this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2024
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It’s Surprisingly Easy to Live Without an Amazon Prime Subscription (slate.com)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology
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  • The author canceled their Amazon Prime subscription on a whim and realized they didn't really need it.
  • Leaving Prime meant slower shipping but the author was happy to wait and still found the selection and delivery speed satisfactory.
  • Many people love Prime for its fast shipping and convenience, but some readers expressed ambivalence and considered canceling.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/3M27c

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's an extreme-case prisoner's dilemma. For shoppers to prevent a Walmart/Amazon monopoly, people would have to both give up convenience AND affordability in hope that everyone else had the same radical values. There were PLENTY of boycotters for both, but they just weren't anywhere near enough.

At some point, when you're starving and Sam Walton comes by and offers you food your family can afford, you pull the trigger. And I don't fault someone who does that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

For real. It would obviously be better if they didn't use such destructive and predatory practices, but "vote with your dollars" isn't an option for a lot of the people these businesses earn most of their money from.

It turns out that there is, in fact, a case to be made for regulation and labor organizations in these situations.