opener is just a momentary switch that closes a circuit. Put some sort of Alexa-enabled device in parallel with that, and hand out two-time keys (one for open, one for close) to the company doing the delivery. Hell, you could even put a camera and recording chip in the device, and customers could watch their deliveries live or recorded for fraud protection. The entry to the house would stay locked. I would be willing to bet that a HUGE number of their total customers have garage doors and would be interested, way more than just 42% of Prime customers. And bookmark this post as prior art in case they try to patent it.

    16. Re:Nope... by Junta · · Score: 1

      This is the solution that seems a lot better, and could even be totally offline and even electronic free.

      A package drop that can take packages but not easily let people get at packages previously dropped without a key is a very well known mechanical design.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    17. Re:Nope... by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      It could be intentional. After all, if Amazon wants access to your house, and you talk them down to just a camera-enabled Alexa, now you feel like you got somewhere. (Queue all the people who say that they never fall for those tricks.)

      It's also a way to pump the initial sales of those cameras, since every smart lock comes with one. And even if 98% of Prime subscribers think it's stupid, that's still over a million units of camera-enabled Alexa shipped.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    18. Re:Nope... by plague911 · · Score: 1

      No one has garages in civilization. NT

    19. Re:Nope... by taiwanjohn · · Score: 1

      It might also be useful for some small-office business customers. If you work from home but spend a fair amount of time out in the field, you could give Amazon access to your garage, for example. I reckon there may well be enough of these niche applications to lure that 5% of Prime members. If you get more than a couple of Amazon deliveries a week, you might even build a delivery "shed" for the purpose. But frankly I think most people already have some sort of solution in place for deliveries. It'll be interesting to see how much of a market there is for this service.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
    20. Re:Nope... by Rastl · · Score: 1

      More to the point, those 4.25 Million people are likely the ones living in apartments or crime prone neighborhoods where rightly paranoid people currently shy away from delivery to the home due to theft fears. If people are already frustrated by difficult delivery issues Amazon will become a disproportionate winner with those customers.

      This means that the property owners need to agree to installing the lock and camera. If you're living in a neighborhood with rampant package theft then it's a pretty good bet that the property owners aren't interested in your losses.

    21. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

      The more I see coming out of Amazon, Google, and these other tech companies the more convinced I am that it's not just a market bubble but that these so-called "engineers" mentally live in a bubble as well.

    22. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your theory is that it is BETTER to let random people into your home in a crime ridden area? Seems to me that would just amplify the potential problems while targeting the poorest people who are least likely to have $250 to shell out just to let people into your home.

      Homeowners have little reason to pony up too. If I report a package stolen right now, Amazon replaces the item. Why should I pay $250 for a device to help Amazon with their loss prevention efforts while increasing my personal loss risk? Only an idiot would see that as a good trade.

      The general idea of "delivering a package into a convenient safe space" is a great idea. Amazon's proposed execution of the idea is terrible. Starting with charging customers for the privilege and ending with the inevitable break-ins, thefts, accidental damage, pet attacks, lost pets, cracking/hacking of the software, etc....

      Good luck and have fun to all the idiots that buy this thing.

    23. Re:Nope... by sjames · · Score: 1

      What's strange is they didn't think of a lockbox that sits outside for securing packages.

    24. Re:Nope... by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      I think your off the mark.

      It's first wave of gentrifiers that want the convenience of Amazon, but package theft breaks 1%.

      examples 1 and 2 wouldn't even require the special lock.

      and are millennials the only generation that rented houses with friends in college? that seems unlikely.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    25. Re:Nope... by nasch · · Score: 1

      This could only be a better solution for someone who can't reasonably get to an Amazon locker. Those have none of the security issues of either standard delivery or home invasion delivery, and don't cost extra.

    26. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

      I expect the target market is people in largely crime free rural/suburban areas who have delivery people who think they're delivering to high crime inner city areas.
      That is, the package would be perfectly safe on the doorstep but the delivery company insist they can't level it even with written permission.

    27. Re:Nope... by Isaac-Lew · · Score: 1

      I think this is to prepare people for Amazon Home Locker (like a previous poster said, a secure lockbox with a one-time PIN). I'd be likelier to do that, as opposed to letting a stranger in my home.

    28. Re:Nope... by lgw · · Score: 1

      Your neighborhood is so bad that you can't leave packages outside, yet you're fine with having a delivery person just let themselves in.

      That delivery person has a job. That culls like 95% of theft right there. It's not 100%, but it's not stupid.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    29. Re: Nope... by lgw · · Score: 1

      Amazon engineers live in safe upper class White communities,

      If by that you mean "cheapest apartment in Seattle, mostly East-Asian communities", then sure. Seattle's not as bad as SF for rents, but it's getting there, forcing junior engineers near the bottom of the market, and like most West-coast tech employers, the plurality of engineers are from India. Still, probably pretty safe.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    30. Re:Nope... by lgw · · Score: 1

      Civilization requires garages. Living packed so tightly together like farm animals that you don't need a car is far from civilized.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    31. Re:Nope... by TWX · · Score: 1

      For single-family homes, if you're really worried about theft then you integrate a secure package receiving chute into the wall next to the front door or you put a different mailbox/post in, with such a device.

      If you're living somewhere higher-density than that or cannot make modifications, and if your building has no doorman or has no provision to securely receive packages for you, then you should probably consider either Amazon Locker or else USPS General Delivery so that someone receives your package for you.

      The only way I would want strangers delivering things into my house is if it's a small local private company that I've vetted myself, and that I've established the rules of entry for. I'm thinking keypad access where when I make a purchase, I dictate the ten digit number that they have to use to unlock the front door, that only works for five minutes from the time it's first entered when they arrive, and is authenticated on my equipment rather than on theirs.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    32. Re:Nope... by TWX · · Score: 1

      Probably not, or else Sears would have dealt with this back in the sixties when they didn't suck.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    33. Re:Nope... by TWX · · Score: 1

      Too many HOAs would object. Too many neighborhoods with HOAs also now have grouped mailboxes at the end of the block instead of individual mailboxes on each residence too.

      This also doesn't address high-density like apartment buildings.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    34. Re:Nope... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Too many HOAs would object. Too many neighborhoods with HOAs also now have grouped mailboxes at the end of the block instead of individual mailboxes on each residence too.

      Man, I thank God I don't live in a fscking HOA area.....I can't believe people willingly sign on to buy a house and land, and yet have no or virtually no rights to do and decorate as they please with such a large purchase.

      I like it in New Orleans. I like to see the occasional purple house...gives the neighborhoods character.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    35. Re:Nope... by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 2

      I think every single one of Amazon's own product ideas is pretty weird and dubiously desirable on the face of it. They don't even get to the point of me trying it, getting disappointed, and then letting it collect dust. Their products all project a purity of uselessness that I think even outdoes Apple (and by a wide margin; I would totally get an iPhone way before I would ever get one of those buttons you press to order things). But that said...

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      I think they did see it coming, five to ten seconds into the very first discussion about the idea at Amazon. One Amazon employee mentioned it to another, and the second guy was all, "Are you crazy? Fuck no, I wouldn't use that." And the 3rd, 4th and 5th guy said the same thing: "that's a really stupid idea, or at least it's not for me."

      And the 6th guy said, "Holy shit, that's so fucking awesome. Sign me up yesterday!"

      Nobody is surprised that most people aren't into it. Amazon knows that too. But the key word is "most." It's a niche thing. There are going to be some people who are into it. And if you're into it, then you'd probably like the convenience and lack of lost packages.

      Your life isn't like everyone else's. You might not ever want to buy a glitter-trimmed triple-ripple buttplug with 2-speed vibrating motor and long-range wireless 915 MHz remote control, but someone would be all, "Daamn, I've been looking for a glittery one, and OMG a third ripple!!! It's even got a long enough wavelength so it'll get through all the bones and jewelry from the bodies I hid inside the house's walls back in my serial killer days."

      --
      "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
    36. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More to the point, those 4.25 Million people are likely the ones living in apartments or crime prone neighborhoods where rightly paranoid people currently shy away from delivery to the home due to theft fears. If people are already frustrated by difficult delivery issues Amazon will become a disproportionate winner with those customers.
      Not only will the paranoid buy stuff they were not ordering online previously, but they will buy stuff from Amazon that they could actually get cheaper elsewhere because of the reassurance that their stuff will not be stolen or require them to be present to sign (a major hassle for those with jobs...).

      People paranoid about losing their shit don't let strangers in their home when they aren't there ;)

      Truly yours,
      A paranoid person.

    37. Re:Nope... by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Urbanites who live in apartment buildings and condominiums are used to having landlords and maintenance staff come into their homes while they're out. Guess who works for Amazon.

    38. Re: Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They might genuinely be that stupid. These Internet companies are pretty used to people blindly adopting their spy devices and other ways to let corporate crooks and cops into your business, so they might genuinely not get when they've gone too far.

    39. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would definitely 100% sign up for this. But I wouldn't put it onto my actual front door to my house. I have plenty of room in my courtyard for a small shed/delivery box. I would LOVE to have my packages show up and go into locked, waterproof box.

    40. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you mean their not stupid? Amazon has reels of awful investments. Remember the most often cited, fastest IPO-to-bust company ever? Guess who had a majority stake in first-round funding of PETS.COM

      SEATTLE, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), the Internet's No. 1 video, No. 1 music, and No.1 book retailer, today announced that it has agreed to obtain an ownership stake of approximately 50% in Pets.com (www.pets.com), the largest pet company on the Internet.

      AMAZON is just for some reason the in-vogue company. They have sales of 161 Billion, yet their income is a paltry 1.9 billion. Amazon hey warned on profit in the coming year. So what is a fair market value? Most experts say a Profit to Earnings ratio to pay for itself?13 years earnings is generally considered fair for a stock.

      Amazon? It will pay for its present share price in 283 YEARS! Dont worry guys, that PE ratio is going higher next year!

    41. Re: Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or you could give them the key to an enclosed front porch, which is sort of the chute.

    42. Re:Nope... by denbesten · · Score: 1

      Nearest Amazon Locker to my house is about 75 miles. Amazon Key seems like a decent way for me to build my own personal, private Amazon Locker on my front porch.

    43. Re:Nope... by plague911 · · Score: 1

      A defining hallmark of civilization is an increased GDP per person

      As such i offer incontrovertible proof that urban areas are in-fact the bastions of civilization in an ocean of uncivilized savage sub-human populated rural communities.

      https://stateimpact.npr.org/ne...

      The R2 of .45 for urbanization vs GDP/person is as closed to definitive proof as possible where one can not do double blind studies on the nation state level.

    44. Re:Nope... by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      I have service people in my house a lot, but the trusted list is pretty short. I'm still not letting random delivery drivers in unless someone I trust is there to monitor them.

    45. Re:Nope... by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      In that case Amazon need partner lockers. Trusted associations with other organisations where you can pick up deliveries. Local government chambers, they make a little bit of money from a pick up place and you get a secure pick up spot. The US postal service can of course grab a major jump in pick up by expanding their post offices to accommodate it, even for other companies like Amazon. Even Lyft can become involved, storing goods temporarily, then a customer can be notified of the goods in stock at a Lyft warehouse and then have the product delivered by a Lyft driver at call (bit expensive but immediately delivered at what ever time suits you, double plus bonus if smart computer programming allows them to pick up and drop off a passenger at the same time, after having picked up the parcel of course, on the way delivery).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    46. Re: Nope... by sonamchauhan · · Score: 1

      Or drop it off in the boot of your parked car - something Walmart was trialling. If your car was in an access restricted office carpark, the delivery driver would need to arrange access with the office centre management (something many professional delivery contractors do anyway). That, and a little radio device plugged into your car's diagnostic port, with an altimeter (for multilevel carparks), and mesh networking capability (to talk to peers and nearby mobile devices to get it's bearing, and to hear the 'Open Sesame' request by the delivery driver ), and the ability to pop the boot, may do the trick.

    47. Re:Nope... by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I'm actually kinda surprised Amazon didn't see this one coming?

      I mean, they're not generally stupid.....Do all the people at Amazon working on this "solution" freely admit strangers into their homes when they are away?

      Amazon aren't stupid, they've just got too much spare cash so any "Hey, this sounds like a cool idea" idea gets developed. This is how we ended up with the Amazon "Dash" button that is also quite unpopular. Sure there are some people who are too lazy to go to the shop to buy bog roll, but most of us want to take a poo now, not in 24 hours after pressing a button when the delivery man arrives with the Andrex.

      After it gets discontinued, there will be a small but vocally upset crowd that now has to undertake the onerous task of ordering their loo paper online.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    48. Re:Nope... by sh00z · · Score: 1

      Regardless of your definition of civilization, if you're in an urban area and 500 people live in the same building, then there is *some* infrastructure already in place to protect your deliveries (manager, concierge, whatever), and no need for Amazon to create something new. This discussion has always centered on the use case of the single-family dwelling.

    49. Re:Nope... by plague911 · · Score: 1

      In the heart of urban centers, yes. This solution is targeting people in the sprawl around them which often has 2-10 units in a building. These currently do not have the infrastructure you discuss. The owners of these properties are actively modernizing their entrance way offerings with digital solutions but can not afford the expense of a doorman. This specific solutions is a great fit for them.

    50. Re:Nope... by ausekilis · · Score: 1

      That's exactly why Amazon has those lockers damned near everywhere. Those are actually really handy and pretty quick. Instead of using "Prime Now", we did a Prime delivery to a locker and still had same-day delivery.

      The lockers use a pin/QR Code tied to the person doing the order. You can be in and out in a couple minutes. I counted a dozen at gas stations within about 5 minutes of my house. I'd be willing to take 10-15 minutes to get a package instead of have a stranger in my house.

    51. Re: Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plurality doesn't mean what you think it means.

    52. Re:Nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really, I was thinking it was more likely people who already have large homes where the maid, repairmen and others go in and out freely anyway.

    53. Re:Nope... by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      I live in a condo and I just pick my packages up from the area next to the mailboxes. Unfortunately there's no front desk to accept packages, but there's just no way would I opt for in-home delivery.

  4. I'm surprised the number is that low by dreamchaser · · Score: 1

    I am surprised it is only 58%. I'd have expected higher. I know that as a Prime customer I'd never consider. Hell, I'm selling my house right now and despite that they are bonded and there are huge fines for misuse I don't like the lock box with my house key in it. Not a direct comparison, I know, since almost all of my stuff is gone and I've already bought a new home. Still, I'm surprised that 42% are okay with a delivery person having even one time access to their home.

  5. The don't fucking buy it. by SensitiveMale · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'll bet that most people thinking this haven't even looked at how Amazon has set this up.

    Camera records everything.
    Deliveryman doesn't have key & can't get in any time he wants.
    Customer gets a really nice wifi & phone controlled lock.
    If someone really wants to break into your house, they'll just use a fucking brick. Off camera as well.

    The service is setup so Amazon unlocks the doors, the delivery person puts your package down just inside the door, and he closes the door. All on camera. If he goes off camera, he's fired. It's really that simple.

