Amazon Dash Aims to Be a Push-Button Substitute for the Supply Run - NYTimes.com

The Internet of never-empty things; also see Amazon’s Dash Button Is Not a Hoax, It’s Phase One (WSJ)

"Buried in Amazon’s release documentation is a description of the Dash Replenishment Service, or D.R.S., a way to build reordering products from Amazon directly into household devices.

For example, Whirlpool, one of Amazon’s test partners, will soon offer a washing machine that detects when you are running low on detergent and automatically order a new box for you from Amazon. Quirky, the online retail and manufacturing start-up, will sell a smart coffee pot that can reorder beans from Amazon before you run out. The idea with Dash is that the coffee pot will order beans, coffee filters and a water filter — and be able to measure the use of all three and order each one separately when needed.

Initially, the program will pair with only a few device makers that plan to build the replenishment service into their products."

Amazon Dash Aims to Be a Push-Button Substitute for the Supply Run - NYTimes.com