Amazon Prime is a remarkable success but also dystopian. It has made convenience and speed the norm, habituating consumers to buy more products. Prime’s flywheel effect - where more customers lead to more data and scale which attracts more customers - has fueled Amazon’s dominance. Prime subscribers spend twice as much and Amazon’s value has multiplied 97 times since 2005. While canceling Prime may not hurt Amazon, it can benefit local businesses by gaining a new customer. However, Prime has rewired how people think about what is possible to obtain and how fast, making a Prime-free life unimaginable for many.

  • @argv_minus_one@beehaw.org
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    21 year ago

    You realize that the alternatives to Amazon all do the same thing, right? Working in a warehouse supplying brick-and-mortar shop isn’t exactly a cushy or well-paid job, either.

    • @snowbell@beehaw.org
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      51 year ago

      It isn’t hard to be better than the worst. My SO worked in a non-amazon warehouse before moving in with me and it is no walk in the park but it is still far better than Amazon. They even started trying to recruit people from her warehouse and everyone who jumped ship to Amazon regretted it quickly.