亚马逊alexa智能家电
By Spencer Soper
斯宾塞·索珀(Spencer Soper)
A strange phenomenon has emerged near Amazon.com Inc. delivery stations and Whole Foods stores in the Chicago suburbs: smartphones dangling from trees. Contract delivery drivers are putting them there to get a jump on rivals seeking orders, according to people familiar with the matter.
在芝加哥郊区的Amazon.com Inc.送货站和Whole Foods商店附近出现了一种奇怪的现象：智能手机悬挂在树上。 知情人士说，合同交付驱动者将他们放在那里，以吸引寻求订单的竞争对手。
Someone places several devices in a tree located close to the station where deliveries originate. Drivers in on the plot then sync their own phones with the ones in the tree and wait nearby for an order pickup. The reason for the odd placement, according to experts and people with direct knowledge of Amazon’s operations, is to take advantage of the handsets’ proximity to the station, combined with software that constantly monitors Amazon’s dispatch network, to get a split-second jump on competing drivers.
有人将几台设备放置在靠近派生站点的树中。 然后，情节中的驾驶员将他们自己的电话与树中的电话同步，并在附近等待取货。 据专家和直接了解亚马逊运营情况的人士称，这种奇怪的位置安排的原因是要利用手持机离车站近的地方，并结合不断监控亚马逊调度网络的软件，从而获得瞬间的跃升。赛车手。
That drivers resort to such extreme methods is emblematic of the ferocious competition for work in a pandemic-ravaged U.S. economy suffering from double-digit unemployment. Much the way milliseconds can mean millions to hedge funds using robotraders, a smartphone perched in a tree can be the key to getting a $15 delivery route before someone else.
司机采取这种极端的方法象征着在遭受两位数失业的大流行肆虐的美国经济中对工作的激烈竞争。 毫秒可能意味着数百万美元使用机器人交易员对冲基金，栖息在树上的智能手机可能成为在别人之前获得15美元送货路线的关键。
Drivers have been posting photos and videos on social-media chat rooms to try to figure out what technology is being used to receive orders faster than those lacking the advantage. Some have complained to Amazon that unscrupulous drivers have found a way to rig the company’s delivery dispatch system.
司机们一直在社交媒体聊天室中发布照片和视频，以试图弄清采用哪种技术比没有优势的技术更快地接收订单。 一些人向亚马逊抱怨说，不道德的司机已经找到了操纵公司送货系统的方法。
In an internal email seen by Bloomberg, Amazon said it would investigate the matter but would be unable to divulge the outcome of its inquiry to delivery drivers. The company, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.
在彭博社看到的内部电子邮件中，亚马逊表示将对此事进行调查，但无法将其查询结果透露给送货司机。 该公司通过发言人拒绝置评。
Bloomberg reviewed photos and video of smartphones in trees outside Whole Foods and Amazon delivery stations. They show drivers approaching the phones and syncing them with their own devices, then sitting or standing nearby waiting for an alert about a route.
彭博社审查了Whole Foods和亚马逊送货站外树木中智能手机的照片和视频。 它们显示驾驶员接近电话并将其与自己的设备同步，然后坐在或站在附近等待有关路线的警报。
An Uber-like app called Amazon Flex lets drivers make deliveries in their own cars. For many with other jobs, it’s a way to earn extra money in their spare time. But with joblessness rising and unemployment payments shrinking, competition for such work has stiffened, and more people rely on it as their primary income source. Adding to the pressure, fewer people are using ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, so more drivers have to deliver online shopping orders to make money. As a result, some Whole Foods locations have come to resemble parking lots at Home Depot Inc., where day laborers have long congregated to pick up home repair gigs.
类似于Uber的应用程序Amazon Flex可让驾驶员使用自己的汽车送货。 对于许多从事其他工作的人来说，这是一种在业余时间赚取额外收入的方法。 但是随着失业率上升和失业金减少，此类工作的竞争加剧了，越来越多的人将其作为主要收入来源。 越来越大的压力是，越来越少的人使用Uber和Lyft之类的打车服务，因此更多的驾驶员不得不交付在线购物订单才能赚钱。 结果，Whole Foods的某些地点变得类似于Home Depot Inc.的停车场，在那里，长期打工者聚集在一起，进行家庭维修工作。
Unlike hourly employees who get paid even when work is slow, gig workers only get paid by the job. So securing a route through the smartphone app is the key first step to making money. Most Flex routes last from two to four hours and can be scheduled in advance. That system can be gamed as well. Drivers download apps on their smartphones that constantly monitor the Amazon Flex site and automatically take any routes that become available, as CNBC reported in February. Bloomberg reported similar use of apps by Instacart shoppers earlier this month.