    Amazon has done a pretty good job of thinking this through. I know I shouldn't be surprised when people comment about shit without reading about it first, but I still am.

    1. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by fluffernutter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      None of this prevents the Amazon delivery guy from telling his buddies which houses have good stuff to steal. Thieves can come back months later without any connection to Amazon whatsoever. Sure they could throw a brick through a window on any house but why risk attracting them to yours?

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    2. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by sqorbit · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The service is setup so Amazon unlocks the doors, the delivery person puts your package down just inside the door, and he closes the door. All on camera. If he goes off camera, he's fired. It's really that simple.

      Yes, because the threat of job lose always keeps people from doing stupid things. If the person comes in your house destroys something and leaves, sure he'll be fired. Amazon will mostly likely pay out for you also. You are still left with the effects though. The threat of jail doesn't keep people from committing crimes. The threat of job lose doesn't keep someone from cracking for a moment and doing something stupid. I prefer that if they do crack that it not be in my home.

      --
      Sent from my TARDIS
    3. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You and Amazon are kinda missing the point. The front door of your house is a strong psychological barrier....it delineates "safe" from "the rest of the world." It doesn't matter how many "controls" you put on it, it's still creepy. That's why so many folks are skeeved out by this: it feels like a violation of a safe place to allow someone else to decide who gets to come in. It's no longer "your" space anymore.

      (Frankly, it's kinda like saying "look, we've got all kinds of controls on this, it's super-valuable to your doctors, and no one else will ever see it, so can we film you taking a shit?" Even if that's all true, it's creepy as hell.)

    4. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by hawguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      None of this prevents the Amazon delivery guy from telling his buddies which houses have good stuff to steal. Thieves can come back months later without any connection to Amazon whatsoever. Sure they could throw a brick through a window on any house but why risk attracting them to yours?

      The thieves already know by your house and the car you drive.

      If you drive a beat up Hyundai parked on the street in front of your apartment, you probably don't have much worth stealing. If you have a BMW and Tesla parked in the drive way, chances are good that they'll be able to find something of value.

      But there's still value in your buddy tipping you off about which houses use this service, because all of them are guaranteed to have at least one Amazon cloud camera watching the house since that's a requirement of the service.

    5. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by sinij · · Score: 1

      Your honor, an IP address associated with SensitiveMale's Amazon Lock was found to engage in a copyright infringement, child pornography, sedition, and wrongthink activities. Please sign this warrant authorizing us to unlock his premises and collect evidence of any criminal activity. This may include, but not limited to, any computer equipment, hard disks, paper files, smartphones.

      Law Enforcement Fishing Expedition Squad

    6. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just want Amazon to think through the whole thing about delivering a package to the address that is printed on the label. If they could do that then I might be willing to consider this. As it is, my neighbor is tired of getting my crap.

    7. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Jfetjunky · · Score: 1

      Those are good points (and the reality). I suspect the ignorance of those leads most people to immediately dismiss it because losing a package feels like much less risk than letting a stranger into your house.
      Obviously it's not unsupervised or without oversight as you point out, but apparently that messaging isn't getting through. (Or is intentionally being omitted to make more interesting news pieces)

    8. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by j2.718ff · · Score: 1

      I understand how the service will work, but I still wouldn't want it, even if it was free.

      I don't want anybody entering my home without me being there. Camera or no camera. A camera makes it easier to prosecute someone who robbed me, but it doesn't prevent a robbery from happening.
      I don't want a wifi-controlled lock on my door. Any lock can be picked, but a wifi lock has the potential to be hacked from someone who is merely within wifi range. If I have a nefarious neighbor, he can spend as much time as necessary on a brute force attack on my door.

      While I would expect (or at least hope) a large company like amazon would be certain to quickly patch any known exploits found in such a lock, this is not a guarantee, and considering we are talking about the lock between the world and everything of value that I own, I'm going to be overly cautious about this.

      Though I don't own pets, I'm sure for anyone who does, they would be worried about them being accidentally let out.

    9. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Arzaboa · · Score: 1

      Half of the country thinks safe spaces are for the other guy. There are a whole lot of folks that don't seem to get creeped out by the rest of the world all up in their lives. I am going to leave them an entire porch to leave packages on myself.

    10. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by DaMattster · · Score: 1

      Given the lax attention to data security by corporate America, I wouldn't trust this program at all.

    11. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazon has done a pretty good job of thinking this through. I know I shouldn't be surprised when people comment about shit without reading about it first, but I still am.

      You know what ignorance feels like? A vicious dog bite to the hand of a delivery "intruder". Hope Amazon finds that shit was worth it.

      I know I shouldn't be surprised when people demonstrate just how fucking stupid they are, but I still am.

    12. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by jimbolauski · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing you're one of the developers which is why you are so sensitive about it. Once people figure out how to compromise amazon's system locally, will amazon pay for all the items that were stolen? Will they pay the medical bills if someone gets hurt? That is why people are hesitant about electronic control of their doors. Why smash a window when you can press a button and have the door unlocked?

      --
      Knowledge = Power
      P= W/t
      t=Money
      Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
    13. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Deep breath there sparky. The service is still a bad idea, regardless how much you love it.

    14. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Must be nice living in your perfect world, where everyone always plays by the rules, nobody ever has any ill intent towards anyone else for any reason whatsoever, and nothing ever goes wrong for anyone, anywhere, ever.

      Of course if that's what someone actually believes, then they're very naive and are living in a fantasy world that does not and cannot exist. If there is a way for someone to game or otherwise bypass the system, be able to case someone's house, communicate what's good to steal to someone else, when no one is home, and have someone come and break in later and rob the place? They'll do it, because there's money to be made from crime.

      The fact of the matter is, you're insane if you engage a 'service' like this one from Amazon. I can't imagine any sane person doing it, or if they are sane, again, they're horribly naive.

    15. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what if he's fired. He got to steal my electronics and rape my daughters.

    16. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Wow that's quite a sweeping generality you're making there. You don't think people in modest houses and with modest cars ever buy nice electronics? I know in the area I live in, we all have generally same sized houses and same cars but some people have put their money into nice TVs/game consoles/stereos and some haven't. Furthermore, some people have alarm systems and some don't, also something that will become evident to the Amazon delivery guy.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    17. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Cyberax · · Score: 2

      They can already do this with regular locks. Duh.

    18. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      The threat of jail doesn't keep people from committing crimes.

      True, but the likelihood of getting caught does have a strong deterrence effect. I think Amazon did really well on this one because it looks like a clear 100% likelihood of being caught and punished. https://nij.gov/five-things/pa...

      1. The certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment. ...
      3. Police deter crime by increasing the perception that criminals will be caught and punished.
      4. Increasing the severity of punishment does little to deter crime. ...

    19. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The thieves already know by your house and the car you drive.

      Have you ever seen a house owned by Korean (who came from South Korea, not born or raised in the U.S.)? Not a flame bait or racist, but from experiences. You should at least try to get to know some of them. It is a culture to show off that they have a nice house and drive an expensive car. When you go inside their home, you will see nothing much at all.

    20. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obviously it's not unsupervised or without oversight as you point out, but apparently that messaging isn't getting through.

      And it's "supervised" how? Oh right, by some buzzword "AI" program that looks for movement lasting too long, and that still requires a backlogged human to review it before calling the cops. Never mind the new treasure trove of new subpoenas they will be getting as said cops will want access to the video feeds for everything from murder investigations to "that one car that they KNOW passed by your house sometime in the last four days". Eventually they'll just demand 24/7 access due to mission creep, and then you may as well put a "you are being watched" sign above the thing for all to see as they enter your home. Nothing like knowing that just walking into your own home requires your face on some government surveillance feed to make sure you're not thinking incorrectly...

      Also, most cops refuse to do their jobs when people file property theft complaints. The only time they do is if it's something really valuable or something like a car. The vast majority of crap in most people's homes that could be stolen via this product (directly or indirectly) is crap the cops will never bother to follow up on. Let alone resolve the issue and get the crap back to it's owner. So yeah, who would want random people in their houses if they know that when something "disappears", the chances of it being recovered are near or at zero???

      No thanks. That's the problem with you people. You truly think you have nothing to hide, but you're dead wrong. Even if it's not the government you need to hide from, someone will take advantage of you eventually. Why? Because you're an open book. You let it all hang out for all to see, and see they do. They see it, and they want it. They don't care what they have to do to take it from you. They'll take it, and in the end you'll be whining about how unfair it is, and for someone to do something about it. If anyone is ignorant around here it's you. Then again, I'd suspect arrogance is more likely the correct term. You constantly act as if the rest of us are idiots, and claim we're all conspiracy theorists. Yet, the evidence for our side is insurmountable, and you refuse to see it for what it is. Always choosing to believe in the hand-waived explanation that was given to you by "authority." Well, it looks like this time most people are at least smart enough to know that letting random strangers into your home, even with surveillance, is a bad idea and rejecting it. Good for them.

    21. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by sinij · · Score: 1

      You don't understand additional links. Presently, LEO needs a probable cause or a warrant to enter your home. The lock itself becomes that probable cause and admissible evidence.

      Just think how this would be seen by a jury - "We entered premises associated with IP x.x.x.x by unlocking the front door, inside we found two password-protected servers with encrypted drives. This IP address was flagged by a sting operation targeted at Y. The defendant refused to obey court-issued order to decrypt drives." Most would assume you are automatically guilty of Y. While you might be just trying to protect your bitcoin wallet or something equally benign.

    22. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the insight, Mr. Bezos.

    23. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by AdamThor · · Score: 1

      But it won't be the amazon guy who does it. It'll be the guy who gets a hold of the hack for the amazon service.

      --
      -- "Oh. This guy again."
    24. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Junta · · Score: 1

      It is a very real phenomenon to use a fake door to door salesman to case the interior of a house. They'd much rather know for sure rather than guess based on outside appearances.

      The deterrent value of the amazon camera should be low, since it is only *supposed* to turn on when a package delivery scan happens. They also don't look at all subtle, so a visual look to see where the cameras are would let you know pretty quickly where not to stand.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    25. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Junta · · Score: 1

      Besides the other things, I personally don't like the thought that I'm sitting at home and my door just opens when the delivery person gets there.

      Delivery folks won't wait for a door knock or bell to be answered, they need to get through their route fast.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    26. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Junta · · Score: 1

      They will just break out a battering ram. They won't bother going through all the trouble of going through Amazon once they have warrant in hand.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    27. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by cmseagle · · Score: 1

      Open door. Place package inside. Close door. I find it hard to believe that process provides so much better an opportunity to scope out your house than the commonly accepted process of ringing the doorbell and then peeking through the window to see if anyone's home.

    28. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by BradleyUffner · · Score: 1

      Wow that's quite a sweeping generality you're making there. You don't think people in modest houses and with modest cars ever buy nice electronics? I know in the area I live in, we all have generally same sized houses and same cars but some people have put their money into nice TVs/game consoles/stereos and some haven't. Furthermore, some people have alarm systems and some don't, also something that will become evident to the Amazon delivery guy.

      It may be a generalization, but the thieves are operating under those same types of generalizations also.

    29. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      "Hey, judge, I spotted a perv in that house watching kiddie porn through windows, can I get a warrant?"

      If a fucking FBI wants to put you under surveillance then they totally can do it.

    30. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by plague911 · · Score: 1

      tinfoil meet hat.

    31. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by tsqr · · Score: 1

      You don't think people in modest houses and with modest cars ever buy nice electronics?

      Sure they do. Anyone in a modest house and with modest cars is likely to have a pretty nice television or two and a computer or three. But they're unlikely to have jewelry boxes filled with very valuable, very portable jewelry or other small, expensive items scattered about the place.

    32. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by vux984 · · Score: 1

      "The service is setup so Amazon unlocks the doors, the delivery person puts your package down just inside the door, and he closes the door. All on camera. If he goes off camera, he's fired. It's really that simple."

      That's the wedge to get customer acceptance. And some articles show a pair of hands just reaching through the door to leave the package, but the article I saw showed a picture of a guy putting groceries in the fridge... which given they bought whole foods kind of makes a lot of sense right? How is a little cloud cam at the front door going to see him nicking things from the kitchen? The article also went on from there... how amazon would would be partnering with every 'merry maid' and dog walking service too.

      My grandmother needed assistance for a year or so to help clean up, make sure she took her medicine, after my grandfather passed away. So a couple times a day, various nurses and health care workers showed up. She's since moved into a home. As her sons (my father and uncle); went through her home packing things up and sorting things out they discovered an incredible amount of theft had taken place. Jewellery, china, coats, silverware...

      My other grandmother was considering some in home care after some cataract surgery and the hospital advised my mom to make sure anything valuable was out of sight, and locked away. They said "it would go missing and you'll never be able to prove they stole it."

      It's an epidemic.

      "If someone really wants to break into your house, they'll just use a fucking brick. Off camera as well."

      The number of people who will stab you for $50 is a tiny subset of the number of people who will take an unattended $50 left lying around.

      The vast majority of thieves that will nick your grandmothers silverware while putting vegetables in the fridge would never throw a fucking brick through a window in a million years. The fact that that people willing to kick the door in and shoot anyone they find inside in order to steal $100 worth of pawn-able goods exist in the world simply does not justify letting delivery people into your house when you aren't home.

      And that's assuming you aren't home. What if you are. What if you called in sick, or your daughter came home from school early and is taking a shower. Sure they knock first... and the occupant ignores the door because they don't want to let anyone in... and then in comes a delivery person. Are you really so obsessed with your amazon deliveries that you are going to proactively think to block the key from working in all these scenarios. And after 50 deliveries, are you really going to review the security footage every time?

      What if he gets an accomplice, delivery guy walks in, backs up to the camera blocking its view, and an accomplice walks in through the blocked line of site. The delivery agent walks out package in place. The accomplice has the run of the place and lets himself out the back door.

    33. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Pulzar · · Score: 1

      Wow that's quite a sweeping generality you're making there. You don't think people in modest houses and with modest cars ever buy nice electronics?

      It's a generalization, and by definition, it only means that it's *usually* true. I'm sure there's a strong correlation between a fancy house + fancy car and presence of expensive luxury items in the house. I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions both ways, but odds are in your favour if you bet this way.

      I know in the area I live in, we all have generally same sized houses and same cars but some people have put their money into nice TVs/game consoles/stereos and some haven't.

      And I'm sure that in the area where the $1M+ houses are, almost everyone has put some of their money into nice TVs, and *also* expensive jewelry and other pricey knickknacks.

      Furthermore, some people have alarm systems and some don't, also something that will become evident to the Amazon delivery guy.

      People with alarm systems tend to put stickers and signs out showing that you have an alarm system. It's not something you're trying to keep secret. Most of the value of the alarm is the deterrence, after all.

      --
      Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.
    34. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

      Furthermore, some people have alarm systems and some don't, also something that will become evident to the Amazon delivery guy.

      It's even worse than that. To use Amazon Key, you have to disable your home security system on delivery days.

