So... @Amazon @AmazonHelp needs a @Gmail / @outlook competitor

I'm getting stuck trying to submit this through the appropriate channels to Amazon.  So I'll just put it out here.

A Gmail competitor could...

...directly integrate with AWS where businesses are sending email (instant delivery, no worries about a competitor blocking or delaying email)

...be the default connection on Kindle devices

...be the source/container for inbound Alexa notifications

...integrate with Amazon shopping/notifications (especially in the web browser) including a new place to sell advertising to partners

...be a B2B corporate product for companies looking for an alternative to Google and Microsoft

...keep Amazon emails out of the prying eyes of other inbox providers

My letter to Jeff @Amazon

Amazon doesn’t understand families.

My daughter saved up her own money, did extra chores, etc. and purchased a Kindle Fire.

Two years later, we still can’t make it work right.  We’ve tried to work with Amazon support to no avail. It’s not a device problem, it’s a policy problem. 

Seriously, it’s brought my daughter to tears, and on several occasions, me or my wife trying to understand our options (via Google) to swears.

— Backstory --

My wife has Amazon Prime.  I’m the second adult on that account.  She and I both have our own Kindle Fire tablets.

The only option left is for my daughter to be a child.  Children, even teens, get a cheap, frustrating, severely limited experience on the Kindle Fire.  No efforts have been made to make the UI/UX pleasant, and worse yet, there’s absolutely no way for me to say “I trust my daughter” and give her access to the full use of the device.

— Ways I can solve (not great) --

So far, I can only think of two ways I can solve for this:

(1) Set her up on her own Amazon account as an adult. She loses Prime benefits and all of her past Kindle purchases, we lose ability to approve her purchases (she receives Amazon gift cards as gifts at all major holidays from her grandparents, it’s essentially her currency)

(2) Buy her an Android device and through the Kindle Fire in a drawer.

— Ways Amazon can solve --

I can think of several ways Amazon can solve:

(1) Amazon allows adding householding to Amazon Prime - for a small annual fee (say $15), additional family member signins can be added.  They have to use the same primary shipping address as the primary Prime account holder.  The Kindle Fire recognizes them as adults.

(2) Amazon lets parents fully unlock a teenager’s Amazon Kindle letting them experience the entire Kindle Experience.  Decent parental controls could place limits on App Store, Shopping, Internet access (like timed and remote on/off). 

First Impressions: @Amazon @Restaurants

Ok, it is cool that Amazon Restaurants¹ does have the Twitter handle @restaurants. That's pretty slick.

We used the Amazon Restaurant platform tonight for the first time to order from a local restaurant We tried a few weeks ago, but we couldn't get past the part where you pay. No matter what we did, it wouldn't let us use one of the existing credit cards, wouldn't let us enter a new one on my wife's account using Chrome on a PC. The credit cards on the account did not match the payment options I see in normal Amazon.²

Tonight we had the same problem on my Mac using Chrome but I reloaded a few times and it was finally successful. I was about to try Safari, but I think it's a cop-out if I have to use a different browser to get it to work. (Via Twitter, Amazon Help suggested I clear my cache or try a different browser. That's a lazy suggestion.)

Also, the search box at the top has nothing to do with Amazon Restaurants.³

We put the order together and had it ready to go. The confirmation screen showed the approximate delivery time. We noticed that if we let it sit there for 10 minutes and then reloaded, it didn't refresh. We had to leave the cart and re-enter the cart to get updated delivery time.⁴

A $10 coupon was applied, but there was no explanation why. when I attempted to use one of the ones I'd received in email for No Rush Prime, it acted like it was accepted, but did not change the total.

We placed the order, got a text message confirming. Then another text telling us that the order would be delivered incomplete and to look for an email. Turned out they couldn't provide the appetizer and would be providing me a refund. There was no option to cancel the order and there was no option to add to the order.⁵

There was a map that showed the restaurant and our house. In a cool/creepy way, it updated to show the food making its way to our house. Amazing what GPS and cell phones allow.

In the end, we were able to enjoy our New Year's Eve date-at-home but without me needing to pick up food. It's pretty rudimentary at the moment, not quite as polished as you'd expect from an Amazon product, but we'll use it again and looking forward to seeing how the platform improves over time.

