Amazon Dash
HN'ers asking why this isn't a cell phone app take note - this exemplifies why we <i>(geeks)</i> don't make good use cases for consumer tech and we should always be careful looking to our own habits and values when in a Product Development role.<p>We're rarely the target customer and rarely behave like "average Joe". We're naturally resistant to superfluous redundancy <i>("My phone can already snap a barcode, I don't need a separate device")</i> when consumers don't even see the duplication let alone the issue.  They don't separate devices (or even apps) has having layers of similarity and just see things for their end functionality.<p>My mother would see a phone and apps as completely separate functionality to a physical device like this.  She probably would have the Amazon Fresh scanner, the <i>(theoretical)</i> Google Shopping Express scanner and the <i>(also theoretical)</i> Whole Foods scanner and wouldn't even consider the duplication, let alone be frustrated by it.  She doesn't care about the potential for an "open standard"/"common standard".<p>She also has an AppleTV and a ChromeCast connected to the same smart-TV that also has native apps within it <i>(she mostly uses the native apps)</i>.  Again, she sees no issue with that and might even buy an Amazon FireTV if she felt it was more compelling for one use.<p>Ultimately we shouldn't assume consumers value convergence, especially when it creates ever increasing complexity in user experience <i>(eg opening an app to snap a barcode vs pressing a single button on an Amazon Fresh scanner)</i><p>ADDED: If you don't have parents that also work in tech, go visit them and just watch them use technology without prompting. Ask them about their experiences, their frustrations, their decisions behind purchasing specific equipment and downloading particular apps. It's very insightful.