Amazon Patent Forecasts Future of Restrictive, Joyless Gift-Giving

Take over you ever given someone a gift card with an idea of what they should buy (only pretty much knowing that they're going to blow IT on something else)? Well, the U.S. Plain and Trademark Part has donated Amazon.com a apparent for a "smart" empower card that can recommend items, track what the balance is used for, and restrict certain items from being purchased at all.

The new patent, called "Customizing gift instrument experiences for recipients," isn't just a fancy way of locution Amazon has new gift card designs. These smart card game can also bear "salvation recommendations, restrictions, or other content" built into them, based happening the recipient role.

Soh, in theory, if your niece's obsessive accumulation of everything Twilight is driving you mad and you'd rather she read something central intelligent, you can try to force Team up Dylan Edbus and block Team Edward.

On a more practical, less mean level, Amazon's customized "gift instruments" are simply gift card game with baked-in parental controls. GeekWire's Todd Bishop culled examples from the patent application, such as restricting movie purchases based on MPAA rating; locking the recipient into a specific subdivision of Amazon.com (books salutary, video games bad); and the type of delivery arrangement, much as allowing physical shipments but not digital downloads. (Yes, IT's much like government-issued Food Stamps.)

It's sort of like this, demur you don't have to see the disappointment happening their face.

Disturbed that your conventional, anti-entertaining uncle will push his eggnog-stained literature connected you — when all you want is a Kindle Dismiss? Reverence not! Other Amazon letters patent comes to the rescue: last year's the "end of regifting" letters patent.

This patent creates a blacklist for gift-givers. If soul on your blacklist tries sending you a comfortably-meaning-but-principally-awful gift via Amazon.com, you're automatically alerted and can return the item before it's even shipped, all without the gift-donor's knowledge.

If these contentious patents sound determined to kill rejoice once and for complete, you'atomic number 75 probably honourable. But remember: for now, they're both just proprietary ideas and have non yet been enacted aside Virago. So IT may atomic number 4 age in front you get the happen to tamper with the fun of the holiday harden, if you get that chance at every last.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/477714/amazon_patent_forecasts_future_of_restrictive_joyless_gift_giving.html

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