Amazon Prime is a remarkable success but also dystopian. It has made convenience and speed the norm, habituating consumers to buy more products. Prime’s flywheel effect - where more customers lead to more data and scale which attracts more customers - has fueled Amazon’s dominance. Prime subscribers spend twice as much and Amazon’s value has multiplied 97 times since 2005. While canceling Prime may not hurt Amazon, it can benefit local businesses by gaining a new customer. However, Prime has rewired how people think about what is possible to obtain and how fast, making a Prime-free life unimaginable for many.

  • AfterAll@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    i haven’t had prime in years and am doing just fine. spoiler alert: you still get free shipping from amazon without prime. you just don’t get 2 day shipping, which is an unnecessary luxury.