Come On In, I'm Not Home

Do you want to leave the key to your front door on the internet? After all, Experian released all your credit information on the internet, why not just let strangers go into your home too? In a perfect world, I wouldn’t mind but we still live in an era of thieves and rapists and murderers. Why should I give anyone even more access to what is sacred to me, my stuff? Well, Amazon thinks it is a good idea. Instead of getting after the criminals who steal your packages right from your front door they want you to allow the delivery stranger right into your home.

People don’t want to shop at Malls because that has become a nightmare. Parking is tough, selection is poor in the stores and then some wierdo follows you to your car and assaults you right there in the parking lot or they follow you home and burn your house down. Not being crazy. It has happened to folks. So now we like to stay home in our fuzzy slippers with a nice cup of warm tea and shop on line and simply order any size or color of the stuff we want. Done. But do we really want to have the unknown person deliver the stuff in my home when I’m not home in my room? Amazon says yes!

Amazon is the company known for revolutionizing delivery and now they are at it again. The new program is called Amazon Key. The driver will arrive at your door and will scan your package. The scanner will send an alert to your phone, signal to the Amazon Cloud and unlock the smart lock on your front door. Meanwhile a security camera mounted inside your home looking at your front door will be recording who has just entered your home. Then the plan is that when you return home, your package will be waiting for you as you kick off your shoes inside your home.

The President of Amazon Delivery Tech. Peter Larsen says that lots of customers requested this added service. Now here is the catch. The free service is available for Prime Members. It will be available November 8 in 37 cities around the country. There are already 85 million Prime Members in the United States. Each member pays $1,300 dollars per year. That adds up to a lot of money for Amazon. Peter says that Amazon is concerned by safety and security. He claims that all of his drivers are honest. Like they won’t steel your stuff on the way out your door.

The drivers are background checked and have approvals to deliver your packages. So, Peter Larsen, what happens if the cloud gets hacked? The internet is invited into my home? Jeesh!!! Those new fuzzy slippers I ordered isn’t worth the risk but I am afraid of that parking lot at the mall too. Peter says that all of the devices are encrypted for my safety and security in mind. The take the stuff in your home is optional and Amazon feels that it will put a dent in all the package theft that is going on now in America. Currently 23 million Americans report that they have had deliveries stolen from their front door.

Amazon says that this is not an experiment. They expect that this is the way folks will shop in the future. Through the Amazon Key App customers can even watch the delivery on their phones as the package is being delivered. Should I leave out milk and cookies for the delivery person too? I could see him eat and drink too? We can then see him leave and lock my door again. Ahhh!  A perfect world!!!

Here’s the catch. The in home service is free but the lock and camera that you have to install will be sold as a bundle for $250. Walmart is also testing a similar service in San Francisco. So, let’s see, my new fuzzy slippers will cost $1,300 dollars for Amazon Prime added to $250 dollars for the in the door service. The better be really comfortable. Sigh!