Amazon is recruiting 1099-contract drivers to deliver packages within one-hour in a Seattle test-drive. They call the test AmazonFlex. According to Wired:
Flex fits neatly into Amazon’s ultimate goal to own all retail. Over the years, Amazon has built up a massive logistics infrastructure to make convenient deliveries scalable. It’s poured money into building huge fulfillment centers near major metro areas, which has eaten hugely into the company’s bottom line. Now, owning a platform for on-demand workers on top of all that could help the company hammer out streamlined delivery routes using tracking software.
Motley Fool comments, "Amazon.com is constructing massive warehouses in the outskirts of America's biggest cities that could serve as a durable competitive advantage for generations to come."
According to Wired, Amazon aspires to be the dominant set-of-nodes in US (and beyond) retail. Meanwhile, retail competition caused by Amazon is producing a proliferation of nodes and innovation. Is the increased system resilience transient?
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