Happy New Year!
¹ Affiliate link. If you buy, I get pennies for books.
² Suggestion for future release - Make AR's payment options match Amazon's payment options; make AR more resilient on Chrome
³ Suggestion for future release - make the search look for restaurants or look within a menu
⁴ Suggestion for future release - the ability to select the delivery window; also make the delivery time refresh if you reload the cart
⁵ Suggestion for future release - the ability to cancel the entire order; a window during which you can add to your order

How I'd change @amazonecho

I received an Amazon Echo for Father's Day because I had it on my Wishlist. Possibly because my wife received a Kindle Fire for Mother's Day? Hopefully Amazon appreciates us! :)

It is a fun toy, but I was surprised it doesn't do more. (I also keep forgetting it's called "Echo" because we just call her "Alexa.") Disclaimer: the link over there is tagged with this website's code. If you buy one, Amazon gives me a few pennies and when I have enough pennies I go to Starbucks.

So, a few things I wish it did.

The app as a two-way extension
The app is great for aiding in slightly more complex tasks (like changing Pandora stations). However, the app ought to also be able to serve as an extension. For instance, having timers or alarms also optionally alert on app.
"Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes"
"Ok, timer set for 10 minutes"
"Alexa, alert my app when the timer goes off."

Voice Recognition
She does recognize what we say, but it would be cool if it recognized who we were. I spend a lot of time at work, so others in the house use it. It would be cool if you could have it recognize who you were and respond accordingly. Then you could say stuff like "Alexa, alert my app when the timer goes off."

Incoming
Right now, Alexa is the start of things. Play a song. Tell a joke. Set the thermostat to 72. It would also be nice if Alexa could be the output of things. For instance, it has IF-THIS-THEN-THAT integration, but it's all THIS. If you ask Alexa for THIS, then THAT happens. It would be nice if worked the other way as well. If THIS, then Alexa should do THAT. There are several possibilities - she could announce, play a tone, or simple blink the light ring ala blink(1) (another toy I like playing with).

Monitoring
I would be nice to be able to set up triggers so that it would alert if stock prices fell/rose to certain levels, if news stories about certain terms occurred, whatever.

Multiple Amazon Accounts?
The Echo is connected to my account because it's my toy. But most of the shopping is done from my wife's account (she's the Primary Prime account). I think we can connect the Echo to multiple accounts, but never figured out how.

Email
This is a huge one. Again, would need to be able to recognize *WHO* was saying "Send an email" as well as "Alexa, do I have any new email?" Or "Alexa, alert me if I receive an email from get@real.com in the next 30 minutes."

Send to My Phone
Can I send driving directions to my phone?

Control my Computer
I would love to have a Chrome App or Windows App installed and connected so that we can issue voice commands to the laptop that sits right next to the Echo. "Alexa, skip video" - "Alexa, next tab" - "Alexa, open Gmail and compose a message" - "Alexa, go back 30 seconds" - "Alexa, mute tab" - "Alexa, close tab" - "Alexa, lock computer in 30 minutes" - "Alexa, navigate to nbcnews.com"

More Official Skills
Like Tile and Roku for sure.

Skills Directory
This is only semi-related, but there should be a directory of all available skills on the web, not just within the app. If that exists, it's not easy to find on Amazon.com.

Book Review: The Everything Store by Brad Stone @bradstone

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone

Review by James Lamb (Oct. 19, 2014)

I love Seattle. I thought I loved L.A. and possibly there's still a part of me that does, but I love Seattle. I love the beauty of the city in its rich history and architecture to the tall lines of its modern buildings. And then there's the trees, the water and the mountains. And the weather complements it as well, whether it's a beautiful 72 degree spring day or a gray, rainy, blustery day. So I've always been a fan of its local industries and the degree to which Seattle businesses become global juggernauts.

So of course I had to read the Amazon book. I couldn't help compare to "By My Guest" by Hilton which my dad loaned me and got me interested in these types of books (and one that I apparently never reviewed on my blog) and "Onward" by Howard Schultz (which remains a popular read on my blog).

