Amazon Light

July 17, 2002 1:56 PM

Amazon Light is project powered by amazon's SOAP API, with a design and interaction reminiscent of Google's clean no-frills approach. Pretty cool and clean way to use the site (without annoying popups or gold box offers).
posted by mathowie (38 comments total)

I like the goldbox offers and I'm pissed when my little box isn't showing up.
posted by corpse at 1:58 PM on July 17, 2002

ummm. I think this is a doublepost, and I think the second link is munged.
posted by ColdChef at 1:59 PM on July 17, 2002

And isn't this mathowie guy posting an awful lot lately?
posted by yhbc at 2:00 PM on July 17, 2002

"...and that's when coldchef and yhbc were finally banned forever."
posted by ColdChef at 2:02 PM on July 17, 2002

Holy crap, that's sweet. And frickety fast!

Oh, and I think it's a good post...
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:03 PM on July 17, 2002

I loved the Gold Box, initially. I scored a $280 set of professional knives for $32 (with free Super Saver Shipping) and a set of 18 cobalt drinking glasses at half their usual Amazon price.

The collection of offers from which the Gold Box chooses is extremely limited, however, and it seems Amazon has added little to no inventory to it since the beginning. As I really have no need for $800 table saws or hammock stands, getting these same items day after day (I got the table saw three times in a row yesterday) has all but eliminated my interest in the offers.
posted by Danelope at 2:04 PM on July 17, 2002

That "Serendipity" button is a self link to a book published by the guy who built the site....nice scam!
posted by luser at 2:06 PM on July 17, 2002

yes, double post
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:06 PM on July 17, 2002

The guy who made the site is our own kokogiak.
posted by riffola at 2:08 PM on July 17, 2002

corpse - I can always add the little goldbox - just for you if you like (*awaiting thunderous disapproval*).

It's funny, as discussed in the other link about this - I spend my days working on Gold Box at Amazon (among other things as a web dev there), and made Amazon Light in the off-hours, in part as a reaction to the thicket of info I work with daily. I always wanted a clean interface, so I just built one. I'm hoping others will build their own variations too, and am anxious to see them.
posted by kokogiak at 2:08 PM on July 17, 2002

That "Serendipity" button is a self link to a book published by the guy who built the site....nice scam!

Only when you don't type anything in (e.g. type in 'douglas adams', click 'Serendipity', and you get Salmon of Doubt).
posted by sillygwailo at 2:09 PM on July 17, 2002

Ah, but the guy who built the site is a good guy.

Oh, and I think it's a fine post, too, even if it is a double. And I really don't want to only have ColdChef to talk to forever and ever!
posted by yhbc at 2:10 PM on July 17, 2002

Isn't it about time this mathowie guy was called out to MeTa? Seriously, I'll paypal anyone 10 bucks to start a thread about him.
posted by BlueTrain at 2:10 PM on July 17, 2002

Whoops. I was way late.
posted by yhbc at 2:10 PM on July 17, 2002

I like the Gold Box...in theory. So far, it hasn't offerred me anything good.
posted by ColdChef at 2:11 PM on July 17, 2002

so, uh, do you take Gold Box requests? *wink*
posted by th3ph17 at 2:11 PM on July 17, 2002

Amazoogle!
posted by brownpau at 2:12 PM on July 17, 2002

I've never got the gold box icon when I shop at Amazon, and I've been buying from them for years.. What gives?
posted by luriete at 2:12 PM on July 17, 2002

kokogiak: it's very google-esque, I like it, especially the clever Serendipity button. (the Amazon XML experiments are worth mentioning too)

I just want to know when you guys are going to synergize two of my favorite amazon features: the honor system (micropayments) and the wish list. Imagine a friend wants a new 20 gig iPod for his birthday, puts it on his wishlist, then emails it to 20 friends and family. Everybody chips in 20 bucks, and before you know it, he's $400 on his way to a great gift. Just a thought, you know.
posted by insomnyuk at 2:16 PM on July 17, 2002

I'm from Canada and that goddamned Gold Box keeps offering me great deals on items that Amazon won't ship me. I think whoever coded the Gold Box should be sent to the Penalty Box. Two minutes for pissing off websavvy!
posted by websavvy at 2:16 PM on July 17, 2002

Gold Box is still in a test phase, with some percentage of customers getting it and some not. It'll be on at 100% in a while I believe.

