Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
On Sept. 12th, Amazon will lose the patent to its 1-Click feature it filed almost 20 years ago. According to thirtybees, it will be a game changer in e-commerce as any vendor will have access to the feature and will shape the future of e-commerce in the coming years . Amazon applied for the patent back 1997, but was granted the rights in 1999. The company has gone to court defending the validity of patent over the years. Plenty of web retailers are preparing for the expiration. My advice hide your wallets.
What next? The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is in the process of drafting a set of specifications for consistently implementing one-click purchases. Involved with the drafting are Google, Apple, and Facebook. This would involve storing credit card numbers and address information in your browser and having your browser communicate directly with the payment gateway. Some of the standards have already been implement in Google's Chrome and Chrome Mobile browsers.
Source: https://www.hardocp.com/news/2017/08/18/amazons_1click_patent_expires_next_month/
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 20 2017, @07:15AM
Can we get amazon to expire next month as well?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Virindi on Sunday August 20 2017, @07:55AM (10 children)
Does anyone here actually use this feature on Amazon? I never have. You don't get to see taxes charged, delivery date options, or combine multiple things in your cart for better shipping.
Why would anyone use it?
Even if it is a really stupid patent, it seems like an equally stupid feature and who cares if other sites can't have it yet.
(Score: 4, Informative) by chromas on Sunday August 20 2017, @08:42AM (2 children)
People who shouldn't use one-click are the ones using it. Y'know, impulse buyers, drunk shoppers and people with Echos.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 20 2017, @12:02PM
:)
(Score: 3, Touché) by frojack on Sunday August 20 2017, @06:49PM
Yes, of course people use it. A LOT.
There are things I routinely buy on Amazon. I go there specifically to buy more of certain products.
I don't worry about shipping - I already know about shipping by that time - especially if its Amazon Prime. Same for taxes.
I use One Click. Why go through 3 more pages? Just send me the stuff and I'm outa there.
Building an order of multiple things or quantities from different sources, yeah, I'll go through the other three pages.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 20 2017, @09:18AM (2 children)
I did - once. Somehow, it was enabled. It shocked me when it happened. Believe me, I DID NOT like it. I immediately searched for the settings, and changed it again.
Chromas' response to you lists some people who should not be using one-click. I would go further, and suggest that no one should be using it. The cat jumps on your keyboard, and you've bought a two million dollar White Elephant? Or, the dog nudges your arm, and you're committed to paying for a vastly overpriced junk automobile. Kids do that kind of thing, as well, not to mention rowdy spouse/roommate/visitor/liveinrelative whatever else.
Disregarding all the outside influences on browsing, sometimes my cursor jumps. Just a crazy, random jump. I've never researched how or why it happens, but I'll be on the left screen, reading, and the cursor jumps all the way to the right screen. OH SHIT - AMAZON JUST SOLD ME A $5,000 CELL PHONE! If I really wanted the damned phone, I could have bought it direct for $300!
(Score: 1) by Virindi on Sunday August 20 2017, @09:58AM (1 child)
Generally you can cancel a freshly made order. I don't think that's the biggest concern with the feature.
Clearly it is intended for impulse purchasers, I am just not sure who actually makes impulse purchases like that, or how many people fall into that category. Do a lot of people really make purchases using one-click when they wouldn't have had they been forced to click three times (add to cart, checkout, okay)? I would think people making an impulse purchase would be just as likely to click through that stuff since it is rote, learned behavior. That is, if they had actually decided they wanted to buy the item in that moment.
Perhaps it is just a convenience feature and doesn't actually attract additional purchases directly, just that the convenience of fewer clicks makes people prefer to shop on Amazon?
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday August 20 2017, @07:01PM
Not so sure about that.
Its equally intended for routine (as in repetitive) purchases. Especially on Prime.
Water filters the refrigerator, more usb thumb drives for distribution, that tasty stuff your local grocery won't carry, etc.
Then there's the things you've been carefully researching and comparing, and finally arrived at a decision. Ok. Bam! buy it.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday August 21 2017, @02:36PM (3 children)
> You don't get to see taxes charged, delivery date options, or combine multiple things in your cart for better shipping.
Electronic goods. Do people in US really review taxes on things they buy? Is it something to do with state vs federal taxes?
(Score: 1) by Virindi on Monday August 21 2017, @06:12PM (2 children)
Yes. The United States has no federal sales or value added tax. Some states have a sales tax, others do not.
For those who live in a state with sales tax, it applies* to internet sales when the business making the sale has a business presence in the buyer's state. Amazon sales require Amazon to collect tax in a large number of states, because they have a large number of warehouses. HOWEVER, third party sellers on Amazon go by the seller's business presence. So generally when buying on Amazon from Amazon I pay sales tax, but usually I do not from third party sellers.