      After scoping out places with good stuff, presumably it would be trivial for an insider to find out when a given house in the portfolio was expecting a delivery and thus would be a sitting duck. And by waiting a few months between the scoping and the hit, there likely would be enough other deliveries in the interim that it would be extremely difficult to correlate the robberies with a specific Amazon employee (assuming there was even enough of a pattern to make the police think to go to Amazon in the first place).

      I think I'll just stick with the (after 5+ years, still purely theoretical) risk of the occasional Amazon delivery box disappearing off my porch.

    35. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      ...until the moment that you invite them into your home and become a target. My point exactly.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    36. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Most thieves just want to break open the door, grab a TV and run out. I know someone this happened to while she was in her back yard. Knowing exactly how your house is laid out before hand will help them immensely. Sure thre are thieves that are after jewelry but that's not necessarily the kind of thief we're talking about here.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    37. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      Electronics are relatively low value to steal.

      They quickly depreciate, and are relatively big. Sure, the crackhead will take them, but the real money is in jewelry.

      The risk of someone seeing your living room and targeting approaches zero, and the electronics wouldn't be the target.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    38. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by nasch · · Score: 1

      Presently, LEO needs a probable cause or a warrant to enter your home. The lock itself becomes that probable cause and admissible evidence.

      You're saying the fact that the house is locked is probable cause to search it? Please tell me I've misunderstood.

    39. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      None of this prevents the Amazon delivery guy from telling his buddies which houses have good stuff to steal.

      If he can tell this from that position then you have already lost. We'll be round to collect your belongings while you're at work.

    40. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Yes, because the threat of job lose always keeps people from doing stupid things.

      Facetious, but yes, mostly this works quite well. On the flip side the man desperate with a criminal past will likely just drop off your delivery, look over your shoulder at your nice TV, and then throw a brick through your window after you go to work.

      Oversight stops crimes of opportunity.
      Nothing stops pre-meditated crime.

    41. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are plenty of people that drive expensive cars on loans they can barely afford because they either like those cars (but don't have the income to support them) or they want to show off (and again, not enough income to do so).

      Those people have almost nothing inside the house of value because they're consistently broke.

      In fact, I would posit that this is often the case. Everyone I know of that has a flashy car complains about how expensive it is. If you have money (and possessions) you typically don't whine about expenses.

      I'd go after the house that has a well maintained, reasonably priced and comfortable, yet boring car, like, say, a Camry or a Focus. They probably aren't broke and probably have better shit to do than drive their car around all day showing off. Like, say, enjoying a $10,000 home theatre.

    42. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Most thieves just want to break open the door, grab a TV and run out. I know someone this happened to while she was in her back yard. Knowing exactly how your house is laid out before hand will help them immensely. Sure thre are thieves that are after jewelry but that's not necessarily the kind of thief we're talking about here.

      No, inexperienced thieves are after TVs. TVs are big, bulky and once you get one, you're stuck carrying it.

      Experienced thieves avoid the TV, go for the more portable stuff - cash, jewelry, and other stuff they can march out with quickly and without the bulk. This lets them get in and out faster, not be hindered by something big nor be completely obvious what your intentions were. I mean, if you're carrying a TV down the street, that's pretty unusual. But if you have a small bag and stuff, not so unusual.

      The goal is to blend in, so stealing lots of small but valuable items is far better than stealing a TV. Likewise, DVD players and such are worthless items. Maybe if you had a recent game console or something, but even then they're not worth much.

      Laptops are crimes of opportunity and still pretty worthless if you have an entire house to pick. In fact, in general, thieves will avoid electronics as the payout's quite low.

    43. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by lgw · · Score: 1

      Sophisticated criminals with fancy plans like casing a house before robbing it (as opposed to smash-and-grab every door in an Apartment building) operate in nice neighborhoods. The overlap between that and people who have packages stolen off their front porch is very small.

      The problem I see with this service is that the people who have a need for it (packages not safe on the porch) probably live in apartments, and so will have difficulty in changing the lock in this way.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    44. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by lgw · · Score: 1

      You can see you living room from your front door? Bad feng shui, man. My first apartment was set up that way - never did like that, so never lived in a place with that sort of setup again. But, yeah, I couldn't see myself using this service if I did - maybe with a folding screen to block LOS?

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    45. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by TWX · · Score: 1

      Depends on the layout of the domicile. For both of the apartments I rented, the entry door opened into the living room, and when we were looking for apartment options for my inlaws same thing. When I consider the houses that I've lived in and the houses that I've visited, only ones over say, 2500 sqft had a true entryway that wasn't either a stub of the main common room or just opening right into that common room.

      So the risk of someone seeing your living room is very much greater than zero.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    46. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by lgw · · Score: 1

      My grandmother needed assistance for a year or so to help clean up, make sure she took her medicine, after my grandfather passed away. So a couple times a day, various nurses and health care workers showed up. She's since moved into a home. As her sons (my father and uncle); went through her home packing things up and sorting things out they discovered an incredible amount of theft had taken place. Jewellery, china, coats, silverware...

      Yeah, there's a whole industry of stealing form the elderly and infirm. Painkillers too! There's often more money in prescription painkillers than all the jewellery etc. Stealing from the most vulnerable under color of helping them is vile.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    47. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by TWX · · Score: 1

      And I know plenty of people with flashy cars that aren't poor, where they drive a new Mercedes Benz, Lexus, or Lincoln because they wanted a nice car.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    48. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by taustin · · Score: 1

      Clinical paranoia is often treatable.

      You aren't that important.

    49. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      I assume they'll see the living room, I meant the risk that you become a target from what's in your living room is low.

      Unless you have quite expensive knick knacks.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    50. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      You mean aside from:
      - delivery person can still use their eyes, and determine how nice a place it is
      - (minimum wage) delivery person HAS DETAILS ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE HOME.

      Yeah, no.

      --
      -Styopa
    51. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This has been a strategy for B&Es for as long as they've existed. Normally it's just door to door magazines or cookies, but this is giving someone a perfect chance to step inside and evaluate the house... heck, they might even get a few photos while they're there and alone.

      You'd have to be nuts to let strangers into your home while you're away.

    52. Re: The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only we had a clinical diagnosis for blind faith in new shiny things with zero appreciation of possible consequences.

      I'm a little unsure what the treatment would be though.

    53. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, I have around 6K in computer gear (gaming and otherwise) and the large TV's that go with that as well as ancillary stuff. I live in a cheap rental cottage by preference. The two do not at all relate.

      Shorter response: You're simply wrong.

    54. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nor do they typically have large stock portfolios to attract economic ripoff scammers. What's your point? What does not having jewels laying around have to do with not wanting a driver telling his sleazy friends what you **do** have laying around? All you did was move goalposts.

    55. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by jbn-o · · Score: 1

      What a bunch of unwarranted assumptions:

      • "Customer gets a really nice wifi & phone controlled lock."—no, Amazon.com gets the control over the lock. The customer gets a UI meant to convey a semblance of control.
      • "If someone really wants to break into your house, they'll just use a fucking brick. Off camera as well."—which means customers don't need to give over this degree of control to Amazon.com.
      • "All on camera. If he goes off camera, he's fired."—says you. Even if the terms of service claim this, it's up to Amazon.com to attempt to implement that (customers aren't given power to fire delivery people) and I doubt Amazon.com will have the power to fire a delivery person from a service they don't own. And who can say that the cameras won't conveniently be turned off or otherwise sabotaged so the robber can work in a way that is indistinguishable from being let in?

      This is simply far too dangerous and completely unnecessary. So is Amazon.com's voice-controlled ordering but people aren't technically skilled enough to realize how that is a danger to their privacy, particularly for people who think that getting together in-person and speaking secrets is a tried-and-true way of conveying sensitive information. Nobody needed the voice-controlled ordering device, nobody needs this enter-one's-home delivery system. Wise IT professionals help the less technically-minded understand the threats and make informed choices, including having the foresight to say "no" and taking a bit of minor inconvenience rather than a vastly higher risk.

    56. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      If you have a BMW and a Tesla, you have a garage. The only thing parked in my driveway is a 17-year-old SUV that we keep around to haul stuff.

    57. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by hawguy · · Score: 1

      Dude, I have around 6K in computer gear (gaming and otherwise) and the large TV's that go with that as well as ancillary stuff. I live in a cheap rental cottage by preference. The two do not at all relate.

      Shorter response: You're simply wrong.

      Sorry, didn't mean to disparage your fine collection of gaming consoles and TV's, but 55" TV's and Xboxes are for crackheads that are going to break in regardless of whether or not they know you have valuables. But the serious thieves are going the higher value stuff like jewelry.

      Why would he want to lug around a big TV and 200 lbs of computer and gaming equipment when he can just take the jewelry box and get $25K worth of jewelry that's easier to sell?

       

    58. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by SensitiveMale · · Score: 1

      Customer gets a really nice wifi & phone controlled lock. No, Amazon.com gets the control over the lock.

      The $250 fee is for the customer to buy one of the smart locks. One of the benefits of the smart lock is you can give certain people control over the lock so they can open it with their phone. A spouse for example. In this scenario, Amazon is an entity that the customer is allowing to open the door. Amazon doesn't control the lock. The customer controls the lock.

      If someone really wants to break into your house, they'll just use a fucking brick. Off camera as well."—which means customers don't need to give over this degree of control to Amazon.com.

      What? What does one have to do with the other?

      All on camera. If he goes off camera, he's fired."—says you.

      Yup. Says me. What do you think will happen? Are you naive enough to think there isn't some training and agreement between Amazon and UPS or other delivery carriers. Those delivery drivers will open the door, place the package, then close the door. That's it. You really think that nothing will happen to the driver that walks in past the camera and then strolls out the door twenty minutes later?

      And who can say that the cameras won't conveniently be turned off or otherwise sabotaged so the robber can work in a way that is indistinguishable from being let in?

      I'm sorry. I didn't realize that Ethan Hunt from the IMF was doing fucking smash and grabs now. Are you serious?

      This is simply far too dangerous and completely unnecessary.

      Unnecessary? Maybe, but for some people I'm sure it has a purpose.
      Dangerous? Not really after a modicum of thinking.

    59. Re: The don't fucking buy it. by misnohmer · · Score: 1

      "If he goes off camera, he's fired". How is this any comfort to the customer - damage is done. Imagine a bank saying "Sorry sir, your account is empty, but don't worry, we fired the guy who left his computer unlocked when he went home. You may deposit additional funds at any of out thousands convenient locations. Please do so ASAP to avoid overdraft charges."

    60. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      Yes, they have a BMW in the driveway...but also a bulldog in the kitchen. 8)

    61. Re:The don't fucking buy it. by SensitiveMale · · Score: 1

      Obviously it's not unsupervised or without oversight as you point out, but apparently that messaging isn't getting through.

      And it's "supervised" how? Oh right, by some buzzword "AI" program that looks for movement lasting too long, and that still requires a backlogged human to review it before calling the cops.

      Yeah, I know it's stupid replying to an AC that obviously knows nothing about which he speaks, but here goes.

      It's supervised because the Amazon rep THAT OPENS THE DOOR is watching on a camera. Got that? amazon opens the door, not the delivery person.

      As for the cops wanting access to the camera for "some car that passed by 4 days ago", the camera is focused on the door. Not the street. That's the point.

  6. It's not like Amazon is forcing it on anyone... by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 2

    If people don't want it, they won't buy it. If they want to try it (like everything all the Slashdot Luddites gnash teeth about), then they will, regardless of what you say.

    I like to think Amazon isn't entering into this stupidly, and has done some research about the safety. Either way, people leave keys out for dog walkers and home cleaners ALL THE TIME, this is just a tech version of that. But honestly, the market will decide on this one, and no one is making you do anything.

    1. Re:It's not like Amazon is forcing it on anyone... by i286NiNJA · · Score: 1

      You can optionally control who your housekeeper or dog walkers are and they still are known to steal and jack off in your underwear drawer.

    2. Re:It's not like Amazon is forcing it on anyone... by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      If i give a copy of my house key to the dog walker, and something turns up missing -- well I have a pretty good idea who did it.

      But outside of that, to pick a physical, mechanical lock one needs to be at the actual lock, in sight. To compromise an electronic, wifi enabled lock, one just needs to be within wifi range. They can then work on that lock 24/7 from a distance.

      Someone, somewhere will figure out a way to defeat these systems.

      If amazon truly wanted a safe method to deliver packages, they'd just have a safe-like box that could be chained up outside, or barring that attached by a flat sheet of steel that goes under the door (and is anchored inside).. Even thin, lightweight steel has enough tensile strength to make it impractical to tear into discretely.

    3. Re:It's not like Amazon is forcing it on anyone... by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 1

      Many, many more properties allow you to install a camera inside your house than allow you to install a huge metal box securely attached to your porch (specifically non-owned properties, and those in HOAs). Same goes with apartment owners.

      If someone wants to break into your specific house, they'll do it, and almost nothing will stop them. If someone's just looking for an easy target, they'll steal the package off your porch, or move on to the next house that doesn't have a brand new-looking deadbolt. No one's gonna drive around the neighborhood looking for wifi-enabled locks to hack (Amazon's or otherwise) when there are easier targets out there.

    4. Re:It's not like Amazon is forcing it on anyone... by umghhh · · Score: 1

      If you like to think so then this is your good right. But when you call us luddities - why stop there? Call us other names. Why not commies? Or trumpies? Or whatever current slur is?

  7. plausible deniability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Those aren't my drugs, they were stashed there by a rogue Amazon employee.

    1. Re:plausible deniability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He could also install spyware, like hidden cameras or usb keyloggers on PCs. There's a reason houses have doors... it's to keep people out.

      The full depth how this power can be abused has not been discussed. It goes beyond stealing stuff.

  8. It does sound a little crazy... by fodder69 · · Score: 1

    But I could see this actually being a big advantage for some people. What if you live in a place where packages get stolen from your door step, or apartments where you might have a similar situation.

    1. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly that, which nobody else in the thread seems to get. It's trying to solve the same problem as amazon lockers.

      Nobody in suburbia is going to buy one of these things.

    2. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by hawguy · · Score: 1

      Exactly that, which nobody else in the thread seems to get. It's trying to solve the same problem as amazon lockers.

      Nobody in suburbia is going to buy one of these things.

      I thought suburbia was where all of the packages were getting stolen? In the cities most people live in highrises with package delivery rooms, or at least a secured area where the mailboxes are.

    3. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Find an apartment complex that doesn't accept Section 8 and is located in a white neighborhood?

      Not that hard

    4. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by FatCashewsSlapMe · · Score: 0

      I get most of my Amazon packages from the Amazon locker from the local 7-11. For packages that are too big for Amazon lockers, I send those to my POB or arrange for Sunday delivery when I'm home. I was a bit surprised to see a mail carrier working on Sunday to deliver my last oversized package.

    5. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      Exactly that, which nobody else in the thread seems to get. It's trying to solve the same problem as amazon lockers.

      Nobody in suburbia is going to buy one of these things.

      I thought suburbia was where all of the packages were getting stolen? In the cities most people live in highrises with package delivery rooms, or at least a secured area where the mailboxes are.

