[johndfsgdgdfg]

Apple and Amazon are adding real values to the economy and making positive contribution to society. Google and Meta are parasites that invade our privacy and show us ads. These ad companies should disappear from the earth.

[MBCook]

I’m getting more and more iffy on Amazon. I love the convenience but the fact that they’re hiding the real merchants and so much fraud goes on is pushing me away. Also raising Prime prices to add more services I don’t want but have to pay for.

I miss the old days when everything I bought from Amazon came from Amazon and was trustworthy and not a fake.

Their terrible worker treatment isn’t endearing in any way either.

[smoldesu]

> the fact that they’re hiding the real merchants

> Their terrible worker treatment isn’t endearing in any way either

Aren't these also things Apple struggles with?

[MBCook]

I don’t see how #1 applies to Apple at all.

#2 is a problem with companies Apple contracts with. And Apple holds those suppliers to high standards, partly because of past attention.

The dirty little secret is everyone uses Foxcon and other companies like them. MS does (did?) for Xboxes. Other computer makers. Electronics device makers. Everyone. Very few companies have their own factories they run top-to-bottom.

But the headlines are pointed at Apple. That gets clicks. Do those other companies try to keep worker standards up the way Apple does? No one covers that, do they.

But Amazon owns the warehouses. Amazon sets their labor standards. Maybe there are subcontractors for the workers or divers. But it’s 100% Amazon’s control. Amazon didn’t contract everything out to a logistics company. Amazon IS the logistics company.

That’s a very big difference in my book.

[bloomark]

> Their terrible worker treatment isn’t endearing in any way either

Yeah but they're Chinese workers, so people are happy to look the other way /s

[jamesredd]

Amazon has free delivery over 25$. I cancelled prime a few years ago and don’t miss it at all. You just have to wait a couple more days at most.

[ocdtrekkie]

If you live somewhere everyone else has Prime, you'll usually get free super saver items in two days or less as well. I don't pay for Prime but since the truck is on my street every day, my stuff gets dropped off quickly anyhow.

[jamesredd]

I actually like waiting a few more days though, it decreases my tendency towards impulsive buying.

[ocdtrekkie]

I get that benefit, but I feel it's in the way of having to find $25 worth of items before placing the order. A lot of times I'll change my mind on that $8 item before I get there.

[damon_c]

Jeez... Google isn't perfect but... I feel like a lot of people really benefit from Google existing.

Ever use Tensorflow? Or... use 8.8.8.8 as a DNS server? Or... Gmail? or Learn something from watching YouTube?

One has to pay the bills somehow. If Google disappeared from the Earth would the replacement be better?

[ketzo]

or, yknow… searched something on the internet using Google search? that tiny little thing that literally revolutionized the human experience of recorded information?

[serf]

Google search was by no means the first search engine, or the best. They succeeded by having good business acumen during one of the most turbulent phases of industry that tech has ever seen, along with a big drive to integrate the non-tech public into their products.

google has done great, I don't buy ' literally revolutionized the human experience of recorded information? ' -- it's simply not true; they just did well in that niche.

Had they gone insolvent another similar group would have dominated that same field, that should make it dead obvious that their business (search specifically) wasn't revolutionary -- just very successful.

[ocdtrekkie]

Google is one of the most harmful entities on the entire planet. Anyone who doesn't realize that just... doesn't know enough about the topic yet. Nobody is as good at extracting profit from unethical and outright harmful behavior while simultaneously shifting the blame onto someone else for it.

[zip1234]

Apple and Amazon both show ads and make a lot of money from it. You think Apple's 'privacy' changes are for actual privacy and not to undercut a competitor?

[yamazakiwi]

I see a lot of negative from the Amazon side...but I'm open to hearing some positives!

[reaperducer]

I'm not big on Amazon, especially lately.

But, one thing it does do is open the world to people living in rural areas who wouldn't otherwise be able to access so many goods and services (of, admittedly, varying quality and provenance).

It's the Sears Catalog of the 21st century.

[hasbot]

Exactly. I've lived in a rural area for ten years where the nearest hardware or clothing store was an hour away. I get most of my hard goods from Amazon. I can't recall a single issue with the hundreds of products I've ordered. The biggest issue is USPS shipping is no longer reliable and I can't count on items being delivered when Amazon estimates.

[oliv__]

Respectfully, a lot of advertisers seem to disagree.

[coldtea]

Advertisers are parasites

[signatoremo]

Pardon my language, but hogwash. Ever send a resume? You’d be an advertiser.

[bart_spoon]

That is the most pedantic reading of their comment you could have.

[coldtea]

Yeah, and killers are not bad, because every time I kill a mosquito I'm a killer too...

[nordsieck]

> Advertisers are parasites

Could you explain your position more fully? Perhaps a bit about how society would function without advertising.

[pmontra]

Word of mouth. Of course spreading the word of new products and services would take a lot of time so some businesses won't be able to spend a lot of money and bootstrap to millions of customers in a few months. Everything would be slower but it will function.

[onepointsixC]

So a future where only large businesses serving large segments of a market are able to operate with any success while small players have little to no chance in establishing themselves into small niches. And that's of course before getting into how you broke the primary method of monetization of the entire web.

[pmontra]

That's how it would work if we remove advertising. But is there any chance of removing advertising from the world? I don't think so. What's happening instead is that a big player like Apple is using their existing base (iDevices) to build its own advertising platform and weaken rivals in the advertising business.