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Forget physical buttons: Amazon launches digital Dash buttons for ordering products

By Lulu Chang January 20, 2017

amazon digital dash buttons button top down — Brad Jones/Digital Trends

We’ve done it, friends. We’ve reached the pinnacle of laziness.

Apparently, pushing a physical button to activate one-touch ordering isn’t easy enough for us. Amazon has now launched a digital version of its Dash buttons. That’s right — there are now virtual Dash buttons on the Amazon.com homepage and the

Amazon app

homescreen that allow you to click (or tap) on the icon in order to stock up on essentials like laundry detergent, paper towels, or chapstick. It is unclear why tapping a digital button is easier than pressing a real one.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, isn’t this just like one-click ordering?” The answer, of course, is, yes. Amazon’s strategy would appear to be streamlining the ordering process even further so that you don’t even have to type anything in order to buy your favorite goods. Because sometimes, that search bar is just too much to handle. We should also note that the Amazon patent for one-click purchases will reportedly expire this year.

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According to an Amazon spokesperson, Prime members now have the option of creating their very own personalized one-click buttons for tens of millions of products eligible for Prime delivery. If you see the “Add to your Dash buttons” option next to a product, you’ll know that you can create one of these digital buttons to live on your homepage.

One potential advantage the digital buttons have over the physical version is that they’re free to use. But the $4.99 that you have to pay in order to get one of the original Dash buttons is actually credited back to you on your first purchase, so it’s basically free, too.

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