      ???
      I live in a single family house in the city. No highrises around, and certainly no "delivery room", and the only "secured area" is under that bush in my yard.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    6. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I get most of my Amazon packages from the Amazon locker from the local 7-11. "

      We know, Chris.

      (PS: When is that review of yours coming out?)

      " I was a bit surprised to see a mail carrier working on Sunday to deliver my last oversized package."

      You could have asked for his phone number when signing for your oversized adult diapers, big boy!

    7. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We know, Chris. [youtube.com]

      The book is "Vlog Like a Boss: How to Kill It Online with Video Blogging" by Amy Schmittauer. Creimer might be a shitposter but his book recommendations are impeccable.

    8. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the most stupid video I have ever watched and all you can think about your spam link.

      Of course you haven't finished to read the book yet. At the speed your abema brain can assimilate things, you have at least 5 more years before you are done.

      Too much on your plate? That I can understand. At the speed you move and process information, you always have too much on your plate if only for breathing and producing those yogurt looking turds that you enjoy talking about on /.

      C.D. Reimer is a renowned Slashdot collaborator, as he puts it himself; "Because of the quality of my posts and my article submissions, I'm a highly rated commentator and moderator."

      But does anybody ever wondered what "C.D." stands for? Well, it stands for Creimy Dumpty of course!

      Creimy Dumpty sat on the wall,
      Creimy Dumpty had a great fall.
      All the king's horses
      And all the king's men
      Couldn't put Creimy Dumpty
      Together again.

      Creimy's siblings video and theme song, very realistic, especially the pants, just like Creimy's:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      With "Vice President Pence Vowing US Astronauts Will Return To the Moon", we are sure they will need miracle workers up there, here is what it would look like. Note that Creimy takes care of bringing a lot of food to the moon as depicted below:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      Creimy's real pictures:
      Before the sex change:
      https://ibb.co/cc7Ddw
      After the sex change:
      https://ibb.co/gVad65

      Creimy's "enterprise-level" chair, he talks about it all the time on slashdot:
      http://www.keynamics.com/image...

      Creimy's head, while his supervisor was talking to him, not with him, since it is impossible to do with Creimy:
      https://school.discoveryeducat...

      Creimy acting in educational resource document, he actually confirmed himself on Slashdot that he was handled by Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education! He is really a king Dumpty!:
      http://www.sccoe.org/depts/stu...

    9. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There you are spamming amazon affiliate links with yet another fake account, you revenue stream hogging disgusting fat sexist tube of lard, Christopher Dale Reimer!

      You can be sure I will be watching this fake account too. I know this is you because you told me you were working on your freepass 11 file server and you are so dumb that you can't even masquerade yourself properly.

      Now, I told you I was out of meds last week and you didn't even care to contact me you lazy fucker.

      How many times do I have to express the emergency of the situation??????

      The python click script you wrote for my pheromone revenue stream web site suddenly stopped to work!!!!!!

      You fucking incompetent python script writer!!!

      When it works, I get 4000+ clicks a day on my pheromone revenue stream web site but only 5 or 6 without it!!!!

      Now, it seems like you dont care and that you have abandoned me you heartless fucking pig!

      Bonus:
      Here is a story that creimer told me when convincing me what a hard life he had:

      The tree was him and the tree knot was his butt hole!

      So, his uncle packed his fat ass with lard and with his cock! Not that it makes much of a difference but anyway, there it is!

      Signed:
      The girl that used to love you and now hates you, burn in hell where you belong you sexist pig!

    10. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Poor girl, here is Chris plan to replace you:

      If all my assets were liquidated, I would still have enough cash to buy a new car and head off to Mexico to find a chica to marry.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      You're aware that are some states in the U.S. that allow underage marriage as young as 14 years old?
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      As for my comment, I've heard stories of engineers retiring at 50, moving to Mexico and marrying underage girls. Since I work with ex-military, the Philippines is a popular retirement spot for marrying underage girls as well. It's all about getting the most bang for your retirement dollars.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      That only works if you retire to Mexico, build a mansion (by local standards), marry an underage sweet thing and bequeath all your possessions to the village.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

    11. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the most stupid video I have ever watched and all you can think about your spam link.

      The name of the game is FREE ADVERTISING. Something that YOU have been providing to creimer for TWO MONTHS now. Keep up the good work, peon!

    12. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VIRUS ALERT! WannaCry Virus in link!

      1) Sanitized link to Vlog Like a Boss: How to Kill It Online with Video Blogging

      2) "Creimer might be a shitposter"

      "might"? He "might" be overweight too!

      3) "but his book recommendations are impeccable."

      How would he know, he admitted he doesn't (can't?) even read them! He uses books to support his shitty Goodwill bed that is probably sagging under the tremendous weight of his middle-aged bloated Harvey Weinstein-esque ogre-like body.

    13. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everyone knows you're a douchebag with a hard on for creimer. No need to advertise.

    14. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have noted that Chris uses child psychology to convince his so called trolls to give up by pretending they just give him free publicity. That's adoring! ;-)

      Anyway Chris would have a hard time to learn anything above child level matters, including psychology.

      https://childdevelopmentinfo.c...

      ---
      Silvia Bunge
      Psychology Department
      University of California, Berkeley

    15. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like him and want him to continue. Since the proper Slashdot staff won't get rid of you I suppose trolling and downvoting you is all anyone can do. I'm also emailing slashdot's support on each and every one of your disruptive AC abuses. Eventually they'll take action.

    16. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "1) You're replying to the wrong person, which you do a lot btw."

      It's amazing that you're always there when I respond to the "wrong" person, Chris! And what does "btw" mean? Butterweight? That's your weight class?

      "Like most dead tree books, it's gathering dust underneath my bed."

      Uh what? Most books are under your bed?

      ". I'll be doing project videos in 2018."

      Full of shit projects and excuses always start with "tomorrow". Loser.

      Where is your book of poetry that was supposed to be ready in November? Oh you just had "too much on your plate", you self-aggrandizing narcissistic farce of a failure?

    17. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'd make more money putting magnets on your shoes to pick up loose change.

    18. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Youâ(TM)re bragging about $32/year to a hostile audience? You surely put in quite a few hours into this, Iâ(TM)ll guess you make like 25-50 cents per hour of work. Thatâ(TM)s 3rd world wages.

    19. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, in another two years he might be up to $33, $34 a year!

    20. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you need me to vote down a Creimer account you must link to it from the latest post of his main account. He was posting all day yesterday from islapfatcashews.
      Also if you want to reply to Creimer. Don't reply to him directly if you can help it. Reply to a reply of a reply of a reply. It means that people can troll him without further disturbing the rest of Slashdot.

      I'm not sure why but after only getting 15 mod points every 2 days for months.. suddenly I started getting 15 mod points every single day so I can go a long way towards containing his crap but I need your help to do that.

      Thank you.

    21. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You still have to set up the channel and upload the video. Plus there is the hidden cost of the day something unforseen goes wrong like the Youtube AI flags you or your account is stolen. Also you're probably figuring once you have a few streams. Say one from spamming Slashdot. One from inane youtube videos, a shovelware phone app, and your similar ebooks. Ok you get a hundred, maybe couple hundred dollars when you put all that together. That sounds like a lot when you consider you get it for free forever. It sounds real good when you have a 401k, some stocks, social security, and a bunch of other retirement streams lined up... but is it really as good as it seems? But you don't. People are paying less for online advertising, google could switch you off for any number of legitimate or accidental reasons or something else totally unpredictable will happen. It will too, it would be hard to predict the decline of slashdot and yet it happened, the decline of fark, the decline of DVDs, the decline of the community square dance, radio, cable? It is entirely possible that the internet as we know it goes the way of fidonet, Maybe people will trickle most of their video feed over a mesh network. It's all very hard to say. So your penny here penny there approach to generating passive revenue streams that last until you die are a fools errand. It's not happening. Why don't you focus on getting a good job? I am wasting my time of course.. just as much as you are. I'm speaking to a man who wanders around collecting used lotto tickets to see if he can win a 2nd chance drawing even though it's gotten him nothing. The odds are printed on every ticket. Why don't you crunch the numbers and see how pointless it is?

    22. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why don't you crunch the numbers and see how pointless it is?

      Or he could follow the traditional advice of Slashdot to do the world a favor by committing suicide. He's fat, he's ugly, he haven't contributed the gene pool (thank God). The world doesn't need another person who pays the bills with the job he does have and runs a side business that he finds rewarding.

    23. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or he could follow the traditional advice of Slashdot to do the world a favor by committing suicide. He's fat, he's ugly, he haven't contributed the gene pool (thank God).

      Actually slashdot has given you lots of constructive advice like:
      -Stop soiling your name online. This means droppoing your cdreimer shitposting persona here and making a new identity that tries hard to fit in (no futile karma whoring, no bullshit stories, no monetized links or advertisements)
      - Drop your numerous barely productive projects and focus solely on your security certifications where the payoff is assured to be many times the return on all your others combined
      - Get into treatment so that your weird quirks don't make people lose faith in you at the workplace. I wouldn't know what to make of a security auditor who checked all the bushes for unscratched lotto tickets.

      The world doesn't need another person who pays the bills with the job he does have and runs a side business that he finds rewarding.

      You're right! The world absolutely does not benefit from:
      - Having an closet cleaning FBI contractor who wastes taxpayer money by shitposting on slashdot instead of working.
      - Another spammer who shits up internet media and discussions hoping to grift a few more pennies. Guys like you have ruined the internet. At least most of the people do it are at least highly successful or 3rd world enough that their pennies mean something. You? Your efforts only slow you down from walking through the wide open doors all around you. For years your life has stalled out inches away from being well qualified to make double your pay. The current lack of security workers won't last forever and a CISSP would look wonderful next to that FBI bullet point on your resume.

    24. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought creimer worked for the State of California. Did he get a new job?

    25. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Or he could follow the traditional advice of Slashdot to do the world a favor by committing suicide. "

      Please provide a citation for this astonishing claim, Chris.

      " He's fat, he's ugly, "

      Yes, no. You've got a John Goodman thing going on. But your personality is what prevents your relationships with women, Chris.

      ", he haven't contributed the gene pool "

      Yikes, your crammar is especially bad this afternoon, Chris.

      "The world doesn't need another person who pays the bills with the job he does have"

      No one is saying otherwise, Chris.

      "and runs a side business that he finds rewarding."

      It's the fact that no one else finds it rewarding that is the sticking point, Chris.

    26. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He got laid off from Tesla and got a job as an Amazon delivery driver. That's why he's posting comments only during his lunch breaks. Check the time stamps.

    27. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More like $1.25 per video.

      That would suggest 25 hours of work to earn that...if you take only 25 hours to make 25 videos (50 videos / 2 years), plus the time from promotion and learning how growth hacks work and so forth, those must be some seriously shitty videos, like straight from the camera to your channel with no editing.

    28. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "straight from the camera to your channel with no editing."

      I see you're familiar with Chris "Spielberg" Reimer's work, huh?

    29. Re:It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm curious about what's wrong with creimer. I've set up a little group to talk about him.

      https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/g...

    30. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're both wrong. Creimer lives in Palo Alto and works for the Government Publishing Office (GPO) in Benicia.

    31. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nonsense! Creimer lives in San Francisco, has a girlfriend in Tokyo and a ladyboy in Bangcock.

    32. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're wrong too! Walter Mitty is actually strapped to a gurney under heavy sedation

    33. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OMG. If this is true, what a nut he is to not just move to Benicia, which is a nice-enough city that is way-ass cheaper than Palo Alto.

    34. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like you a lot more since you're limited to posting twice a day as cdreimer and a few times as AC.

    35. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you put in a lot of work, it would seem, and you made $32? You understand why this seems like a weird thing to brag about, right?

      $3,200 would be a small hobby/side-business. $32 is what you would get collecting recyclables in a park.

    36. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For someone with a giant book of poetry coming out on January 1st 2018 (no New Year's Eve hangover for Friendless Chris!), you sure spend a lot of time correcting trivia on an irrelevant dying website!

      The failed literary critic... still beating off about the poetry that he has never written... still getting no satisfaction.

    37. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who writes poetry? It's a pretty obscure hobby these last hundred years, and it makes sense that people are making fun of you for being late rather than because they're jealous that they themselves have yet to self-internet-publish a collection of poetry.

    38. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you realize you sound like the kind of guy that keeps his favorite farts in jars and sorts them by diet?

      You have obviously never searched for "farts in a jar" on Amazon.

      https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_7_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=farts+in+a+jar&sprefix=farts%2Caps%2C230&crid=1GRILOJVCY4UY

    39. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who writes poetry? It's a pretty obscure hobby these last hundred years, and it makes sense that people are making fun of you for being late rather than because they're jealous that they themselves have yet to self-internet-publish a collection of poetry.

      The failed literary critic boasted of having a poetry-writing girlfriend. That makes him an expert in literary criticism. Probably to hide the fact that he's a failed fuck.

    40. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A fat man weeps alone
      no one reads his haiku
      His name is Chris

    41. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love your poetry keep up the good work!

    42. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A fat man farts into a jar
      smiles and labels it "vanilla latte"
      His name is Chris

    43. Re: It does sound a little crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good morning fellow chris appreciator!
      What do you think our tubby friend will waste his two posts on today!?!

      Hi chris!!! What will you do today to bring yourself closer to your cissp or other security exam?

  9. So? by Obfuscant · · Score: 2
    How does this differ from any product or service that most people don't buy? I doubt that most people buy suspenders, but that doesn't mean there isn't a market or the product shouldn't be sold.

    Should the only thing a company sells be something that most people buy? Kiss all those niche market items goodbye, then.

    1. Re:So? by Daetrin · · Score: 1

      I'm with you. I don't want this thing, i think the people who do want this thing may be making a mistake, and i'm worried about the amount of control Amazon is taking over both the retail market and peoples' lives. But using these statistics to argue against the idea is just dumb.

      A quick google search shows an article from Forbes claiming that 64% of US households have Prime. There are about 125 million US households, which would mean a little over 81 million households with Prime. If "only 5 percent said they would definitely buy Amazon Key" that would be slightly over 4 million sales. Most retailers would kill for a product that 4 million people would "definitely buy"!

      --
      This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    2. Re:So? by Arzaboa · · Score: 1

      Its not different. Many people don't care about anything unless it affects them directly.

    3. Re:So? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As this kind of service becomes more pervasive, there's the risk of eroding the value of the concept of property [the same way it is happening with privacy]. I don't want property to become a 'fluid' concept.

    4. Re:So? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I doubt that most people buy suspenders

      UK english or American english?

  10. A solution looking for a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no interest letting a delivery person into my private space.

    Even if there were serious controls around the reliability and safety of these individuals, there's a big difference even between letting a virtual stranger drive me somewhere and allowing them into my potentially unsecured personal possessions. As it is I don't trust unregulated ride sharing companies, why would I trust deliveries from Amazon to access my property?

    How is Amazon going to prevent these delivery personnel from taking five-finger discounts of my stuff, poisoning my cat, or sleeping in my bed on a break?

    1. Re:A solution looking for a problem by hawguy · · Score: 1

      I have no interest letting a delivery person into my private space.

