<story><title>How Amazon Triggered a Robot Arms Race</title><url>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/how-amazon-triggered-a-robot-arms-race</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kuschku</author><text>And this is horrible for the market.&lt;p&gt;A company gaining a huge advantage by getting a total monopoly over another market, which they can enforce due to having patents.&lt;p&gt;That’s not what patents were supposed to create, and what Antitrust regulations were supposed to prevent.&lt;p&gt;If this is the future, it’s quite a dystopia: Monopolies everywhere.&lt;p&gt;Sure, I get that the Silicon Valley business model is to destroy regulation, get a monopoly (ideally in a new market niche, but destroying existing competition with illegal predatory pricing is also common), and then to abuse the monopoly, but is no one thinking that for the average consumer a free, competitive market might be better?</text></item><item><author>Animats</author><text>I&amp;#x27;d wondered how Kiva&amp;#x27;s old customers were doing. Now we know. There really isn&amp;#x27;t a direct replacement for Kiva robots from another vendor.&lt;p&gt;The great thing about Kiva robots is that they&amp;#x27;re quite simple and robust mechanically.  They&amp;#x27;re a battery, motors, wheels, and a lift mechanism. They&amp;#x27;re completely interchangeable, and having one fail isn&amp;#x27;t a big deal. Maintenance is replacing batteries, motors, wheels, and maybe the electronics module as necessary.  The infrastructure they require is modest.  The competing systems all seem to require more elaborate robots, special totes, and special shelf construction.&lt;p&gt;Amazon says that Kiva robots cut their order picking time from 90 minutes to 15.  Other retailers, seeing that number, must be terrified.  It&amp;#x27;s a technological improvement like that which makes same-day delivery from a large inventory possible.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>brc</author><text>A monopoly is a specific thing, not just an insult to a company you don&amp;#x27;t like.&lt;p&gt;Most monopolies can only be sustained through state intervention, which is why large government is more of a problem than large companies like Amazon.&lt;p&gt;This situation is fantastic for the consumer - companies competing to lower prices and increase service.&lt;p&gt;As the story says the market has responded quickly and the industry is growing, precisely how things are supposed to work.</text></comment>
<story><title>How Amazon Triggered a Robot Arms Race</title><url>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/how-amazon-triggered-a-robot-arms-race</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kuschku</author><text>And this is horrible for the market.&lt;p&gt;A company gaining a huge advantage by getting a total monopoly over another market, which they can enforce due to having patents.&lt;p&gt;That’s not what patents were supposed to create, and what Antitrust regulations were supposed to prevent.&lt;p&gt;If this is the future, it’s quite a dystopia: Monopolies everywhere.&lt;p&gt;Sure, I get that the Silicon Valley business model is to destroy regulation, get a monopoly (ideally in a new market niche, but destroying existing competition with illegal predatory pricing is also common), and then to abuse the monopoly, but is no one thinking that for the average consumer a free, competitive market might be better?</text></item><item><author>Animats</author><text>I&amp;#x27;d wondered how Kiva&amp;#x27;s old customers were doing. Now we know. There really isn&amp;#x27;t a direct replacement for Kiva robots from another vendor.&lt;p&gt;The great thing about Kiva robots is that they&amp;#x27;re quite simple and robust mechanically.  They&amp;#x27;re a battery, motors, wheels, and a lift mechanism. They&amp;#x27;re completely interchangeable, and having one fail isn&amp;#x27;t a big deal. Maintenance is replacing batteries, motors, wheels, and maybe the electronics module as necessary.  The infrastructure they require is modest.  The competing systems all seem to require more elaborate robots, special totes, and special shelf construction.&lt;p&gt;Amazon says that Kiva robots cut their order picking time from 90 minutes to 15.  Other retailers, seeing that number, must be terrified.  It&amp;#x27;s a technological improvement like that which makes same-day delivery from a large inventory possible.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>forrestthewoods</author><text>Ehhh Kiva being the only company isn&amp;#x27;t a healthy market. Even if they&amp;#x27;re selling to everyone.&lt;p&gt;To be honest Amazon buying Kiva is probably the &lt;i&gt;best&lt;/i&gt; thing that could happen. They broadcast to the world that such a company is worth almost a billion dollars. Now the market is filling with competitors and investment. That&amp;#x27;s exactly what you want.</text></comment>