The book is a quick read and you get to learn some unique things, like about some of the building or conference room names (one after the first customer, another after a dog that would accompany an early employee into the office). Another is the small, independent team mentality which sounds fascinating and scary but may also be why this reviewer continues to get emails from Kindle Brazil despite the nice letter from the Director of Amazon Brazil pledging to get me off the list (probably as a result of me writing to jeff@amazon.com and that director getting one of Jeff's famous "?" emails.) But in the same way that it's a quick read, it also feels rushed.

Jeff Bezos says that Amazon is still on "Day One" - that most of Amazon's story is yet to be written. This book suffers for that - while a great look at what's happened so far, the pace at which things are changing means that far more quickly than, say, Hilton, the book becomes past its good-through date: you get to the end and you think "what about... and... and...?" This may not necessarily be the book's fault, attempting to capture a snapshot in time of a company that's moving so quickly. I think what makes "I'm Feeling Lucky" (my review) is that the author was an employee but then left, which gives the book more natural closure. While Stone had access to a number of employees, including Bezos for while, it's more analysis and recounting events but you lose some of the narrative or some of the inherent underlying vision of someone who lived it as an employee or the visionary themselves.

I think it's telling about Amazon that even this book was embroiled in controversy - there was questions about whether it would be sold on Amazon and the store and publisher have tangled over pricing.

The Everything Store is told from more of an outsider's perspective. It tries not to be critical, but it's probably a little more "warts and all" than the Hilton or Starbucks or Google book. I was applying for jobs while I read this book and I came close to withdrawing as I read. The book shows a relentless pursuit of customer service, but I wonder if it's at the expense of anything else and everything else.

I'd do recommend this book, it's full of great stories and gives you some glimpses of the birth and growing pains of this modern juggernaut. And I'd definitely recommend it for Amazon employees - these are the stories that are being told. If they're wrong or incomplete then Amazon needs to do a better job of telling its story, its way.

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon (Amazon.com)

Links to Amazon are tagged with my affiliate code, of course. You'd be surprised how many thermistors I've sold for Amazon.

An @Amazon Horror Story

Driving home from our date last night in Seattle, we looked at the Amazon building up on the hill and we joked as we always did about how someone needs to film a horror movie there.

from seattletimes.com

And I was struck with an idea... what if there was a horror film, but it took place at Amazon? What if there was a basement dark basement fulfillment warehouse with narrow, dusty shelves of creepy books, kitchen knives and the shelves themselves were robots that could move around and so the walls were constantly shifting.  At one point they think they've escape the building only to be chased by killer Amazon flying drones.

Someone want to write that?

Feed Sift (02/21)

Here's a few things I wanted to share. (A few items are a little less fresh than usual, but still interesting.)

-1-

Seattle City Council updated on Seawall Project - new maps and artists concepts

-2-

Dilbert - why ambition doesn't pay

-3-

Why is Bertha stuck? WSDOT's 5 levels of tunnel-drilling hell - turns out it was scenarios 1, 2 and 3. Ouch.

-4-

Amazon is thinking about shipping you packages you haven't ordered yet - Amazon's patent application details pre-staging items close to you that they think you'll buy so that you can get them quicker. (23 hours already seems pretty quick for a carton of air filters for our furnace. If they're ringing our doorbell minutes after we place an order, maybe they'd like to open up the furnace and just install the filter?)

-5-

Street Smart: Intelligent Motion-Activated Outdoor Lighting - *really cool*.

Lessons from @Amazon (A Work-Related Post)

I'm a big fan of Amazon. I try to do most of my shopping there. It's usually quick, easy, competitively priced. When I do a book review, I link to my Amazon Affiliate account. (Not that any of you ever click on it.) So I end up writing about Amazon a lot. Not because I mean to be critical, because they offer so many examples of what to do and not to do.

So here's two recent things we can learn from.

#1: An email subscription oops.

I recently somehow got subscribed to Amazon.com.br's email list and that was a pain because I don't speak Portuguese so it was complicated trying to figure out how to unsubscribe without unsubscribing from all Amazon emails.


Lesson: How's your email program? Are you regularly auditing? Are you making it easy to understand what a subscriber is subscribed to? Do you offer enough granularity in order for people to stop specific mailings without unsubscribing from everything?

Missed Opportunity @Amazon: Authors and Artists

Over the past 14 years, I've purchased quite a few books and CDs from Amazon.  But I've never gotten an email from Jamie Oliver or Martha Stewart or Martina McBride (some of these were gifts).

That seems like a huge missed opportunity.  I don't mean a generic email from Amazon telling me that so-and-so has a new book or CD out, but right after I purchase, why not an email inviting me to join their fan club on Amazon and their mailing list through Amazon.  Does Amazon even have fan clubs on its site?  Even if it's just an enhanced author/artist page curated by the artist or their management, you'd think anything that gets people to come back to Amazon on a regular basis, even when they're not specifically intending to purchase, would be a good way to (let's face it) sell more.

Trying to rip me off, @Amazon?

So why would the Amazon ad on MSNBC offer me $10 savings on a Roku box but when I click through, there's no sign of the discount.

Click to enlarge

Ok, @Amazon, I give up

So a few weeks ago I needed a special part for my faucet.  These parts are guaranteed for life as long as you are the original owner and they came with the house, so I wasn't.  They're also rather inexpensive.  As such, they're hard to come by.  Home Depot and Lowes don't carry in the local stores and there's very few places online that sell them.  We're also Amazon Prime subscribers, so I'm not in the habit of paying shipping and handling.

I finally caved and bought the part from a third-party through Amazon for $5.95 and accepted the shipping ($5.25) because I needed the part.  The faucet was dripping hot water and would continue to do so until I got the new part. Not only was there an expensive shipping charge, but it was going to take a week or more to get here from California.

I kept watching the order and finally the day before Amazon said it would arrive, it had a tracking number, but no additional information.  I waited until Amazon said I absolutely should have the package in hand and contacted the seller.  They took about a day to respond and said that it must have been lost in shipping and that they'd reship it.  So I confirmed - "had they actually shipped it?" and they were evasive.  It took another day or two but finally the tracking number lit up with actual movement and then the product arrived rather quickly.

I reviewed the order and gave them 2 out of 5 stars because I did not believe they were honest with me and that they blamed the post office when it was their own issue.  Things happen, I get that.  But be honest with me.  Better yet, be proactive.  It's not difficult and I will understand if you're forthcoming.  They weren't.

Worse yet, after my 2-star review, they contacted me directly outside of the Amazon system to offer to refund my shipping in exchange for a 5-star review.

I found that to be pretty offensive.  Not only now were they blaming someone else for their error, they were trying to buy me off.

I went back on to Amazon and tried to update my review and instead deleted it.   I tried to fix that and instead ended up asking for a refund, which was immediately granted.   I tried several ways over the next few days to reverse that.  But the automated emails from Amazon that provided the instructions didn't work -- they said to reply, put an X between the braces [  ] and then add any notes.  Every time I tried, Amazon's servers refused to accept my email or said the email address I was replying to didn't exist.   Finally, I did an online chat with someone and explained the whole situation and they assured me they'd look into it and that I might not hear a resolution.

So now I have a credit on my credit card with Amazon and no clue whether they're going to reverse the reverse and change me for the product (I did receive it and the post office did receive their fee for shipping it) or if this company is just going to get stiffed.  

That was never my intent.  I wanted them to get better at selling online, not give me free stuff.

I had toyed with the idea of mailing them a check directly but that just seems too weird.  I guess I'll wait awhile and if Amazon doesn't charge me, I'll donate $15 for charity and not claim it on my taxes or something.

I'm not mentioning that company's name because they've gotten enough grief from me.  I never intended to rip them off, I just wanted a real picture of events to be shown to future potential customers.

Really, Amazon?

Why on earth would "Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee" even be a choice as something to include or not include in Amazon recommendations?