      Even if there were serious controls around the reliability and safety of these individuals, there's a big difference even between letting a virtual stranger drive me somewhere and allowing them into my potentially unsecured personal possessions. As it is I don't trust unregulated ride sharing companies, why would I trust deliveries from Amazon to access my property?

      Right, different risk profile -- the delivery driver with access to your house is less likely to kill you while he's looking at his phone to find his next fare.

      How is Amazon going to prevent these delivery personnel from taking five-finger discounts of my stuff, poisoning my cat, or sleeping in my bed on a break?

      The service requires that you set up an Amazon cloud camera so the delivery person will have his entry recorded not only from the lock, but also by video.

    2. Re:A solution looking for a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can record the guy all you like, all you're going to have is proof that he killed your pets. They'll still be dead.

    3. Re:A solution looking for a problem by hawguy · · Score: 1

      You can record the guy all you like, all you're going to have is proof that he killed your pets. They'll still be dead.

      The camera is the deterrent -- if he really wants to kill your pet, he doesn't need the Amazon lock to do it. But if he knows his entry to your house is recorded, that's the deterrent.

  11. I wouldn't let them in either. It's a bad idea. by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

    Put in a keyed "doggie door" to push the package through. Or use a locked front porch.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  12. Just leave it at the door by fred6666 · · Score: 1

    And if the package is lost, I am not responsible for it. Best of both worlds and no need for the Amazon key.

    1. Re:Just leave it at the door by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      "Just leave it at the door" And if the package is lost, I am not responsible for it.

      You just authorized and instructed the delivery person to leave it in the open where it can be stolen. Guess who becomes responsible now?

    2. Re:Just leave it at the door by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      No, that's my point. I didn't. They still leave the package there. I am not going to complain as there is no way I can be held responsible for that.

    3. Re:Just leave it at the door by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      This works up to a point. If your packages get stolen too often then Amazon will require a signature upon delivery.

    4. Re:Just leave it at the door by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      That's between Amazon and Fed Eck, or whoever delivers the damn thing. If they decide the $400 package is too big a target to leave in a yard in a questionable part of town, they can leave it at the Post Oriface, or whatever pickup place they use. If they allow me to make the choice, and I make the wrong one, THEN I can accept responsibility, but until then, it's not my fault.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    5. Re:Just leave it at the door by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      Make sense, however it's more expensive (for Amazon, since I get free shipping) to require the signature so often they don't. Also I never had a stolen package.

    6. Re:Just leave it at the door by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      No, that's my point. I didn't.

      Reread your subject, which I quoted in my reply to highlight it. You made an imperative statement -- a command -- and that authorizes them. You now assume responsibility.

    7. Re:Just leave it at the door by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      But you are wrong, I never authorized them. They never asked me if I wanted the package to be dropped at my front door when I made the order. I doubt it's in their terms and conditions but even if it is, I doubt it stands in court.

    8. Re:Just leave it at the door by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's between Amazon and Fed Eck, or whoever delivers the damn thing. If they decide the $400 package is too big a target to leave in a yard in a questionable part of town, they can leave it at the Post Oriface, or whatever pickup place they use. If they allow me to make the choice, and I make the wrong one, THEN I can accept responsibility, but until then, it's not my fault.

      Any value in the content of your post is completely undermined by the moronic "nicknames" you use for the companies your talking about. You sound like a 5 year old. Also, UPS and FedEx both let you specific delivery instructions or have things held. USPS will also hold any package you request.

    9. Re:Just leave it at the door by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      Also, UPS and FedEx both let you specific delivery instructions or have things held.

      When UPS hid two packages behind a locked screen door they did not let me specify delivery instructions or offer to hold anything. They simply pried open a locked screen door to hide the first package, and then hid the second package in the same place a month later. The second package was a replacement for the first one, which I had reported as lost because I would never assume UPS would pry open a locked door to hide anything.

      It was only because both packages didn't quite fit and I noticed the screen door ajar that I found both.

      So how do I tell UPS to hold a package that they've already delivered/hidden? I have no information about it, so do I just call up every day and say "if you have anything for address X, please hold it?"

      USPS will also hold any package you request.

      USPS puts a notice in my mailbox that they've tried to deliver a package, and that they'll try to deliver it again the next day. That means I can call the next day to tell them to hold it, go home and find the "second notice", and then pick it up on day three. Really efficient system. BUT, better than hiding it someplace with no notice of delivery at all.

  13. Still ends up being millions of potential users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With Amazon's 80+ million Prime subscribers in the US, if the 5% that said they would "definitely buy" Amazon Key did, that's still 4 million users. Not a bad start...

    1. Re:Still ends up being millions of potential users by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

      +1 Beat me to this one ...

  14. Massive success by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

    If 42% of customers are considering it then it'll be a bigger success than I would've guessed. I'm weirded out enough by the idea of the Echo without having Amazon let people into my house, but I guess this appears to have more value than I'd have guessed. Maybe urban folks would find it useful since packages might grow legs more easily?

    1. Re:Massive success by jabuzz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Lots of houses have a porch which here in the UK means a small area behind the main front door that has another door that leads into the house proper. Think of it like an air lock, helps keep heat in/out depending on the time of year, but most heat in, in the UK.

      So all I need to do is upgrade the inner door/add a lock and then I would be quite happy to let random delivery person in. If they want to steal the umbrella on camera more fool them. Meanwhile I don't have to worry about missed deliveries.

      Actually I wouldn't bother because I can just get stuff delivered to work, but for lots of people with less accommodating workplaces it would be a winner.

    2. Re:Massive success by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Lots of houses have a porch which here in the UK means a small area behind the main front door that has another door that leads into the house proper. Think of it like an air lock, helps keep heat in/out depending on the time of year, but most heat in, in the UK.

      Is it a porch or a vestibule? Also, it must be a northern thing. I've lived in London and Southern England and haven't been inside a house that has a completely enclosed porch or vestibule.

      But most people will get packages delivered to work. Those who work on secure sites will get them delivered to home and if they dont fit through the mail slot, are usually left with a neighbor.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  15. I barely trust the maintenance man by i286NiNJA · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Remember when the police were paying Best Buy employees to inform on Geek Squad customers? I think that history shows there is no way you can grant low-lever worker bees unfettered ability to invade your privacy. Even NSA contractors who are relatively well paid, vetted, and know they're monitored can't resist the urge to abuse their power for personal benefit even when it's as petty as a few cheap laughs.

  16. Doesn't need to be cracked. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have your laptop lying around and rush off to work. You come home and it's gone.

    You call the cops....etc .....etc .... and accusations....and denials.....

    What are you going to do? You have no proof and you did GIVE access to Amazon. You think your insurance company is gonna pay?

    Let's say the Amazon employee/contractor admits to taking the laptop. Now what?

    This is one big can worms that I would NEVER open.

    1. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      You have your laptop lying around and rush off to work. You come home and it's gone.

      You call the cops....etc .....etc .... and accusations....and denials.....

      What are you going to do? You have no proof and you did GIVE access to Amazon. You think your insurance company is gonna pay?

      Let's say the Amazon employee/contractor admits to taking the laptop. Now what?

      This is one big can worms that I would NEVER open.

      You obviously didn't order a video camera using Alexa or you would have proof on camera.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by hawguy · · Score: 3, Informative

      You obviously didn't order a video camera using Alexa or you would have proof on camera.

      You have to have the Amazon camera installed to use the service. (which, for me, is another reason not to use it)

    3. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by FictionPimp · · Score: 2

      The key requires you to also install their video camera. So there is that. I still personally wouldn't do it. IoT has not proven secure enough to replace my locks.

    4. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by ls671 · · Score: 5, Funny

      You are right and I have a much better idea; Just send me a duplicate of your key and your alarm system code and I will make the delivery for you for free. No camera needed!

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    5. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by Calydor · · Score: 1

      But where is the camera pointed? The door? The kitchen? The living room? The bedroom?

      Imagine it's not a laptop, which will be relatively hard to hide as you leave through the video-taped front door, but a cell phone. Or if this is a house rather than an apartment, what's to say the back door or garden door wasn't left unlocked for the delivery guy's friends to come back an hour later?

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    6. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

      Let's say the Amazon employee/contractor admits to taking the laptop. Now what?

      An admission of theft? That would make things easy.

      But assuming everyone kept their mouths shut, how would you prove anything?

      I wouldn't consider this stupid key in the first place. If I did lose my damn mind for some reason, I would still have a security camera or two watching the entryway.

      The whole idea is stupid to begin with. Amazon doesn't need access to your house. They need a safe place to drop a delivery while you're gone. A securely-mounted lockbox with one-time access PINs would work. There is absolutely no reason for the deliveryman to enter your private living space.

      --

      ---
      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    7. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      I have a schlage be469. Being able to have the door lock itself after 30 seconds and allow me to create a temporary access code for certain family members makes it already more secure than my previous locks.

      Let's face it - who re-keys a lock every time they lend it to a friend to house sit, or to a family member who may not most be the most reputable - but dang it, is still family? Heck, how about the time you had to literally leave the key under the door mat because you could not get a firm commitment on someone checking on your pets? How many times did your kids lose the key?

      I'll take being able to reprogram my lock at a moments notice as more secure than a traditional lock. The likelihood of a hacker breaking through the zwave protocol to get into my house is much less likely than someone I know using an old key or simply breaking the door in.

    8. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, but I'll need you to sign a waiver in the event that I shoot you in the face or my dog tears your throat out.

    9. Re: Doesn't need to be cracked. by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

      For some reason your Amazon home security camera had a blackout for the same 10 minutes that someone was robbing their home.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    10. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Even if this does work as Amazon intends, then I see a giant antitrust lawsuit in the future. We're seeing Amazon vertically integrate everything, including shipping, which previously was exclusively outsourced to one of UPS, USPS, or FedEx. If this lock did gain mass market penetration, then you're going to see a situation arise where Amazon can literally lock the competition out.

    11. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by schleimkeim · · Score: 1

      People are setting up spy devices voluntarily in their living rooms. What makes you think they wouldn't open that particular can of worms too?

    12. Re: Doesn't need to be cracked. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agree, zwave protocol is impenetrable. I couldnâ(TM)t get mine to work!

    13. Re: Doesn't need to be cracked. by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      How am I going to keep up with the Jetsons when my deliveries go in a BOX?

    14. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by suutar · · Score: 1

      well, assuming it was the delivery person, either they picked it up while in the field of view of the camera (in which case there's video of the theft), or they left the field of view of the camera (in which case there's video of them committing criminal trespass, since there's no legitimate reason for them to ever be out of view of the camera while inside the recipient's home). Either way, they're in a lot of trouble.

      That said, I still wouldn't get the thing. There's at least two amazon locker units in easy distance from my place.

    15. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      I have that deadbolt in my Amazon shopping cart and was going to order it for my condo after I get my new programmable thermostat installed.

      Any issues I should know about? I have read the complaints about the low/high power mode and how high power eats batteries, but I've checked my door and the current deadbolt slides smoothly. The only problem I know I'm going to have is getting the cylinder re-keyed to match the current one (also a Schlage).

    16. Re:Doesn't need to be cracked. by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      I have it connected via wink and the battery is still at 90% after 4 months use. I had a problem where the keypad broke by I was still able to access it via wink.
      I called schlage. They did not even ask for a receipt (i ordered it on amazon.) They just flat replaced it - they offered. Replaced isn't even the right word. They let me keep the old one for parts.

      I have no complaints and only can say good things about it.

      Additionally, it has a tradition key for emergencies so there is no real fear for me of being locked out of my house.

  17. Not even free by steveo777 · · Score: 1

    With all the consumer products that have little back doors and 'oopsies' in regards to security, how on Earth did they ever think this would work? I'm not a security researcher, but I'm willing to bet that these will be cracked open in days by various white or black hat hackers. And you know that government agencies will be prying into them in no time.

    So at a price of $250, and a camera for another $120, this is a 370% 'no' item. And I get EVERYTHING on Amazon.

    If it was free, AND I had some kind of room at the front of my house with another, stronger locked door on the inside, I'd consider it.

    --
    This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
  18. How many people lock their door? by FeelGood314 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've never locked my front door. I didn't even have a proper key for some of the places I've lived. Other than raccoons opening the back door I've never had any unwanted guests. What percentage of slashdot users live in neighbourhoods so unsafe you have to lock your house?

    1. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God damn I would hate to be your homeowners insurance agent.

    2. Re:How many people lock their door? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just out of idle curiosity...

      Are you serious? And if so, where the hell do you live?

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    3. Re:How many people lock their door? by FeelGood314 · · Score: 1

      Ottawa, Canada, 10km south of the parliament buildings. Our former prime minister Jean Cretian locked his door and it took the RCMP 7 minutes to respond because the first officer had forgotten his key. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    4. Re: How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like you need more diversity in your neighborhood.

    5. Re:How many people lock their door? by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      Just out of idle curiosity... Are you serious? And if so, where the hell do you live?

      The International Space Station. ('Racoon' is spacer slang for micro-meteorites. That's my guess.)

    6. Re:How many people lock their door? by Target+Drone · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's fairly common for rural people where their house can not be seen from the road to not lock their doors. The logic being that if someone drives up to your house with the intention to rob it having a locked door just means you'll get robbed AND have to fix your door. In the suburbs it makes more sense to lock your door as a neighbour might notice someone carrying a crowbar up to your front door.

      Personally I live in the suburbs and lock my door even when I'm home. There have been a couple of cases over the years where local teens will wonder the neighbourhood quietly opening doors and then stealing wallets and car keys near the door. My neighbour left his back door unlocked when he went on holidays once and kids stole the beer out of his fridge. Locking your doors will eliminate these crimes by the local kids but a locked door won't deter a professional thief.

    7. Re: How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Antarctica.

    8. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never locked my front door. I didn't even have a proper key for some of the places I've lived. Other than raccoons opening the back door I've never had any unwanted guests.

      I hear that all the time from folks -- right before they get burgled. It's Murphy's Law.

    9. Re:How many people lock their door? by Drethon · · Score: 1

      My perspective on this is why not lock the door? It is almost no inconvenience to lock/unlock it, even in a safe neighborhood, and the potential benefits are quite significant.

    10. Re:How many people lock their door? by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      I don't know about Canada, but my GF has relatives that live in the middle of nowhere in Southern Missouri. They used to leave their doors unlocked. They don't do so anymore.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    11. Re:How many people lock their door? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      What percentage of slashdot users live in neighbourhoods so unsafe you have to lock your house?

      I lock my door to discourage any roving children. There are too many windows to stop any motivated thieves, even if the locks weren't laughably fragile.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    12. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My front door was open for nearly two years near Tenleytown, DC, late '80s. Roommate kept losing his keys, we were on the upper floor of a row house renovated to be 4 apartments. Nothing happened. Like somebody's wandering the neighborhood checking doors?

      But even given an exterior door, a thief can't tell an unlocked door from a locked one. You'd need to be confident your door won't fly open (wind, pets, ...), but beyond that, nobody's watching you all that closely.

    13. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How long until Blue Origin contracts with Amazon to offer shipping drones to the ISS?

