A designer named Nathan Pryor has turned the Amazon Dash button into a tool for donating to the American Civil Liberties Union, popularly abbreviated as the ACLU. The self-described computer programmer and tinkerer has coded the Amazon Dash button in a way that triggers a $5 donation to ACLU anytime the button is pressed. Pryor states that this was his way of expressing his frustration with Donald Trump. This marks the first time that the Dash button has been reconfigured to donate to a charitable foundation.
Amazon first introduced the Dash Button in 2015. In essence, it helps out with ordering essential home supplies by simply pressing a button that sticks to any surface. The ‘Colgate’ dash button, for example, can be kept in a family locker to remind the user to order supplies once the supplies are over. For some time now, the Dash Button has been a target of tinkerers and hackers, who look to turn the mundane into the extraordinary. This is the same thing Pryor did. He simply reconfigured the button to donate the $5 every time the button was pressed and covered it with the ACLU logo.
Amazon too has responded to the user’s enthusiasm by releasing a standalone developer kit and a customizable “Internet of Things” button, which it calls the AWS IoT. Whenever the button is touched, the Amazon Dash Button debits $5 from the user’s e-wallets and donates it to the ACLU. The reason why Pryor did this is simple: he is exasperated with the comments which President Donald Trump makes and the ideas he propagates. In a way, the ACLU has stood up as the flag-bearer of traditional American values in the face of the anti-immigration onslaught by Trump.
So cool! Thanks! How to Make an Amazon Dash Button That Gives the ACLU $5 Every Time You See Something Terrible https://t.co/lsOJ7NQKzR pic.twitter.com/XOwqBB56Z2
— ACLU of Washington (@ACLU_WA) February 9, 2017
The ACLU of Washington, in a tweet, appreciated the gesture. There are limitations to how the Amazon Dash button can be used, however. Every time the ACLU updates its donations page, the button stops functioning. Besides, the transactions are not entirely secure as well. This is why users who would like to donate money to the ACLU are using debit cards.
