This
CEO Wants a Key to Your House
By
Would you give your house key to a complete stranger, letting
that person (whose name you don’t even know) walk right into your home when
you’re not there?
One stranger who’s brazenly asking you and millions of other
people to do just that is Jeff Bezos.
He’s the head honcho of Amazon, the e-commerce behemoth whose
vast supercomputer network routinely compiles and stores dossiers on every one
of his customers. He’s obsessed with having the most data on the most people —
it’s a little creepy.
Now, adding to the creep factor, Bezos literally wants Amazon to
get inside your home. And, ironically, he’s using “security” as his rationale.
Rather than simply delivering the products you order from Amazon
to your doorstep, the corporation wants a key to unlock your door, allowing its
delivery crews to go inside and do you the favor of placing the packages
securely in your abode.
What could possibly go wrong with that?
Other than you being robbed, of course, either by rogue Amazon employees or by hackers who will certainly gain access to the corporation’s computerized key codes. Or maybe “Crusher,” your Pitbull, mauls the Amazon intruder and you get sued.
Need I mention that Bezos expects you to pay for the privilege
of having his employees enter your home?
First, his dicey, open-sesame program, which he calls “Amazon Key,” is available only to customers who shell out $99 a year to be “Amazon Prime” members.
First, his dicey, open-sesame program, which he calls “Amazon Key,” is available only to customers who shell out $99 a year to be “Amazon Prime” members.
Second, you must buy a special internet-unlocking gizmo and a
particular camera to join his corporate key club.
And guess where you must go to buy this entry technology? Yes, Amazon — where prices for the gizmo and camera setup start at $250.
And guess where you must go to buy this entry technology? Yes, Amazon — where prices for the gizmo and camera setup start at $250.
This is Jim Hightower saying… What a deal! For Amazon, that is.
Bezos’ real goal — indeed, his only goal, always — isn’t so much
to get inside your home. It’s to get inside your wallet.
OtherWords columnist Jim
Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He’s also the
editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown. Distributed by
OtherWords.org.