Implications of the Amazon Dash Button

Yesterday, Amazon released the Dash Button—a plastic device, no bigger than a pack of gum, emblazoned with a product logo. With the push of a button, that product will be delivered right to your doorstep. To the shock of many, this isn’t an April Fools’ joke.

So far, Dash Button products include Gatorade, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Glad trash bags, Gillette razors, Cottonelle toilet paper, Clorox Wipes, Huggies diapers and Tide detergent. According to the Wall Street Journal, roughly 16 other brands are already on board. The company expects you’ll place the buttons around your kitchen as a sort of digital grocery list, beating your pen and paper to the punch.

The process is simple: set up each button using the Amazon mobile shopping app, connect the buttons to WiFi and select the specific products and quantities you want to receive. Upon clicking the button, you’ll receive a notification to your phone allowing you to either cancel or confirm the order. Amazon will begin rolling out the product today by inviting select Amazon Prime members to test it.

Finally, we live in a world in which mac and cheese can be delivered to your doorstep by simply pushing a button. Just imagine the possibilities for your Sunday hangovers.

Is Amazon Taking Over the World?

Although convenient, the Dash Button is another (somewhat creepy) attempt by Amazon to automate your daily life. Coupled with Amazon Home Services, a marketplace for local service providers, Amazon seems to be on a mission to eliminate any practical reason for you to leave your house.

Also in the works is Amazon’s Dash Replenishment Service (DRS), which enables connected devices to automatically order new products when supplies are running low. For example, a coffee maker connected to DRS will automatically reorder coffee beans as necessary. The futuristic idea of talking refrigerators and robotic servants is becoming a reality.

If all goes well, these automated services could indefinitely change the American lifestyle, and potentially the world. As the 56th largest company, 15th biggest retailer and the largest online retailer in the U.S. according to TIME, Amazon’s 224 million users wield significant power over the marketplace.

Our Take

Aside from potentially changing your life forever, the Amazon Dash Button could also have a troublesome effect on innovation, competition and entrepreneurship. According to a CNBC interview with Max Wolff, chief economist at Manhattan Venture Partners, this tiny piece of technology could “trap Amazon shoppers into sticking with specific brands and force them to do extra work in order to discover new—and potentially better—products.”

In a market that thrives on competition, this is a cause for concern, as “Amazon shoppers” refers to a significant portion of the market. Although the Dash Button is only in the testing phase, it’s a completely feasible idea that humans, stubborn creatures of habit, will use this as another excuse to stick to what’s comfortable and familiar. In an already oversaturated market inundated with content and start-up companies, the last thing we need is another obstacle standing in our way of making an impact.

Do you think the Dash Button will be a booming success or fail faster than the Amazon Fire Phone? Share your opinion in the comments below, or catch up with us on Facebook.