You can prepare for a barrage of April Fools' jokes in the next 24 hours or so, but this isn't one of them. The Amazon Dash Button is the company's latest (rather clever) attempt to get you to buy more stuff from the online superstore.
The Amazon Dash Button is a small device that you can stick to walls or a variety of household appliances. Each button is associated with a certain brand or product, and when you set it up (via smartphone) you associate the button with a specific size or quantity (like, say, two 12-packs of Starbucks K-cups or one 2-pack of 50 oz. Tide detergent) and shipping speed.
When you start to get low on said product, mash the button and Amazon takes care of the rest.
What about accidental orders? Unless you set it up to do otherwise, Amazon only registers your first press of the button until your order is delivered. The company will also send you a confirmation alert via smartphone, giving you a chance to cancel any mistaken orders. Households with young children (or perhaps rascally teenagers) will want to be careful with this, or risk making canceling orders a regular routine.
Amazon hasn't gone into the device's technical details, but it does mention that the Dash Button connects to your home Wi-Fi network. We're imagining a similar process to setting up a Google Chromecast.
This is the latest in Amazon's attempts to use fun new technology to increase online shopping. Around this time last year we saw Amazon Dash, a magic wand of sorts to refill pantry items (similar premise, but more of a "one device to fill many needs" product). The Button certainly makes it dead simple to stay up-to-date on perishable or refillable items, though the current method – pulling your phone out of your pocket and hitting a few buttons – isn't exactly difficult or complicated.
Amazon has put together a list of the products that will be available for the Dash Button (many of which are pictured above). These range from toilet paper to disinfecting wipes, moisturizers to dog food, mac & cheese to Glad bags.
Right now the Dash Button is only open to Prime members, and even they will need to request an invite. After watching the video below, you can hit up the source link to do just that.
Source: Amazon
