Has Amazon finally gone cuckoo? Bezos' behemoth turns to crowdfunding for Alexa-powered timepiece
- Reference: 1613646908
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/18/amazon_crowdfunding_cuckoo_clock/
- Source link:
No, really. Amazon is dipping a toe into an sector most keenly associated with lederhosen-wearing artisans toiling in the Bernese Oberland. And while this may seem like a logical step on the Seattle bookseller's path to world domination - Amazon ultimately wants to become the Everything Store - it's unusual for a few reasons.
[1]
Firstly, Amazon's [2]Smart Cuckoo Clock has support for the Alexa voice assistant built in. You could have probably guessed that from its name. That said, you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at it. The device otherwise looks like a standard (albeit fancy) piece of timekeeping kit, something you'd buy in a chintzy Zurich tourist trap for your nan.
Unlike the Echo Show, there's no built-in screen – just a standard 12-hour clock face. A pendulum sits underneath while perched in the "roof" is an all-white mechanical bird, ready to burst out when your alarm finishes its countdown. The Smart Cuckoo Clock is powered by four C-type batteries, and requires another Echo device to work.
[3]
Solder and Lego required: The Register builds glorious Project Alias gizmo to deafen Alexa [4]READ MORE
Secondly, and perhaps most bizarrely of all, Amazon has opted to crowdfund the creation of the clock along with two other products: a [5]"smart" nutritional scale and an Alexa-powered [6]thermal sticky note printer .
Rather than use an established crowdfunding platform, like Indiegogo or Kickstarter, Amazon opted to launch its own programme, called [7]Build It . The basic premise remains the same, however. Punters can "back" one of the projects by pre-ordering it. If enough orders roll in by the deadline of March 16, Amazon will charge the user's credit card and begin production.
As one of the world's most valuable companies, [8]with $125.56bn worth of revenue in Q4 2020 alone , Amazon's embrace of crowdfunding is a bit of a head-scratcher. Businesses that use it tend to be fledgling hardware startups without the initial capital to start production, or [9]fly-by-night bad actors trying to make a quick buck .
Obviously, Amazon fits into neither of those categories. Instead, it's seemingly trying to gauge interest in a product before it orders a full production run, lest it end up with fulfilment centres packed to the gills with unsold novelty clocks. By testing the waters, the Smart Cuckoo Clock is less likely to suffer the ignominious fate that befell [10]the Apple Lisa and [11]E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial .
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The Smart Cuckoo Clock has a pre-order price of $79.99. The nutritional scale and sticky note printer are set to retail at $34.99 and $89.99 respectively. UK-based chronometer fans will be saddened to learn availability is limited to the US. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YC6dKCJben3CLsDwU8u0cQAAAMc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCL7ZLQ?ref=ods_aucc_lp_pr_pe
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YC6dKCJben3CLsDwU8u0cQAAAMc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/02/18/project_alias/
[5] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SPBLN1C?ref=ods_aucc_lp_pr_nn
[6] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SZ26WF9?ref=ods_aucc_lp_pr_gb
[7] https://www.amazon.com/b?node=21601403011
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/03/amazon_fy2020_results/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2019/02/22/retro_computers_ltd_winding_up_backers_creditors/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2019/01/21/apple_lisa_at_36/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2014/04/27/lost_treasure_of_atari_revealed/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YC6dKCJben3CLsDwU8u0cQAAAMc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
You are having a laugh
The richest man in the world wants me to fund his latest idea?
If Jeff agrees to fun my mortgage I might consider it.
With the look on that clock....
...I wouldn't even give them a fiver. Not exactly a shining example of classic design, is it?
Re: With the look on that clock....
It looks like the cuckoo doesn't move either! Rubbish!!!
I can help ...
I've got a few spare cuckoo clock parts here. I can give Amazon the bird.
Market Research
It's an interesting way of seeing if there is a market for gadgets that "probably" no one wants.
Re: Market Research
I beg to differ, I think it's a test to say if Amazon brand is strong enough to make lots of people part with their money, not for a service, not for a product, but for a promise of. And if it does, well, new business opportunity ahoy...
Punters can "back" one of the projects by pre-ordering it.
but this is only natural! I mean, why would YOU pay design and development costs, when you can sell, at practically no cost to you, the IDEA to many, many people who will then pay YOU to develop this idea into a product, they'll promote it for YOU for free and then, voila - you have a product that makes YOU money. And if it doesn't? Well - you paid nothing, you took no risk, you take no blame. Genius! It reminds me of another idea, already painted over, on a bus. That sold well to people who wanted to believe it was a real promise and, well, they have only themselves to blame to take it either literally, or semi-literally, right? ;)
Re: Punters can "back" one of the projects by pre-ordering it.
It worked for Star Citizen. You can still buy drawings of a spaceships, for lots of money, that they promise to build into the game one day.
"The Smart Cuckoo Clock is powered by four C-type batteries, and requires another Echo device to work"
You mean, it's a dumb cuckoo clock with an Echo stuck on the side? Or is the Echo the pendulum??
Not even that. It's a clock with a bluetooth hands-free kit built in.
Wrong perspective
Build It is the product being launched here. The clock is test data, though I am surprised that Google did not lead with an item more likely to obtain overwhelming support. Possibly the intention is a negative result.
Re: Wrong perspective
This was my thought as well. I'd suspect the clock is deliberately stupid to get column inches.
Oh look, it worked.
"Amazon ultimately wants to become the Everything Store"
Amazon ultimately wants to become the Only Store
Re: "Amazon ultimately wants to become the Everything Store"
'Store' is derived from the Norse word Storr meaning Large, so there is the target!
Lederhosen
As a former resident of Switzerland I must protest in the strogest possible terms: Lederhosen are "a thing" in parts of Bavaria and Austria, in Switzerland, not so much. The artisans manufacturing the pricey goods for Zurich's tourist traps (Schweizer Heimatwerk) are actually often disabled people, it's a sensible programme to provide employment for the disadvantaged.
Tu-tu El Reg
you have been peeking at the Top Secret
Amazon Plan for World Domination
Old Baldy won't like that one little bit.
Quite agree
... there's nothing fly-by-night about Amazon.
Fools crowdfunding
Like Amazon doesn't have enough capital to fund their own research development. Only fools will crowdfund this.
Linked Amazon page says:
Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
but also says :
#1 best seller in clocks....
No wonder Bezos is richest on the planet.