不同于即使在工作缓慢的情况下，小时工也能获得报酬的工作，演出工只能通过工作获得报酬。 因此，确保通过智能手机应用程序的路线安全是赚钱的关键第一步。 大多数Flex路线会持续2到4个小时，并且可以提前安排。 该系统也可以玩。 司机在其智能手机上下载应用程序，这些应用程序会持续监控Amazon Flex网站，并自动采用任何可用的路线，正如CNBC在2月份报道的那样。 彭博社报道，本月初， Instacart购物者也对应用程序进行了类似的使用。
What’s happening at Whole Foods in the Chicago area is different. Drivers are competing for fast-delivery Instant Offers, which require an immediate response and typically take between 15 and 45 minutes to complete. Instant Offers are dispatched by an automated system that detects which drivers are nearby through their smartphones, according to two people familiar with the technology. When drivers see an Instant Offer, they have only a few minutes to accept the delivery or lose it to someone else.
芝加哥地区全食超市的情况有所不同。 驾驶员正在争夺快速交付的即时报价，该报价需要即时响应，通常需要15到45分钟才能完成。 两位熟悉这项技术的人士说，即时报价是由一个自动系统调度的，该系统可以通过智能手机检测哪些驾驶员在附近。 当驾驶员看到即时报价时，他们只有几分钟的时间接受交付或将交付给其他人。
In an urban area with good cell tower coverage and plentiful WiFi hotspots, the system can detect a smartphone’s location to within about 20 feet, one of the people said. That means a phone in a tree outside Whole Foods’ door would get the delivery offer even before drivers sitting in their cars just a block away.
一位知情人士说，在一个拥有良好蜂窝塔覆盖和大量WiFi热点的城市地区，该系统可以检测到智能手机的位置在约20英尺之内。 这意味着甚至在驾驶员坐在距离他们仅一个街区之遥的车内之前，全食超市门口一棵树上的电话都将获得送货报价。
The phones in trees seem to serve as master devices that dispatch routes to multiple nearby drivers in on the plot, according to drivers who have observed the process. They believe an unidentified person or entity is acting as an intermediary between Amazon and the drivers and charging drivers to secure more routes, which is against Amazon’s policies.
根据观察到该过程的驾驶员的说法，树上的电话似乎是充当主控设备的设备，可将路线分派给小区中的多个附近驾驶员。 他们认为，身份不明的个人或实体充当亚马逊与司机之间的中介，并向司机收费以确保更多路线的安全，这违反了亚马逊的政策。
The perpetrators likely dangle multiple phones in the trees to spread the work around to multiple Amazon Flex accounts and avoid detection by Amazon, said Chetan Sharma, a wireless industry consultant. If all the routes were fed through one device, it would be easy for Amazon to detect, he said.
无线行业顾问Chetan Sharma说，作案者可能会在树上悬挂多个电话，以将工作分散到多个Amazon Flex帐户，并避免被Amazon检测到。 他说，如果所有路线都通过一台设备进行馈送，那么亚马逊很容易检测到。
“They’re gaming the system in a way that makes it harder for Amazon to figure it out,” Sharma said. “They’re just a step ahead of Amazon’s algorithm and its developers.”
夏尔马说：“他们正在以一种使亚马逊更难弄清楚的方式对系统进行游戏。” “它们只是领先于亚马逊算法及其开发人员的一步。”
One reason Flex contractors do this is to get around the requirements for being a driver, such as having a valid license or being authorized to work in the U.S., according to a person familiar with the matter. In such cases, someone who meets the requirements downloads the Flex app and is offered a route earning $18 an hour. He or she accepts the route and then pays someone else $10 an hour to do it, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss a private matter.
一位知情人士说，Flex承包商这样做的原因之一是避开成为驾驶员的要求，例如拥有有效的驾照或被授权在美国工作。 在这种情况下，符合要求的人会下载Flex应用程序，并获得每小时18美元的收入。 这位不愿透露姓名的人说，他或她接受这条路线，然后每小时付给别人10美元。
A Flex driver who has been monitoring the activity said the company needs to take steps to make sure all drivers are treated fairly.
一直在监视活动的Flex驾驶员表示，该公司需要采取措施以确保所有驾驶员得到公平对待。
“Amazon knows about it,” the driver said, “but does nothing.”
司机说：“亚马逊知道这一点，但什么也没做。”
亚马逊alexa智能家电
被折叠的 条评论
为什么被折叠?
到【灌水乐园】发言