    14. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because in a trailer park, it just doesn't matter. I'm sure you carry your meth with you anyway.

    15. Re:How many people lock their door? by bluegutang · · Score: 1

      And what's your address? :)

    16. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody would ever fuck with Chretien after he managed to knock someone's teeth out on camera and get away with it. Makes Trump's bully tactics look like chump change!

    17. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, rural dweller here, home not visible from road or from other homes. No point to lock door, I don't even have a key to my own house. I also don't lock my vehicle. Oh yeah, I do have three protective dogs however. Doggie door in/out of house big enough for adult man to crawl through. Also, one way in to property on a long drive, and one way out, it's a good access choke / control point. Delivery companies just drop packages off at a designated location near the entrance to the property.

    18. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never locked my front door. I didn't even have a proper key for some of the places I've lived. Other than raccoons opening the back door I've never had any unwanted guests. What percentage of slashdot users live in neighbourhoods so unsafe you have to lock your house?

      I don't know how common it is for strangers but I've had friends that didn't lock their doors that have been robbed by ex's and other people they know. Plus if you're door isn't locked (IE: no sign of forced entry) most homeowners or renters insurance won't cover the losses. It's about risk mitigation. Of course a locked door isn't going to stop someone that really wants to rob YOU but it will certainly stop robberies of opportunity. And honestly, how it is such an inconvenience to lock a door?

    19. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because they've never been robbed. It's the same garbage logic that people who drive drunk/high have when they try to explain that they've never had an accident because they're good at it... not because, of course, they're playing the numbers.

      They're idiots.

    20. Re:How many people lock their door? by c · · Score: 1

      Last house I bought out in the country, the previous owners told me they'd lived there 15 years and only bothered putting a lock on the door because the real estate agent insisted.

      House break ins in rural areas are relatively rare, really. It's far more common for big ticket items outside the home to be stolen... trailers, ATV's, tools from the shed, horse saddles and other tack, etc. There's usually quite a bit more liquid commodities parked outside the average country home than inside.

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    21. Re:How many people lock their door? by karmatic · · Score: 1

      The neighborhood started getting more diverse?

    22. Re:How many people lock their door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What percentage of slashdot users live in neighbourhoods so unsafe you have to lock your house?

      I'd guess 99%. You're the exception, not the rule. I live in Switzerland, which is considered safe by most standards and in the cities we lock the doors. Perhaps people in the villages don't, but in the cities most people do.

      In other countries I've seen a different design for entrance locks, where they effectively lock as soon as you close them. It's a bit like the locks you usually have in inside doors except without handles (at least on the outside). The lock itself is wedge shaped, so it will slide into the lock mode if you simply close the door. There's no way to keep these doors unlocked, so you carry a key at all times.

    23. Re:How many people lock their door? by backwardsposter · · Score: 1

      I don't lock my door. If you want to feed my dogs, then I can stay out later!

  19. Another IoT Device by cbs4385 · · Score: 1

    I wonder if Amazon will change the default admin username/password for the system before giving it to the home user. If there's one thing we should have learned by now, the end user definitely doesn't follow best security practices.

  20. Inside the home delivery costs $250 by EnOne · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It was marketed backwards. It should have been sold as an Amazon branded security system first and then as a way to deliver packages second. $250 for a smart lock front door and a security camera is a bit high but not too bad. Paying $250 so Amazon can drop off packages inside your home, not so much.

    --
    Calvin:Do you believe in the devil? Hobbes:I'm not sure man needs the help.
  21. Hmmm by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    Reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaally? Do they really not? I'm shocked, SHOCKED! Btw seriously one dog gets let out or attacks the delivery person's hand and you've got legal issues, Amazon.

    1. Re:Hmmm by Isaac-Lew · · Score: 1

      Amazon's Conditions of Use - https://www.amazon.com/gp/help...

      Quote (in bold on the page):
      "Any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of any Amazon Service, or to any products or services sold or distributed by Amazon or through Amazon.com will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court"

  22. Office Security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You obviously didn't order a video camera using Alexa or you would have proof on camera.

    Yes, office security for being an Amazon customer. Maybe a security guard to oversee what the Amazon guy is doing.

    1. Re:Office Security by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      You obviously didn't order a video camera using Alexa or you would have proof on camera.

      Yes, office security for being an Amazon customer. Maybe a security guard to oversee what the Amazon guy is doing.

      I hope he's an Amazon affiliate security guard. No other company is allowed to touch your money.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  23. Why door and not a lockbox? by sinij · · Score: 1

    If I can install a lockbox or chest that could be remotely unlocked, I'd be all for it. Why do they need to enter my home if all they want is to securely drop off package?

  24. Back east we had foyers by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    where you'd leave your wet cloths after walking in from the rain/snow. There were two doors, one to get into the foyer and another to get into the house. I'm assuming that's the sort of folks this would be for.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  25. I am cheering by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    I am cheering this as a failure. I wouldn't trust a complete stranger in my home, especially while I am not there.

  26. Sell me an Amazon Box by cirby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just ship me a nice sturdy box that I can anchor to the ground or to my driveway, and the Amazon delivery person can use their code to drop the packages off in that.

    1. Re:Sell me an Amazon Box by cmseagle · · Score: 2

      With an afternoon of DIY I bet you could rig up the Amazon doorknob to serve exactly that purpose.

    2. Re:Sell me an Amazon Box by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      Already mass marketed: https://parcelnest.com.au/page...

      Should be trivial to recreate with less fancy materials for less money, although it likely won't look as good. Next house, not sure if I'll just shell out for one of those, or build my own.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    3. Re:Sell me an Amazon Box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is what our "national" post company is offering. The issue in a city environment is the space these lockers take as most apartment buildings are not designed to take such boxes in the corridor space. The rent of the smallest boxes start from about 120 US dollars per month, so the building company (think HOA equivalent) will not even consider bringing the issue into a meeting. Nobody wants to pay extra for the boxes that can't even be put sensibly (without the hassle of building an auxiliary building on the property) anywhere.

  27. If I could build a house new with this in mind, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I might do it.

    Granted I would build a mud/package room that would be a front door before my front door - think of it as an airlock. Someone else is talking about doing this also, was it Walmart? I would put a fridge out there too so they could stock that, but they wouldn't get in my house, they would get into my mud room. Worth they could steal would be well worn boots or the six pack delivered by the OTHER service.

    The fun thing - building "OR Gate" locks so that Amazon, Walmart, whoever else has this service so that unlocking any one lock opens the door, but it's still locked when they close it back.

    1. Re:If I could build a house new with this in mind, by Miser · · Score: 1

      I believe in the olden days of tech they called it a "man trap".

  28. The Icebox Challenge by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 2

    Look, at one point I lived in an old apartment building in Seattle which had these little cupboards next to each door, about 3 foot by 2 foot, with another door only the apartment dweller could open.

    Found out they were icebox doors so the ice wagon could deliver ice to each house but not open them. Before that, I used to deliver papers as a boy and some houses had these boxes next to the front door you could put papers in, and then close (but not open again). These were for newspapers.

    Why doesn't Amazon do the same thing?

    It's the "have a key to let you in" that freaks people out. Amazon just needs to allow people to put stuff and then LOCK IT after stuff is put in, and the homeowner is the only one to unlock it. Not a key to your door.

    (caveat: any decently trained person can hack your doors, they're called locksmiths, and those windows you love won't stop squat)

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:The Icebox Challenge by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      those windows you love won't stop squat

      Ain't that the truth. I'm still dealing with that damn Blaster Worm.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  29. Obvious fix by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

    Put your unsold lock stock on steel boxes in a size slightly larger than your large delivery box, with bolt wings to bolt onto the side of the house. They'll fly off the shelves, with all the worries about doorstep package theft.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  30. People are SOOO trusting.. by evolutionary · · Score: 1

    let's see, you let Amazon do the following: Record what is in your home Record when you are home Unlock your door And remember folks, if amazon can access it, so can any hacker from ANYWHERE in the world. The "unbreakable" system is simple an invitation for some smart dude to break it. And if enough people's eggs are in the one basket, then it because a target for HUNDREDS of smart people looking to break it. No one who values the safety of their home (especially homes with children) would allow this. I consider Amazon a bit irresponsible for even offering this. I guess when anyone gets too big, profit overrides public responsibility. If someone is going to spy on me or steal from me, I'm at least going to make them come to my home, leave the evidence of the crime and be recorded by MY cameras to be used later in court. Not have POSSIBLE data record and when withheld when it doesn't serve a 3rd parties interests. (Like the body cams for police, how often has the footage get released by police when charges of police excessive force come into play. Hint: virtually never, contrary to public expectations)

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    1. Re:People are SOOO trusting.. by Isaac-Lew · · Score: 1

      The person (or an accessory that can physically access the lock, I suppose) would need an Amazon scanner if I'm reading the in-home delivery page information correctly.

  31. I've got a dog by Arzaboa · · Score: 1

    I don't want the Amazon delivery person doing anything more than dropping the package off and running.

    "I'm late, I'm late" - White Rabbit

  32. Fired? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All on camera. If he goes off camera, he's fired. It's really that simple.

    Not good enough. My '63 Fender Telecaster that I bought for $28,000 disappears at the same time, is Amazon gonna replace it?!

    I don't think so.

    1. Re: Fired? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are the odds? I just came across the same guitar and am currently selling it. Interested? /s

  33. Depends on the architecture of the home. by williamyf · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In many homes and apartments in many countries (Venezuela and the USoA included), the main door does not lead right into the house. Instead, the main door leads to a small space (zaguan, salita de estar, pasillo, sort of a small hallway). If I can put an interior door separating this space from the rest of the house, and if I used amazon a lot, then I would gladly go for this Amazon service.

    the guy opens the main door, enters, drops the packet, leaves. All on camera

    He can not see inside the house (because of the extra door), if he tries to enter the house, he has to force the extra door, and gets recorded on camera...

    If, on the other hand, the main door leads right into the house, with no way to separate a small area from the rest, no fucking way I would go for this. Not only for the risk of being robed and what not, but also, for the invasion of privacy (i do not want the delivery guy seing the mess of my house, or what paintings I have on the walls), or getting frinedly with my rottwiler ;-)

    --
    *** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
    1. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to mention that the individual can "case" your house based on a quick glance of the interior. He/she can then use sell this info ("House at 1234 Happy St. has a *huge* LED TV!!!") outside of his regular working hours.

    2. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by Drethon · · Score: 1

      Yeah, my cocker raises royal hell when she hears a UPS truck pull into the driveway. I think letting them into my house (no entry way here) is just asking for a lawsuit.

    3. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In many homes and apartments in many countries (Venezuela and the USoA included), the main door does not lead right into the house. Instead, the main door leads to a small space (zaguan, salita de estar, pasillo, sort of a small hallway).

      In the USA I've only seen those in very old houses, they fell out of fashion before the mid-20th century many homes even today are like mine where the front door opens right into the living room or a small hallway next to it with no walls much less doors separating them.

    4. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In many homes and apartments in many countries (Venezuela and the USoA included), the main door does not lead right into the house. Instead, the main door leads to a small space (zaguan, salita de estar, pasillo, sort of a small hallway).

      I've ever only seen this in two houses out of the hundreds I've probably been in.

    5. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no fucking way I would go for this. Not only for the risk of being robed and what not, but also, for the invasion of privacy (i do not want the delivery guy seing the mess of my house, or what paintings I have on the walls), or getting frinedly with my rottwiler ;-)

      yeah, i wouldn't want someone to put me in a robe either...

    6. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by williamyf · · Score: 1

      In the USA I've only seen those in very old houses, they fell out of fashion before the mid-20th century many homes even today are like mine where the front door opens right into the living room or a small hallway next to it with no walls much less doors separating them.

      The apartment of my mom in Ft. Lauderdale (1970s vintage), my flat in spain (1960s vintage) and many of my friends houses in Venezuela (60s to 90s Vintages) beg to differ...

      --
      *** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
    7. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or getting frinedly with my rottwiler ;-)

      If you can't spell rottweiler, you don't have a rottweiler.

    8. Re:Depends on the architecture of the home. by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      Pretty much every house on my mothers estate has this in the UK. My house had this originally but the previous owners at some point removed the internal wall presumably to create a bigger hallway.

      All I can say is while it is not ubiquitous in the UK is is very common, especially on a larger house.

  34. Opposite Works for Me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Opposite works for me. I get a key to the Amazon warehouse. I drive in, take what I ordered, and leave. Amazon should trust its customers. Customers should not trust Amazon. I'm sure if they use the Amazon camera, and Amazon Alexa, nothing could go wrong.

    It should be a model for all companies to follow.

    Fully trust your users.

    For example, Microsoft should trust that I will only use features that I paid for , and will not lock me out of software.

    I remember when users had control of their software.

    Microsoft should allow 100% access to the code.

    Amazon should allow 100% access to the warehouse.

    1. Re:Opposite Works for Me by lgw · · Score: 1

      The Opposite works for me. I get a key to the Amazon warehouse. I drive in, take what I ordered, and leave. Amazon should trust its customers. Customers should not trust Amazon. I'm sure if they use the Amazon camera, and Amazon Alexa, nothing could go wrong.

      You do know that's exactly the model they're experimenting with for convenience stores, right? I'm not convinced they'll ever take it beyond an experiment, but it would be awesome to have no checkout line at a grocery store.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  35. unnecessary by j2.718ff · · Score: 1

    I've had a package go missing once at my current address. It was replaced at no cost to me. I have absolutely no motivation to have packages delivered inside my house since I know that if a package fails to show up, I can have it replaced without losing any money.

    If packages were frequently disappearing from my house, giving someone (or some company) access to my house would definitely not be a step in the right direction to solving the problem.

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

      If too many packages start disappearing, they will require signature.

  36. Stupid or Awesome, Depending... by crow · · Score: 1

    As most people have commented, this appears rather stupid. Why would I ever want this?

    But particularly in urban areas where people have had consistent problems with packages being stolen between delivery and when they get home, this addresses a real problem. In those cases, this would potentially be a great product.

  37. UPS, USPS, FedEx? by crow · · Score: 1

    This will probably only be for shipments delivered by Amazon. I suppose they could eventually partner with other shipping companies and let them use it, too, but that would let you use it for non-Amazon shipments, and I'm not sure they want this.

    So this may be another signal that Amazon is ramping up their delivery network to eliminate UPS and other vendors. Not a good time to invest in UPS.

  38. That's because their houses are designed wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What they need is an "artic entrance", a door that opens into a small entryway, with another door into the rest of the house (most houses in Alaska have these to conserve heat in the winter). Just give the Amazon driver the key to the first door, he drops off the package where nobody else can steal it but doesn't have access to the rest of your house! My prediction is that in a few years people will be designing houses with provisions for secure delivery (could also just use a lockbox outside the house, but the entryway would have more room and it would be obvious to anyone entering or leaving that there was something ther).

  39. Outside locker? by eminencja · · Score: 1

    Instead of all this camera tech, one time keys etc. why not simply provide a locker box outside the house? Could be used for regular mail as well.