Whether sales tax applies is not something I see until I hit "checkout" and look at the total (then it lists taxes). So yes, the amount I pay when ordering on Amazon is unpredictable if I skip checkout. If someone wanted to save that ~5-8% it is even conceivable that a third party seller who doesn't have the lowest listed price results in the lowest total cost. But you don't see that until you check out.
*Technically what this means is that if a business does not have a presence in a state, they are not forced to COLLECT sales tax. Often as a buyer it is your responsibility to then independently report the purchase on your taxes at the end of the year and pay it directly to the state. Pretty much nobody does this, except maybe on very large purchases like cars. (Some states have separate rules to try to force their citizens to pay tax on vehicles they buy out of state, which take effect when you try to register the vehicle.)
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday August 22 2017, @06:27AM (1 child)
Poor folks! Here in UK, we have sales tax (VAT) added to the list price - and it is a round 20 % for everything.
(Score: 1) by Virindi on Tuesday August 22 2017, @07:55AM
Yeah, I think I'd rather pay 0% than 20%, and I'd rather it be an additional line item (if I have to pay the 5%) than have it hidden in the price. :D
Hiding taxes from the payer is pretty scummy, they do that with gasoline taxes here. And income tax of course.
(Score: 3, Informative) by drussell on Sunday August 20 2017, @08:03AM (1 child)
That "one-click" patent should have never been granted in the first place!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Sunday August 20 2017, @09:08AM
While I agree, in this case it's a net positive: For twenty years, it has prevented a misfeature from being more widely applied.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stretch611 on Sunday August 20 2017, @10:45AM (4 children)
What a horrible idea. Browsers are constantly being updated due to security flaws. (like most software.) Having this information stored by the browser means it is there for the taking as soon as the browser is compromised.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Sunday August 20 2017, @02:15PM (3 children)
Whereas online websites storing your CC details have so far had a stellar reputation as bastions of security and privacy of said data? Nobody heard of a website leaking credit card info, or being compromised, or some idiot emailing the entire database to everyone in their address book? Let alone the data being passed around like a cheap hooker at a rave, to anyone with a bit of cash kicking around
Not that I would want my credit card info stored in a browser either, but not sure which hell is worse really.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Sunday August 20 2017, @02:23PM (2 children)
How about neither? Would that be possible, maybe?
My credit card numbers are not even on my computer. Anywhere. At all. Despite the fact that the whole concept of "find a 16 digit number, get megabucks" is an absurd pre-computer concept for authenticating transactions.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Sunday August 20 2017, @04:16PM
Yeah, but more and more shopping and payment is online. Even my local government has started accepting online payments.
At least with them they have to keep non-internet payments around for people who are unable to use the internet, but a lot of private companies are going online only. In future might be hard to get ahold of some things unless you pay with things online.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday August 20 2017, @07:13PM
"find a 16 digit number, get megabucks"
As if you had megabucks.
I've been using both browser caches and vendor side storage since the Pleistocene.
I've never lost a nickel. I do check my CC statements, but that takes seconds, because I only use specific cards on line.
I had cards re-issued because somebody (Target) got lazy. Cost me nothing, didn't even bother to update my ex-target account.
In most such incidents, the credit card company knew about the need to re-issue long before I did.
For the amount of money you actually are at risk for, the convenience of not having to type in a CC card each time is worth the risk.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Sunday August 20 2017, @12:02PM (1 child)
No. Never. Nope. Sorry, but uh... NO. Bad idea. BAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD!!!!!
Clearly there is some kind of mental illness running rampant. Better remove the infected brains ASAP to save those who still remain.
(Score: 1) by Virindi on Monday August 21 2017, @12:12AM
The only thing that matters is convenience.
Computer security is some magic crap that nobody really understands. It's best to just leave dealing with that to the experts, but keep in mind that some of them are grumpy old people who like to get in the way of our lives. They need to stay in their lane and just make sure things are secure once the smart people have already come up with the product design.
(Score: 2) by BenJeremy on Monday August 21 2017, @11:30AM
Sure, it's a slick feature that makes impulse buying way too easy, but it's the variety and service that keeps Amazon at the top of the heap. One-click will be a nice tool for other online retailers, but it won't really change anything at this point.
I see Soylenters here decrying Amazon, like Hipsters who don't own a TV... whatever. Your stand is an extreme, just like those people who use Amazon Prime to buy all their daily goods and never set foot in a retail store. It's two sides to the same crazy coin.
Some of us use prime a few times a month to buy items that we either won't find locally or are far cheaper. It's very handy, and Amazon does a pretty good job. Am I afraid that Amazon has my CC#? No. I'm far less concerned than I am at giving, say, Rakuten.com (Formerly Buy.com) my number. Of course, Rakuten has been known to pass CC#s in bulk to the black market. As much of a target as Amazon is, their security must be pretty decent to have gone this long without an incident.