WARNING! Not CrossFit (not directly at least)

As said in the title this is not CrossFit related, so if you are only here for CrossFit content, I am sad to say this article may not aid you in your everlasting pursuit of functional fitness. I don’t intend to answer any questions specifically with this piece it was more of just something I had realized this past week. The reason why I think this non-CrossFit topic is relevant is because I think most, if not everybody, has used, or at least heard of the e-commerce juggernaut Amazon. If you haven’t, then I would be very impressed with your ability to resist their incredibly convenient services. Amazon (without diving to deep into it) does everything. They sell a wide variety of electronics furniture, clothing, and seem to be involved in a little but of everything such as streaming and groceries. If you want a more in depth explanation of exactly what they do, check out this article.

Shoulda Just Got it Off Amazon

Amongst some of the things I enjoy doing outside of CrossFit, one of them is playing video games. Last Saturday I needed to go out and buy a new gaming headset and I figured a quick trip over to the Sunnyvale mall should do the trick. An hour and a half later I returned home with no headset despite a trip to the Sunnyvale mall AND Target. I wanted to have the headset that day, so I figured I could just run out to the store and get it, but I was wrong. I ended up just buying the headset off Amazon with the handy dandy “buy with one click” option they have. Then I thought to myself “I could have saved myself an hour and a half of my time had I just bought it off Amazon in the first place.” I know I am not alone in this type experience and I know people frequently forego the escapade of going out and physically getting what the need. They instead take the more time savvy option of just ordering it off of amazon, and why wouldn’t they? With the two day shipping with Amazon prime, and the product usually being the same price, if not cheaper than the in store alternative, it’s a no-brainer. Best part of all, you never need to leave your couch.

Amazon even offers great deals to students. You can get Amazon Prime for $50 a year if you are a student. You’re welcome Gomer!

Amazon Vs. The World

If you have ever used Amazon, you can agree that you can get almost anything you need off of it. I’ve purchased books, clothes, furniture, electronics all from the website. But they are not limited the above categories, they also provide a grocery service (they also bought whole Foods), movie/show streaming, and music streaming. The company seems to dip itself into almost everything you can think of. One of the greatest perks of amazon is that for just $99 a year. An added bonus on top is that you can get two day delivery on a lot of items for free, something that usually will cost you an extra $14. No more circling the sprouts parking lot for 30 minutes to find a spot, battling the hoards of shoppers at Costco, or leaving target with thing a cart full of things you never wanted, no more. Now you can just kick the feet up and relax at home while you have a whole foods/target/and home depot (lets call it Whole Target Depot), at your finger tips. And it only gets better because despite Amazon rolling out same day delivery recently, they are also testing out utilizing drones to deliver packages, and having giant air ships that act as floating depots. I know, it sounds lucrative and that it would never happen, but I am sure if someone told you twenty years ago that phones would one day be as powerful as computers, you’d tell them they are crazy.

The convenience of Amazon is irrefutable, but the fact that Amazon is such a large player in a variety of industries is scary for many people. You have to wonder whether or not small businesses will be able to function in a world dominated by one click convenience and competitive pricing. Being the juggernaut that they are Amazon, can afford to take a loss on certain products (they’ve done this in the past), to provide exceptional customer service. We can see a similar pattern with the rise of these convenience companies like Netflix (movie and show streaming), Doordash (food delivery), Spotify (music streaming), that provide us with what we want most: time. No longer do we have to go  out and rent a movie from Blockbuster, go out and pick up our food from the restaurant, or go get our favorite artists new CD, we just have to pull out our phone or computer.

Ryan, thinking hard of all the things he wants to get off Amazon (mainly lettuce).

As Amazon grows one has to wonder, will it ever stop? It seems to have nestled itself nicely into millions of peoples lives, and many can’t even think what its like to not have it. I know I love my free two day shipping. Ohh and I did say in the title its not directly related, because you can get CrossFit gear off amazon its slightly CrossFit related. While none of this is will necessarily affect us as CrossFitters, it surely will affect our every day lives. I just can’t wait till I get my goat tape delivered to me via an Amazon drone!

If none of this peaks your interest, check out this story of a guy who became a lawyer after being wrongly accused of a crime, and overturned his case.

 

3 replies
  1. Gomes
    Gomes says:

    No joke, I’m actually kinda pissed because my entire time being a student I was paying 99 for prime! #firstworldproblems

    Reply

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