    1. Re:Outside locker? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      In the olden days, if you had sufficient money you'd have a servant or tradesmen's entrance to your property.

      These days you might have a 'mud room' or something, if not a double entrance to the foyer of your house to keep out inclement weather.

      If I were designing a home today, I'd do something like have an electronic outer lock that supported easy remote addition of temporary codes, and put a security camera in it. Put the door code in the 'special instructions' for the delivery, and the courier - and nobody else - can get past the first set of doors to drop off a package, but no further. And when they're done, or the time allotted expires, the access code is disabled.

    2. Re:Outside locker? by will_die · · Score: 1

      locked box could be carried off. Box would need to be secured to something.
      Also box would need to be big to handle the boxes I receive.

  40. Convicted felon*, here by BankRobberMBA · · Score: 5, Insightful

    FWIW, I don't really think this is going to be the problem it looks like from the outside. There are a couple of factors reducing your risk.

    1. Most of the big name delivery drivers are paid a living wage. They have a reduced incentive to go rogue (I didn't say NO incentive). I assume this will continue to apply to whoever winds up with these delivery permissions.

    2. Anybody who gets burgled after having a keyed delivery is likely to immediately blame Amazon, so the police are going to wind up looking hard at the drivers after the first Amazon-burglary. There will be some, but I think it will be a self-correcting problem.

    3. How much of the 'good stuff' is visible from the front door via casual glance, but NOT visible already through the windows?

    4. People will be watching the deliveries over the camera. A driver who LOOKS LIKE he is casing the place is going to get called out even if he never intends to commit a crime.

    5. Amazon has every incentive to make this work**. The very first time someone has a credible case that this service is connected to a crime in someone's house, they will probably massively over-perform their 'service recovery', full financial compensation, lifetime free Prime, additional store discounts, etc.

    Certainly there is risk, but I think the additional risk is small.

    *: Bank robbery, mostly, but I was locked up with some people who did basically what you described.

    **: I live in an apartment complex and my first Amazon shipment (which was also my last) was stolen before pickup. Now I can only get shipments sent to my friends house or my place of employment, both of which can be a hassle to transport home (as a bicycle commuter moving packages can be problematic).

    1. Re:Convicted felon*, here by Albanach · · Score: 2

      1. Most of the big name delivery drivers are paid a living wage. They have a reduced incentive to go rogue (I didn't say NO incentive). I assume this will continue to apply to whoever winds up with these delivery permissions.

      Interestingly, this is one of the things that turned me off. Amazon are increasingly defaulting to Amazon Logistics to deliver rather than UPS/FedEx/USPS. Now, instead of getting a driver in a uniform with a union job, decent benefits and a pension plan, I get a guy that owns a white van. Where previously there was a large incentive not to go rogue, that is markedly diminished if the folk delivering are self-employed in the gig economy with less income and stability.

      Other than that, I would have considered, mainly because my house layout would at least have allowed me to restrict most access beyond the first room.

    2. Re:Convicted felon*, here by BankRobberMBA · · Score: 1

      That IS interesting. Any idea how well those guys are paid? If it's gig economy, I'm guessing not at that well.

    3. Re:Convicted felon*, here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know someone who did it. It is 100% gig economy. You sign up and can use ANY car, you don't need to buy a "white van". I.e. there are no barriers to delivering for Amazon.

      It's worse then Uber in the sense that less human interaction with the drivers is going to make it really hard to identify the ones that are "off". Criminals and degenerates are going to flock to Amazon delivery gigs because there is not as robust of a "review" process. These guys can literally case as many houses as they want before executing a planned theft on the one with the best haul. Bonus points that the houses with the best haul are likely to be ordering shit tons of stuff from Amazon because they have $$ meaning the they will be even more likely to be hit.

    4. Re:Convicted felon*, here by umghhh · · Score: 1

      Lots of speculation on this one especially on the 'recovery' part.
      I dislike the idea. Full stop. I am not alone. The idea may catch on for reasons not associated with security and customers preferring it for instance prime will just require it in some areas at some time or in some situations and Amazon has already a huge advantage of being main delivery service for some people (for me it does at the moment).

    5. Re:Convicted felon*, here by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, this is one of the things that turned me off. Amazon are increasingly defaulting to Amazon Logistics to deliver rather than UPS/FedEx/USPS. Now, instead of getting a driver in a uniform with a union job, decent benefits and a pension plan, I get a guy that owns a white van. Where previously there was a large incentive not to go rogue, that is markedly diminished if the folk delivering are self-employed in the gig economy with less income and stability.

      I believe most of Amazon Logistics people (at least in Canada) are actually Amazon employees. Sure they may not be paid as well as a UPS/FedEx/Canada Post driver, but they are employees (probably part-time) so they get at least some benefits. They aren't "gig economy" folks who Amazon hires to do deliveries - these are full fledged drivers with a bunch of packages to deliver daily. We keep seeing the same person every day (because there's usually someone who ordered a package from Amazon).

    6. Re:Convicted felon*, here by TWX · · Score: 1

      Not really seeing an upside to the gig economy.

      When I did a lot of telecom infrastructure work that involved FCC Universal Service Fund "E-rate", it was pointed-out by someone that a bunch of small school districts didn't maintain their own infrastructure support and could pay me something like $25/hour to do their E-rate inspection work for them after-hours. After thinking about what I made full-time and what I could make when the job had me working overtime, it was not really worth my time to work those side-jobs. Between the value of my free-time and the rate I made when I worked genuine overtime, there was no reason to do 'gig' work that didn't may consultant/contractor rates.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  41. The threat of jail by BankRobberMBA · · Score: 1

    The threat of jail absolutely keeps millions of people from committing crimes. It doesn't stop everyone, but it stops most people.

    I am a convicted bank robber. I cannot begin to tell you how many people have told me "I have always wanted to rob a bank."
    Why didn't they? Because they were scared of going to jail.

    I think the better analysis is "how much does this service increase my risk" versus "how much benefit do I gain from it".

    I think you make a valid point that it is going to happen. More than once. But the additional risk is (I think) small.

  42. How does this differ? by BankRobberMBA · · Score: 1

    Nicely said.

  43. Cost savings to me by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    I have an 140 lb Neapolitan mastiff who doesn't like strangers. I'm thinking that allowing Amazon to have a key to my front door could save me a ton of money on kibble and chew toys.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Cost savings to me by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      "Alexa, please send me four USB-C cables and a chubby delivery person."

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Cost savings to me by MiniMike · · Score: 1

      Or order a bunch of catnip in 'frustration free packaging', and have the delivery person leave the door cracked- your dog will be entertained for hours!

  44. 12 million people WOULD buy this. by chakan2 · · Score: 1

    If you extrapolate that data out to the normal population, that's actually some fairly significant interest. Or, based on 60 million prime subscribers, they're looking at ~25 million people who are interested somewhat in the key.

  45. I'm sure Amazon has thought this through by sarbonn · · Score: 1

    I can imagine that the people at Amazon took some time and thought through the scenarios of this. Having said that, it's not a service I desire in any way, and I'm a serious user of Amazon Prime. So far, I don't see anything about the service that makes me want to invest the time and energy in having it installed.

    --
    Sarbonn's blog: http://www.sarbonn.com/blog
  46. No way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    F bezos

  47. Why not? by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    You don't have to install in in the bedroom.
    I plan to put one on my garden shed or a special big amazon packages box.

  48. Why not a lock-box? by bradley13 · · Score: 1

    I don't understand why they are going in this direction. Why not a locked box outside your door? Make it big enough for any normal package, or allow different sizes. Make it sturdy and weather proof. Put the same kind of lock system and camera on it. More people would be willing to have a box on their porch, as compared to the very few people who want their door lock under someone else's remote control.

    --
    Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
    1. Re:Why not a lock-box? by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      I posted this above, but so you see it: https://parcelnest.com.au/page...

      Exactly what you're describing, for sale. Looks decent, is functional.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    2. Re:Why not a lock-box? by lgw · · Score: 1

      Great link, thanks for making this more visible.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  49. Reading it wrong... by XSportSeeker · · Score: 1

    Look, it's quite obvious that the vast majority of Amazon Prime subscribers and the general public would not want the company to have a key to their locks, nor let delivery people enter their homes... but I think 4 to 5% is actually a pretty huge number right there.
    I don't think many people are reading this right.
    Personally, I'd never agree with that too, but I simply don't have to pay for the service. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure there are tons of people with reasonable excuses to get something like that.
    Yes, it's still a huge security and privacy issue, but I can certainly see some cases where it becomes a necessity. People who are never home during delivery hours, people with disabilities that have a hard time getting to the door, people who already rely on in home delivery services for whatever reason.
    Might seen like a dumb idea for some, but for specific people it could be life changing. Specially considering how many products Amazon deals with these days.

  50. Just leave it on the porch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no need for this. They can just leave packages on my covered porch. It's 5 miles to my nearest neighbor, and people who wander around too much usually get eaten by the grizzlies or the coyotes. I'm not worried about anyone coming and stealing my packages.

  51. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  52. Great way to get robbed. by Chas · · Score: 1

    There's exactly NO trust relationship between the delivery personnel and the home owner.

    Not every person can (or wants to) install what is, effectively, a security system.

    More-over, if there's a fault in the system at any point, it could render EVERY home using the Amazon Key system vulnerable to zero-damage break-ins.

    Also, for more paranoid people with firearms, this sounds like a GREAT way to get delivery personnel SHOT.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  53. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  54. Garage Storage Module / Exterior Accessible Fridge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Instead of trying to come into your house, why don't they sell a option where they install a garage storage module that is accessible from the outside using a exterior hatch and delivery goods into that; it would be a combination refrigerator / pantry. For the cost of the installation, you would promise to buy x amount of groceries a month from Amazon. Could even offer a fridge / pantry that they directly access from outside, given your kitchen has an exterior wall so that no garage module is needed. Ready to eat meals would be delivered daily ready to pull out of your fridge when you get home.

  55. Re: It's not like Amazon is forcing it on anyone.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And don't forget, Amazon has several hundred million customers - "only" 5% could still be 20mil units sold. It's certainly not for everyone, but there are some places where the idea is perfect for - for example, in many major cities, there's condo buildings that don't have door people but the entry is locked; being able to let the Amazon delivery driver into the stairwell/lobby to leave the packages there instead of out on the curb of a busy street has real value. On the other end of the spectrum, if you live in a "less than desirable" neighborhood, you might consider the risk of Amazon stealing something considerably less than the risk of someone stealing a package from your porch. Finally, in places with harsh weather, it's not uncommon to have a entry room designed for gearing up or stripping down after braving the elements, and they often have a second door to access the interior of the house - that's a perfect situation for this device.

    It's certainly not for everyone, but there are certainly a number of situations where it is desirable. Haters going to hate, but Amazon doesn't care because it's not trying to sell this product to those people

  56. Re:Nope... SURE they Rent out AirBnb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They rent out their home via AirBnb, lease out cars to Lyft and Uber drivers. They open floor plan offices with hoteling for what desks are available.
    The delivery people are 3rd party contractors, so they are not liable if something goes wrong.
    WCPGW?

  57. WorkDelivery by sdinfoserv · · Score: 1

    As an prime subscriber myself, my answer is 'hell no'.
    Yes, there's quite the pool of industrious thieves following amazon deliver trucks stealing boxes.. but really, send it to a delivery station or deliver to work.

  58. Back in the old days... by scdeimos · · Score: 1

    We used to just have a mailbox big enough for packages. If it ain't gonna fit in that get it delivered to your workplace. Come on people, is it really that difficult???

  59. So by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 1

    How does this work with an actively monitored alarm system ?

    They going to call when the delivery driver arrives so you can disarm the alarm ?

    I think it would be a better solution to put a remote controlled lockbox on the front porch. Lock / unlock that instead of giving a total stranger access to your home.

  60. liability and commercial insurance are big parts o by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    liability and commercial insurance are big parts of why they are employees. Now if they are gig workers the big story should some get's hurt in an accident with amazon driver and both amazon and there non commercial auto insurance say we are not responsible.

  61. Come on folks, let em in! by theendlessnow · · Score: 1

    The alternative is for the Amazon guys to keep hurling your packages onto your doorstep. It's not like Colin Kaepernick is making the throws... or wait a second...

  62. Fodder for some TV show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A few years from now, there will be a sitcom where one of the characters is another character's "Amazon guy," who just came to the house to drop something off, and the resident was anomalously home at the time and they met and became friends. And he tells stories about all the other Amazon customers or their houses. He doesn't drop in all the time like Kramer does to Jerry, but he does sometimes unlock (or threatens to unlock) the resident's door at comic or cringey times:

    * Like the time the resident character bangs this chick and the next day her angry boyfriend is pounding on the door.

    * Or the time the resident tells his mother he's on vacation in Peru but really he's just crashed on the couch eating Cheetos for two weeks, and the mother comes by to water the plants.

    * Variant: the resident asks the Amazon guy to open the neighbor's apartment, because he heard a weird noise come from there.

    Not all the episodes have the Amazon guy unlocking doors, of course. There's also the Google guy, who is always googling everything. Any time anyone asks him any question, he googles it.

    And there's the "let me show you the funny or cute picture in my Facebook feed" jerk, always annoying everyone. (Fuck that guy, amiright?) He's a professional "social media consultant." A story goes like this: "You're worried people won't come to your party? No problem, I'll increase the reach..." but the joke is that even with his wizardry, nobody goes to the party. Ha ha. But you still always have every fucking yawning cat that has ever been posted on the Internet, in your feed every day if you're friends with this guy.

    And there's the guy who never says anything anti-tech but also never has or uses any of the brands that the other ones do; he conspicously doesn't have an ad in the signature on his emails, so nobody knows what kind of phone he uses. (You never get a good look at his phone. Is it even a touchscreen? You never find out.) Whenever he borrows someone's FAT-formatted USB flash drives, he gives it back with all these ".AppleDouble" and "EA DATA.SF" and ".info" files on it that nobody else's computer can make any sense of, and they think it's a virus. He can play video files that the other characters can't, but he can't play what they can. He has a videogame console, but it looks like it uses some kind of .. does that cartridge have a tape in it?! "Sorry, I can't read PDFs. Can you convert that to TEX?" (And no, he doesn't run Linux, goddammit.)

    Yeah, one of the characters drives for Uber and/or Lyft. I'm gonna say both, and he hides their client softwares from each other using virtual machines. He's always meeting new people and can bring in guest characters for any script.

    We need one more main character. Anyone?

  63. 5% of Amazon Customers is a LOT by kenwd0elq · · Score: 1

    If 5% of all Amazon Prime customers were to buy an Amazon Key, the company who makes them would be rolling in the dough.. I personally would never get one - but I can see how a few people might find it convenient, especially for Amazon Pantry customers. How much worse is this than having the doorman for your apartment building having a key to your apartment?

    Build a door between the foyer of your house and the rest of the house, put a refrigerator in there, and the Amazon guy can put your Prime Pantry perishables in the fridge and you'd never need to go shopping ever again. Especially when Amazon Prime Booze starts up....

