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Comment by illumin8 | Hacker News Reader

Why not just sell a lockbox that you can put on your front porch? Seems like an easier solution.

"But Amazon is barely hiding its goal: It wants to be the operating system for your home."

Why engineer a delivery solution when you can convince some people to give up even more control and access?

Not to mention if the box fails then somebody only gets into the box. If the door and camera rig fails somebody gets into your house.

Not for them. They'd have to make sure your total volume of packages will fit in the box and probably have the delivery person inspect that the box itself was properly secured (chained or bolted to the house?)

And they apparently are considering some kind of marketplace for in-home services where Amazon takes a cut of the price and they grant your dogwalker, house cleaner, grocery deliveryperson or personal chef access through the same system.

Permanently installing boxes might also violate leases/condo/HOA rules.

I've considered building a small shed in which Amazon could place packages, grocery delivery could deposit groceries in a small fridge, etc.

If the future is Amazon staple deliveries and Uber drivers coming by with my groceries, this might be a reasonable solution.

DHL already sells this. $150, works with authenticated RFID, every driver can put something in.

You can even get a version that works with multiple delivery services, including DPD, UPS, and Hermes.

Buuuut Amazon doesn’t care about that, they just want to gain more control.

Amazon isn't concerned with what customers want but what is fastest for their deliveries. If they use the same app to open the door, and mark as delivered, then a lockbox would increase the time per delivery.

Is there a delivery person for Amazon who can comment on this?

Why would it be harder to place an item behind a locked lid to a box than a locked door to a house? If anything the box should be faster; if it were a smart device it could easily be programmed to be unlocked or even ajar any time it is empty.

I read, "a lockbox that you can put on your front porch," as a realtor-style lockbox that holds a key to the house and needs a pin entered to get the key. For what you wrote, it likely wouldn't have the same slowdown.

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