According to Anne Eisenberg at the NY Times, one day online auctions will be "bot vs bot vs bot" instead of people bidding on goods. The whole idea is centered around shopbots, a new technology being used today that is expected to be improved and expanded dramatically in the coming years.What is a shop bot?! A personalized computer program that does all your shopping for you! Apparently, these bots can shop on online auctions on your behalf, meaning that you get to save time and you'll be more effective in your bidding, saving you more money-- or at least that's what is supposed to happen. I'm a little skeptical myself.
The main way these shopping bots are able to save you as much money and time as possible is because it operates by scanning many online auctions at once and can respond in a fraction of a second, thus ensuring that your money gets spent on the best deal possible because your bot will be bidding on many auctions at the same time. Ohhh, now its starting to come together- right? The shopbot is able to not only able to respond quicker, but can also make better decisions that I could on my own. Okay, now all you skeptics have to admit... That IS pretty cool, right?!
So... Why don't I have one of these guys? They are still being developed and will be released soon enough (dun, dun dunnn!). Currently, developers are testing out the shopbots in small purchases and "games" to see how they act, and overall the results have been good, but many inefficiencies and limitations of the bots are being realized.
Next question- When can I get my hands on one? There are many many many predictions of when these little guys will be "unleashed", but no real indication can be given, largely because of privacy issues of the firms that are making them. However, there is a consensus that once these bad boys DO hit the market, they will spread like wildfire. The most conservative estimates are saying there will be hundreds of MILLIONS of them out there before we know it. Wow.
Hopefully they will be able to deliver everything they are claiming. If they are able to do all these incredible things, there will definitely be a paradigm shift in the way e-commerce works across the board- B2C, B2B, and C2C!
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/17next.html
As cool as the shopbots sound, I do not know if they are something I will ever utilize 100%. Personally, I like the thrill of shopping around, looking for the best deals, and figuring out what I am going to spend my money on as the best deal. The shopbots would definitely kick out the middle man, but also take away the personal shopping thrill. I am sure they will be utilized by many though and really help the internet auctions become bot vs. bot vs. bot.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that should be added about online auctions/bargain purchasing is coupon codes. Almost all amazon, ebay, and other online retailers offer promotional codes which they distribute exclusively, but these codes can easily be found via quick google search. Always be sure to look for promo codes that you can simply enter at checkout when shopping online!
ReplyDeleteThis information about the shopbots does not surprise me at all! Technology is constently evolving and why not invent a mechanism to do our online shopping for us? Although they sound like a great idea and probably would work much faster than I could ever imagine, I don't think I'll be using a shopbot for my personal shopping. I'm the analytical type that thinks things through and using the bots would make me lazier than I already am. It would probably take awhile for me to figure out how to use them effectively too! See, I probably over analyzed that right there! Again, I'm not knocking them...I just know me!
ReplyDeleteI can see there being a problem with online bots because new technology always have malfunctions and can easily be hacked as well. For instance the big gaming network by PS3 doing the same. Other thing id like to know is how will the bot know when to stop bidding. Meaning the human instinct we have as to whether to bid one more time because we desire it more than other products. We cannot program that into a bot which is the only reason I believe I would not join this sensation.
ReplyDeleteI think these bots, like Catie said, will mostly be used for B2B e-commerce, when the only consideration is really price and getting the best deal for your interests. In that way, I think the technology would be there to assist businesses and help them cut costs, and (hopefully) pass the savings on to consumers!
ReplyDeleteLike other commenters have said, I definitely agree and will probably never use shopbots for personal shopping because of the risk of hacking... but then again 20 years ago, people said they would never use the Internet.
All in all, I think only time will tell and we just have to wait and see what happens