  64. I AM NOT CREIMER! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey I'm not creimer. If you were such a creimer expert you'd know that creimer gets up at 4am and has 300 grams of egg whites and 30ml of orange juice after a 28.6 minute shower and wank session to vintage fullbush 80s centerfold porn using brand name jergins sensitive skin lotion which is on sale at amazon with this link www.amyzone.com/reimer?refer=cdreimer/jergins-wank-deluxe/ then i hope on the 6am 987 bus before going to a three letter agency that I hav^H^H^H^H contracted through and talk with the other old unemployables about underage child sex tourism.

    I REPET I AM NOT CREIMER! but don't let an inconvoyant fat get in the way of your stupid hed.

  65. This is a solved problem in Japan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most modern apartment buildings incorporate secure package delivery boxes in the entrance hall. This is cheaper and safer than modifying your apartment to give access to strangers.

  66. Here's a better solution by reboot246 · · Score: 1

    Have all your packages delivered to a UPS store. Most Americans live within a few miles of one. For those who don't, they probably don't have to worry as much about theft as the rest of us.

    I have my deliveries left in an unlocked car in the driveway. The car doesn't run, so I'm not worried about anybody stealing it. Sure, somebody could just take the packages out of the car, but in ten years of doing this nobody has taken one yet. It's much better than just leaving packages on the front porch where anybody driving by can see them.

    For packages that need a signature the UPS store gets them and signs for them. Then I can pick them up whenever I get back to town.

  67. Bezos in your closet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Honey, is that an intruder hiding in the closet peeking out at us?

    No, its just Jeff Bezos.

  68. Busy people by spinitch · · Score: 1

    Team up with the nude cleaners. Seems a lock box integrated into door might be more desirable vs a random delivery person getting access inside a home, even if they donâ(TM)t steal can case the place for their buddies later. Imagine a mini door like a pet door with an enclosure which can be attached from inside securely. Would not use all the time since bulky blocking inside entrance. An investment up front but if someone who gets many deliveries might be worth the convenience for a home mini loading dock system.

  69. Wait, what?? How would it get stolen otherwise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not like they'd not take their packets back with them when the recipient isn't there, is it?
    I mean putting the packet just "somewhere" like in front of the door, or in the hands of a neighbor, means it wasn't delivered, and hence that Amazon defrauded the customer. Or it's outright theft. In any case, it's a crime, and the customer can demand his packet to be given to him, as the contract of the sale stated.
    So ... do they really do that? I can't imagine them opening up that can of sue-happy lawyers. ^^

  70. Mail box store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    $250 buys a box for three years at a mail store. Just have Amazon deliver there.

  71. In Germany, outer doors have no outside handle. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only a knob. That can't be turned.
    You need a key to open the door.

    Yes, that means you can lock yourself out by not having your key in your pocket.
    But actually locking it is a different thing as just pulling it shut. There are, in simple terms, two bolts.
    And a locksmith will be much less expensive if you only pulled it shut. (On bad doors, a piece of sheet metal suffices to open it.)

    This means, we never have to lock the door when inside. Just closing the door means that nobody can come in without making enough noise for you to notice it.

  72. I would never use it, but I know who would want it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most people don't have a use for this. I've never had a package disappear from my property and I'm sure a majority of people are in the same boat. These people don't have user for this service.

    The small percentage of people that live in areas where disappearing packages is something that happens on a regular basis are the ones that need this. However these areas tend to be lower income and higher crime areas. That makes it unlikely that the people in those areas would have the disposable income to purchase this. They also wouldn't care if the delivery person decided to burglarize their house or pass on information to someone else as they most likely wouldn't own anything more valuable than anyone else in the area.

    What Amazon should do is look at missing package claims and offer these for no charge to those at high risk. The concept will then catch on and everyone else will trust and want one.

  73. No-Go as a pet owner. Amazon Lock Box? by Topmounter · · Score: 1

    As a pet owner, this is a no-go regardless. It would make more sense if Amazon offered single locker units that could be securely attached outside your house.

  74. Don't give Amazon carte blanche to your home. by jbn-o · · Score: 1

    The $250 fee is for the customer to buy one of the smart locks. One of the benefits of the smart lock is you can give certain people control over the lock so they can open it with their phone. A spouse for example. In this scenario, Amazon is an entity that the customer is allowing to open the door. Amazon doesn't control the lock. The customer controls the lock.

    The customer controls something using software provided by Amazon. The customers don't retain exclusive access to the lock because the software is probably proprietary (never trust proprietary software) and network-controlled (a tracker conveys signals to open/close the lock) which means Amazon can open/close the lock too. You should learn more about the dangers of proprietary software, particularly proprietary network software (which is often malware) and stop trusting whatever proprietors tell you.

    What? What does one have to do with the other?

    If someone is breaking into your home you're better off making them have to do something that leaves clear evidence of a break-in such as a brick going through a window. The risks Amazon's system enables is indistinguishable from someone a client allowed in to do something the client wanted done.

    I'm sorry. I didn't realize that Ethan Hunt from the IMF was doing fucking smash and grabs now. Are you serious?

    If you think only the most sophisticated people or skills are required to pull that off, you have a lot to learn.

    1. Re:Don't give Amazon carte blanche to your home. by SensitiveMale · · Score: 1

      The customer controls something using software provided by Amazon. The customers don't retain exclusive access to the lock because the software is probably proprietary (never trust proprietary software) and network-controlled (a tracker conveys signals to open/close the lock) which means Amazon can open/close the lock too. You should learn more

      Ironic that I started this topic about people commenting on this without knowing anything about it. Perhaps you may want to read more about this or simply apply commons sense. It's not proprietary hardware or software. Kwikset or Yale makes the lock. At ANY time, the customer can block Amazon from opening the door and at ANY time the customer can completely prohibit Amazon from opening the lock.

      If someone is breaking into your home you're better off making them have to do something that leaves clear evidence of a break-in such as a brick going through a window. The risks Amazon's system enables is indistinguishable from someone a client allowed in to do something the client wanted done

      Bullshit. If I walk into my house and I notice my gun safe is cracked open, it makes no difference if the burglar picked the lock, kicked in the back door, or, as you think, trivially hacked this lock. I notice the burglary at the exact same time. You're once again forgetting there is a video taken and provided to the customer every time Amazon open the lock. You seem to think Amazon is going to open the door for people who plan on spending some large amount of time in your house. Who is going to be stupid enough to provide their name, address, place of employment, credit history, and so on to their employer and Amazon just so they can GO OFF CAMERA after they are seen walking into your home? No one. If someone wants to steal something, they aren't going to go through Amazon. They are going to throw a brick through a window or kick in a door.

      If you think only the most sophisticated people or skills are required to pull that off, you have a lot to learn.

      Nope. Again, they aren't going to use this to break in. And if they do, they didn't go through Amazon so the target audience would be anyone would installed this lock. People think that using this is a giant invitation for thieves. At first glance, sure it looks that way. But after a minute of reasoned thought, it's obvious it isn't.

  75. Sigh. by ledow · · Score: 1

    Even if I WANTED this, I'd do it myself.

    It's not hard to buy a lockbox, or issue out a one-use code. Or even a doorbell that activates a camera that lets you phone a lock that opens. Literally, cheaper tech, that works and is controlled by you, and does so much more.

    At the moment, I have cameras, and I have a secure alleyway that I can open by GSM. Beyond that, it's literally one wire to make it happen the other way so that when they press the bell, it rings my phone and lets me talk to them.

    Then I can open the alleyway remotely, watch what they're doing as they do it, lock it up once they're gone and do it only when I'm actually expecting a parcel.

    The biggest problem is really that anything of value should have a signature for liability purposes - i.e. you spoke to a guy at the premises that took custody of the parcel. That's the only reason companies ever deliver to my neighbours rather than just leaving the parcel somewhere safe in sight of my cameras (which is far from infallible a system, but I've not had anyone try to nick anything yet).

    But, honestly, 50 pounds/dollars, a trip to the hardware store and somewhere you can afford to let them into / open up isn't a lot. One GSM alarm panel with relay activation and a maglock, and a gate/steel box is more than enough for more uses. Stick a cheapy wifi camera on it and you have a good system for such things. These things are dirt cheap on Amazon itself, and the most expensive component of the whole system is the gate / box in the first place, not the electronics and gadgets to make it operate in a way that you don't need to give Amazon - or any other delivery company -
      anything in terms of access to your property.

  76. Well..... by MerlTurkin · · Score: 1

    DUH!!!!! Thanks captain Obvious!

  77. Could work for some people by Shirley+Marquez · · Score: 1

    The best candidates for this will be people who have a small area of the house, like a foyer, mud room, or covered porch - that can be isolated from the rest of the house. The Amazon Key would grant access to the isolated area to leave packages there but would not allow the delivery person into the rest of the house.

  78. Locks for honest people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think a problem people have with this is the "It will get hacked" mentality. Sure...that is a risk. However, I can also pick a lock, or force a door. We have garage doors that open remotely, and this is seen as normal, but years ago, it was super easy to run up and down a street and open anyones garage. Yes, its tech and can get hacked. However, how likely am I to spend the time to hack into this so I can rob you, vs breaking in a window (which doesnt also have a camera looking directly at it) and walking out the back door?
    As far as letting a stranger into my house? I mean, they will be on camera the whole time, and I know when I am likely to receive a package. Versus a random passerby seeing a package on my doorstep and walking off with it? If my cat didnt run out the door whenever possible I would have already installed one.

  79. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  80. at some point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want to enclose our porch - if I do I would do this because I would have it only open the porch door and not the house door - same way it would make more sense if you could install a locker - i try to get deliveries to drop off in a storage bench I have and usps and amazon read the sign and do it but sometimes ups and fedex don't - and lately ups has been hiding shit where I can't find it like on the side of my house under bushes or wedged between my fence and my porch where you can't see it.... it is like a fucking easter egg hunt.

  81. Keyless access to your dwelling by bruceki · · Score: 1

    The access information will be available via supeona to any law enforcement agency that desires it. Keyless entry to your dwelling for sneak and peak (see: https://www.aclu.org/other/how... ), as well as any other entity that amazon wishes to cooperate with without warrant - national security letter, anyone?

  82. CREIMER COLLECTS USED LOTTERY TICKETS AND MORE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    FROM THE PISSY STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO. Creimer bravely ignores the recent hepatitis outbreak to win it big. (Never mind he cites STDs as the reason he cremains a virgin) https://slashdot.org/comments.... cdreimer writes:

    I find it easier to check around bus stops and parking lots for discarded lottery scratchers to enter into the second chance drawing website. Never won anything online over the last eight years, but I did find an unused scratcher stuck to another scratcher that was a $20 winner. After the Great Recession, I found and entered 500+ scratchers over a two year period (2009-10). These days I'm lucky to find a half-dozen or so scratchers each month.

    https://slashdot.org/comments.... cdreimer writes:

    When I was growing up in the 1970's, I was declared "mentally retarded" and tossed into the special ed classes. Never mind that I could blow out their tests in ways that normal students couldn't touch, wanted to learn more than what the teachers weren't teaching, and had way fewer behavioral problems than the other kids. Troubled kids back then were treated like idiots rather than medicated to no return.

    https://slashdot.org/comments.... cdreimer writes:

    That's funny! After 18 years in the I.T. field (including ten years of contract work), I'm sitting on my butt, getting paid $25/hour and reading Slashdot at work as a senior system admin. I must have done something right.

  83. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  84. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  85. The kinda guy who keeps farts in jars! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do you realize you sound like the kind of guy that keeps his favorite farts in jars and sorts them by diet?

    I love this!!!

    Do keep in mind that funny trolls have much better karma than repetitive or annoying trolls.
    Speaking of which, I went from getting 15 mod points every other day to 15 mod points every single day after voting creimer down. Haha he's so universally disliked that I guess voting him down is like the M2 version of karma whoring!

    Before this I actually thought getting so many points was a bug or something.
     

  86. REFERRER SPAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nice try jerkwad!

    Nobody click that if they don't want Good Times virus on their Intel Anal IME Unit, Herpes in their HappyHerniaHole and CHRIS DALE REIMER's amazon AFFILIATE COOKIE in their Browser Butthole Cookie Cache!

    1. Re:REFERRER SPAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice try jerkwad!

      Nobody click that if they don't want Good Times virus on their Intel Anal IME Unit, Herpes in their HappyHerniaHole and CHRIS DALE REIMER's amazon AFFILIATE COOKIE in their Browser Butthole Cookie Cache!

      That's a regular link, dumb ass. Go to Amazon, search for "farts in jars" (without quotes), and indulged yourself. Unicorn farts is the best.

    2. Re:REFERRER SPAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " and indulged yourself"

      crammar detected!

  87. CISSP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Earlier someone gave you a boatload of great advice. There have to be no end of people who would sponsor you for a CISSP at your job. Easily one of the stupid easiest exams to pass through rote memorization since the ham nocode. You could have the fucker nailed in like 6 fucking months just by pirating an e-book and installing a flashcard program on your phone. In San Jose you could write your own ticket.. at least make 6 figures.

    You said your apartment is rent controlled. Sneaking into a rent controlled apartment and then doubling your income. You'd be living the life. Don't give me that Oh well I pay the bills horseshit either. You could start seriously investing and actually retire you fat dipshit.

    Instead of taking advantage of this massive opportunity you annoy the shit out of everyone.
    Be honest.. there's a crumpled dollar in the urinal... you're gonna pull it out.

    You know I put dollar bills in the urinals just because I know fat retards like you will stick their hands in my piss for it? You actually had the nerve to mock people for wasting their time on MLM scams when you waste your life chasing 30 bux? You're practically the same you dumb fucker.

    At least the MLM losers sometimes makes enough money to support themselves by annoying all their friends. You have no friends to annoy and you make even less than that.

    --Signed
                      Jesus Christ Lord Almighty

  88. Chris has a cheap phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My videos are family- and advertiser-friendly. Since I create my own content. I don't have to worry about being flagged. I got two-factor authentication for my Google accounts.

    I work with google as part of my tech position at an imposing worldwide megacorp and watch youtube accounts belonging to fortune 500 companies have issues with from time to time. Getting any sort of youtube support is a struggle even for me. I can't wait for your 2fa to bite you in the ass. Especially with whatever crummy phone you have.

    I've already got a good job that pays the bill.

    Your job is the kind most people take their first year out of school. Your qualifications for the job are that you're a tech worker, you pass a federal piss test & background check, & you're willing to work for 49k in Palo Alto. You were not hired based on merits you were hired based on the fact that you meet a rare set of bureaucratic requirements that are difficult to satisfy in the valley.

    You have a foot in the door for what could easily turn into a fantastic career but instead of going through the door you're just standing there like an autist enjoying the unusual sounds and sensations of slamming it down over and over on your micropenis

    I haven't won any second chance drawings in the last nine years. I have won $1, $5 and $20 prizes because an unused scratcher gets stuck to another scratcher or a poker scratcher that someone didn't realize was a winner because they're not a poker player. With the lotto app on my iPhone, I scan five tickets in less than a minute.

    Hahahaha that changes everything! I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend.