A Look at Dash Buttons, Gone but not Forgotten

Used them from the beginning, from beta on to the regular use of a dozen of them on the frig.   We discussed the concept years before.    Still has a place I believe, they are a part of a consumer IOT that connects people directly to fulfillment.   Only slightly easier than using voice to start an order, but we found that aspect of easier can be a big thing.

Amazon's Dash Buttons Aren't Dead - They will Haunt us forever  in Wired

This story is part of a collection of pieces on how we spend money today.

AMAZON’S DASH BUTTONS were either the pinnacle of gimmickry—a bunch of plastic purchase-dongles that served no use except to stuff your cabinets with more home goods—or a prime example of streamlined, purpose-driven design. Like a lot of products: It depends on who you ask.

But what if Amazon Dash Buttons, which were discontinued as of February 28, were both? What if every time we pushed one of these silly buttons, we—the consumers—were helping Amazon build a bridge to a future of interface-free shopping? In this future, physical shopping apparatus will be quaint. No sooner will our eyes lock on an empty bottle of dish soap, or a pair of sneakers in a social media app, than the item will appear in a virtual shopping cart. If that doesn’t work, we can shout at Alexa to order it for us. That’s what Amazon seems to be angling for, anyway. Where they’re going, they don’t need buttons.

Amazon Dash Buttons launched in the spring of 2015. The March 31 birthday didn’t help things: People on the internet wondered if they were part of an April Fool’s Day joke. They were mostly plastic, mostly white, not much larger than a key fob. Each Dash Button included a Wi-Fi radio, an LED light, and, of course, a button. And each was sheathed in a specific #brand, tiny advertisements for Hefty or Brita or Gillette or Olay plastered all over your home. Provided you were an Amazon Prime subscriber, all you had to do was push the button. In a couple of days, the preset product would arrive at your door.    ... "