And yeah brownpau, I thought of amagoogle, amazagoogle, amagoog, googlezon and googazon. They all sounded pretty dorky to me, so I defaulted to 'Amazon Light'. Boring, but efficient.
posted by kokogiak at 2:16 PM on July 17, 2002

I keep getting mp3 players in my gold box, but no iPods. Also, I get computer speakers, but I have a PowerBook! And yesterday Amazon recommended that Anne Coulter book to me.

What gives, Amazon? I thought we were pals?
posted by jennyb at 2:27 PM on July 17, 2002

My gold box has offered me:
-Direct TV
-English/Spanish Dictionary
-Radar detector
-several MP3 players
-pocket dictionary
-pocket thesaurus
-other assorted handheld electronic gadgets.

How do I get on the list that lets me get Kitchen Gadgets?
posted by ColdChef at 2:32 PM on July 17, 2002

and that second link is still screwy.
posted by ColdChef at 2:33 PM on July 17, 2002

All I got was a fan and kitchen gadgets, and all I've bought on Amazon are books and cds.

ColdChef: too bad we can't trade gold boxes, I could use a radar detector, an mp3 player, and other electronic gadgets.
posted by insomnyuk at 2:34 PM on July 17, 2002

You buy all the stuff for me, I'll buy all the stuff for you, and then we'll trade. Deal?
posted by ColdChef at 2:36 PM on July 17, 2002

I am so backing insomnyuk's suggestion. It would work great for bloggers, too.

As for names, you could go with the other sudamericano rivers, the Orinoco -- or the Amazon tributary the Xingu. Or you could go with Raging Amazon, though it might raise trademark issues and upset geographers. Say, when do you go public?
posted by dhartung at 3:05 PM on July 17, 2002

Good hack, but I never buy anything from Amazon. I'm waiting for someone to do this for the Library of Congress.
posted by RylandDotNet at 3:13 PM on July 17, 2002

surely Insomnyuk: that is an idea whose time surely has come!
posted by dash_slot- at 3:20 PM on July 17, 2002

If this were hosted on one of Yahoo's tentacles, I could finally call something "Yahoomazoogle".
posted by s.e.b. at 4:56 PM on July 17, 2002

I plan to call lots of things "Yahoomazoogle" from now on.
posted by jennyb at 5:38 PM on July 17, 2002

Just tried the Gold Box thing today, and what I got was a book light, the Sex and the City season 3 DVD, a meat thermometer, an air purifier or something, and I forget the last one... Nothing I can use though. A 20GB PC iPod for 5 bucks is what im hoping for tomorrow.

Awesome little Amazon Google thing, kokogiak. :)
posted by swank6 at 8:45 PM on July 17, 2002

A search I did for some headphones I'm interested in yields... 600 Blessings and Prayers from Around the World?

Still needs work :) You gotta love the fat-trimmed look, though.
posted by betobeto at 10:45 PM on July 17, 2002

A double post maybe, although the main link was only in a reply to the original thread, hence.. I guess it didn't pick up. That, and Matt runs the site, rules do not apply ;-)
posted by wackybrit at 11:15 PM on July 17, 2002

Follow-up: kokogiak gets a "Cease and Desist" from Google.
posted by ColdChef at 7:07 AM on July 19, 2002

No wonder I haven't seen any of him around these parts in the last day or so...it's a damn shame, imitation is hte best form of flattery.

And kokogiak, what say you in regards to my idea?
posted by insomnyuk at 7:40 AM on July 19, 2002

insomnyuk - I think it's a fab idea (combining micropayments and wishlists), and in fact I think it's already on the radar screen for our communities group - but you should see their 'to-do' list, based on good ideas, it's hu-mung-ous. In other words, lots of good ideas, limited resources, prioritization, etc. So, you may see it some day, just not anytime soon, I don't think. (Unless someone figures out a groovy way to do it with Webservices... hmmm.)
posted by kokogiak at 10:32 AM on July 19, 2002

Sounds good kokogiak, thanks. It would be the killer app/gift giving tool for bloggers. I just hope it happens before christmas, or my birthday (which is 4 days after christmas).
posted by insomnyuk at 1:32 PM on July 19, 2002