Throbbing Hive with John Moe: Amazon untamed; Hitchbot avenged
August 18, 2015
Every Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., John Moe stops into the Morning Show to share the latest news in Technology.
This week, John Moe stopped by The Current's Morning Show to talk to Jill Riley and Sean McPherson about the recent spate of anxiousness and ill feelings toward Amazon. "There was this big, long article in the Sunday New York Times about what it's like to work at Amazon," John explains. "I'll condense it to one word: Terrible."
Amazon untamed
The article details the intense work environment that allegedly consists of 80- to 90-hour weeks, and mechanisms by which employees can report other employees they think may be slacking.
John shares his experience of working at Amazon from 1998 to 2001. "I'd go home at 7 o'clock and get the fisheye from people," he says. "There was a lot of talking about working hard, but not as much time actually doing it."
John also explains the "door desk" at Amazon. "Supposedly it's a symbol of austerity," John says. "But the cost of the lumber is more than if they just bought desks."
Update: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has responded to the NYT article.
Hitchbot is avenged
Hitchbot attempted to hitchhike across the country but was torn apart in Philadelphia. "Everyone's feeling kind of sorry for it, so this YouTube user called Boyd Vico put together a trailer for a fake film called Coded to Kill in which Hitchbot was the daughter of Vengebot, who exacts revenge on various Philadelphians," John says.
John Moe co-hosts the podcast Conversation Parade (with Open Mike Eagle) and he also hosts the Home Dunk podcast, both from Infinite Guest.