Odds and Ends 63

-1-

CNET NEWS -- Amazon wins fight to keep customer records private

-2-

INHABIT -- Old Military Planes Repurposed to Drop 900,000 Tree Bombs a Day

-3-

MSNBC -- For Ford’s Mulally, big bets are paying off

-4-

MASHABLE -- “Peter Rabbit” for iPad Delivers Interactive Twist to Classic Tale -- looks cool

-5-

LIFEHACKER -- Press Pound to to Escape Political Robocall Lists

-6-

CROSSCUT -- Hill Towns: Seattle Can Learn from Europe

-7-

ED LUND ART -- Who's On TV? -- Late Night Talk Show guest race/gender compared to census. Admits it's a small, imprecise survey, but interesting none-the-less.

-8-10- Videos after the break... Star Wars Bieber, a city at high speed and a city at really high speed

Odds and Ends 36

-1-

ENGADGET -- Google Places' camera exposed in the convenience store wilds

-2-

SETH GODIN -- Is Everything Perfect?

-3-

TECHCRUNCH -- Woot’s Deal Of The Day: Woot! — Amazon Buys It. Price? $110 Million Weird. (thanks, Shari!)

-4-

YOUTUBE -- I missed it because I'm behind on my reading, but @OldSpice Guy @Isaiahmustafa posted lots of videos in response to tweets people sent him.

-5-

LIFEHACKER -- What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain - as I add this item, I'm lying in bed sick. I wonder how many of my current maladies are from having a lot of coffee on Friday and then none yesterday or today.

-6-

WASHINGSTON STATE HIGHWAYS -- Washington State Route 103 (he's driving and photographing and journaling all freeways in the state) - 103 is one of his shortest reviews.

-7-

WSDOT -- SR 99 - S Holgate Street to S King Street Viaduct Replacement - a *very* slick walk-through of what will be done as they prepare to and then do tear down the south end of the Alaskan Way viaduct. Multiple camera angles and everything. Really worth checking out.

-8-10- Videos after the break
Include "I Fought For You" by Sound Tank, trailers for social network movie(s), and a Star Wars reenactment on a subway.

Amazon's Got a Marketing Problem

So you've probably heard of the Kindle. Another multi-hundred-dollar gizmo for the technocrats, right?

Wrong. Sort of.

Can I Keep It?

I tried, I really tried. Either Amazon, Wirefly, RebatesHQ, Cingular, etc., have really bad record keeping, bad customer service or they're just happy to give away money. So, we're going to cash the check. Thank you, everyone!

My submission to Amazon:

So I bought two cell phones through Amazon(Wirefly) and
applied for the refund. Then one of the phones broke so we returned
the entire order to Wirefly. I e-mailed RebatesHQ 3 times telling
them to cancel the refund and they just kept e-mailing back to tell
me it was in progress. So I made a new order for 2 phones, this
time making sure to go through Amazon(not Wirefly). It, too, had a
rebate. So now I've gotten two rebate checks. So should I just
throw one of the checks away (or I can deposit both of them? -smiley
face-) If you want me to destroy one of them, do you need the check
number? Thanks, James

Their response:

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.

I have checked your orders and see that this rebate is been offered
by Wirefly, one of our registered third party merchants.

Because promotional offers are not shared among sellers, and your
purchase for this item was from our partner, Wirefly, you need to
contact the merchant for any clarification regarding the rebate.
I'm sorry if this was unclear when you placed your order.

If you have any questions regarding your order, you will need to
contact the customer service team of Wirefly with your inquiry.
You can reach their customer service using the information below:

customerservice@wirefly.com (or)
1-888-843-2485 (6am-6pm EST)

We are very sorry for any inconvenience that this situation may have
caused and would like to thank you for your understanding and
patience.

Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.

Thanks, Cingular

I wasn't quite sure of the correct way to blaspheme on SMS. Thanks for making it so clear. You could have just as easily said OMG=Oh My Goodness or Oh My Gosh. Sheesh...

(If you've been following my Cingular / Wirefly / Amazon / Rebate-Headquarters saga, it's getting even funnier. Now I've gotten a $50 rebate ($25x2) on the two Wirefly phones we had for a week. And I just got an e-mail saying that the $50 rebate ($25x2) for the Amazon phones had been approved. Both offers were supposed to be on a single phone and only after 180 consecutive days of service. On top of that, Cingular has made so many refunds on the two sets of accounts that we ended up not paying activation on *any* of the phones. We did have to pay $105 on the first account, but they said we'd end up getting most of it back. The last statement I got now has a $176 credit on the account. I've called Cingular explaining the undercharging and they said I was the first person that rep. had talked to in 4 years who had ever called to say they were undercharged.

