How Bodega typifies Silicon Valley’s cultural ignorance

(www.engadget.com)

39 points pmcpinto | 2 comments | 20 Sep 17 08:49 UTC | HN request time: 0.456s | source

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harryh ◴[20 Sep 17 11:09 UTC] No.15292424[source]▶

Let's check in with what the actual founders of this company said:

  Are we trying to put corner stores out of business?

  Definitely not. Challenging the urban corner store is not
  and has never been our goal.

  Corner stores have been fixtures of their neighborhoods for
  generations. They stock thousands of items, far more than we
  could ever fit on a few shelves. Their owners know what
  products to carry and in many cases who buys what. And
  they’re run by people who in addition to selling everything
  from toilet paper to milk also offer an integral human
  connection to their patrons that our automated storefronts
  never will.

This endgadget post is lying clickbait. It's "two minutes hate" for 21st century America.

replies(2): >>15292460 #>>15292477 #

bloat ◴[20 Sep 17 11:17 UTC] No.15292477[source]▶

>>15292424 #

This quote is in the article, where it makes it clear that the founders only said it after the backlash had begun.

replies(1): >>15292489 #

1. harryh ◴[20 Sep 17 11:19 UTC] No.15292489[source]▶

>>15292477 #

It doesn't matter when they said it. It should be self evident to anyone that it's true. You can't replace a store with ~1000 products with a vending machine that stocks ~30.

replies(1): >>15292554 #

2. bloat ◴[20 Sep 17 11:31 UTC] No.15292554[source]▶

>>15292489 (TP) #

The timing matters because it contradicts something they said before they starting facing criticism.

"Eventually, centralized shopping locations won't be necessary, because there will be 100,000 Bodegas spread out, with one always 100 feet away from you."

Whether it's possible or not, it was their aim, according to this statement anyway.

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