So if we add it all up, Wirefly - free phones, $10 shipping paid with a gift card. Zero. Cingular account. Credit balance of $176. $50 rebate received. Amazon - 1 cent per phone, $25 shipping. Paid with a gift card. Cingular account - no activation fees charged. $50 rebate on the way. Only thing not accounted for was the time my wife and I spent on the phone with everyone and all the aggravation, but I still think we come out way ahead.

Suggestion for Amazon.com: Buy It Later

Suggestion: I'd like a "place an order for later" option.

Scenario 1: My wife's birthday is in October. She mentions something in conversation and it sparks a gift idea in my head. It's something I'm sure she won't buy for herself and something she won't get from someone else for her birthday. I go to Amazon.com and "place an order for later" specifying when I want it delivered. I give you my credit card number. A month before and two weeks before the ship date you send me reminder emails. On the calculated ship date, you charge my card and out the door the order goes. I'm the amazing husband who knew of the perfect gift and Amazon is my wing-man, Amazon's got my back, the true hero.

Scenario 2: Household or grocery items I know I'm going to need to re-stock on a regular basis (windshield wiper blades, vacuum cleaner filter - both of these are yearly replacements) can be ordered in advance so that I don't have to think about it. Amazon helps me get things done. Amazon lets me get on with life.

Upside for Amazon, you can project some future earnings, especially if people start Christmas shopping in August, which we would certainly do. Or, you only allow the option for people who have gift certificate balances in their account which means you recognize the revenue much sooner when people put a balance on their accounts.

New Phones

The new phones are here! While the interface is just as clunky, the outside casing looks fresher. I note that these are made in China (the others were made in Singapore) so hopefully these should work better (aka not break) due to superior manufacturing.

Because they came within the 30 days of the first account being opened, Cingular's treating it like the original account wasn't closed. So we pay the outstanding bill, get a credit back for the days the service was cancelled -- when FedExTurtle finally delivered the phones to StinkFly, rather than when we sent them or even when we let them know we were sending them or when the phone stopped working. Then the new service starts on the first, so we do get a few free days. Whatever. Just so long as the Wirefly mess is all behind us.

Of course, even Amazon couldn't get the area code right and shipped 206's. Is this a sign? Should we move to The City? Sadly, they were out of good numbers so our numbers are nowhere near each other. E-mail me for the new number.


So to figure out the billing and get the numbers changed, that's #1 and #2 for the new round.

But It's Only Been a Week

Hey, look, it's been a week and here I am with my first Cingular Wireless, or AT&T if you will, complaint. It's actually Wirefly's fault, originally. When we bought the phones from Wirefly through Amazon.com, they were set up in the wrong area code. To be sure, 206 is an awesome area code to have, but if we don't live there, it's no good to ask our friends and family to call long distance. When the confirmation e-mail arrived from Wirefly, I called Cingular Wireless (#1). He couldn't figure out what our phone numbers should be and suggested I call the local Cingular Store (#2) which I did. Then I called them back (#3) and they were happy to get the phones set up for the correct phone numbers. The phones arrived a few days later via Fed Ex and when we turned them on they immediately recognized the correct phone numbers.

Saturday night I was playing around and signed into Cingular's website. It showed what I currently owed, and listed all four phone numbers, each with a charge listed next to it. I used the Contact Us (#4) form to contact them and asked what the charges were. I got a nice e-mail back today explaining the charges, but it wasn't enough information to be helpful. So I called Cingular (#5) and the woman who looked at my bill said that they were number change charges and because the mistake wasn't Cingular's, there wasn't anything they could do about it. So I asked to speak to a manager.

I was transferred and got the voicemail of someone. So I explained everything again and am now waiting for the promised call back.

Everyone I've talked to at Cingular (with maybe the exception of #5) has been super-polite and helpful, but it's kind of annoying to feel like I've been ripped off for $62+taxes on phones we've had less than a week is a little frustrating. Hopefully the woman whose voicemail I got will
understand and do right.