This is a much of a style problem as a choice problem. As a guy in the suburbs I don't give a shit about style, but my hands are basically like ice cubes all winter. So I have two cheap non-matching hats that I shove into my coat pockets and then I put my hands into them inside the pockets. I benefit from the fact that style is irrelevant (for me) and any hat works way better than any glove for my particular case.
Shopping Sucks Now
191–200 of 230 posts
Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#192Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#193When I was living in the PNW and realized I direly needed gloves, I just hit up a few of the department stores downtown until I found some that met my criteria. Which are probably similar to those of this author, I wanted some that looked cute, had a conductive patch on the finger so I could use my phone without taking them off, would fit on my long hands with long fingernails, and weren’t super expensive gloves desi…
I feel this so much. Sometimes I'll look up objects I've bought in brick & mortar stores that I've been completely happy with, and find that they have dismal reviews. This is why for certain items I make a conscious effort to not bother looking at the reviews. Even if it were possible for me to find the best doormat, it simply wouldn't be worth the time, labor, and emotional energy of sifting through reviews and foru…
Never had any problems with Da Bird wand.
Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's one reason I like sites like Wirecutter and related. It doesn't necessarily work for categories where I have very specific opinions about what I like and don't like. But if I want a trowel, a USB hub, or whatever utilitarian object, I'll probably just order one of their recommendations and be done with it--and it will probably be just fine.
One of the reasons I have a membership to CostCo is that I've come to trust their product choices. If they only carry one variation of a product, it's almost certainly perfectly adequate and probably better than I could have selected on my own.
Bear in mind that financials in the form of exclusive corporate deals factor in, too.
I used to buy a lot of videotape at Price Club. I really liked the Maxell Hi-Fi tapes; they carried multiple grades of the Maxell line. After Costco took over, only Sony was sold.
Another example: the credit card partnerships. First Discover only, then Amex only, now Citi-branded Visa.
Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the key to the article can be found in this passage: > [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research. When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove (or whatever) in the world for you. Even in the largest stores, you unders…
You see the same thing with travel lodging. In the past, you'd maybe have a few hotel/B&B names. Maybe some recommendations from friends or Lonely Planet. (Or, maybe going back a little further, just tell your travel agent to just book something.) Today, it's really easy to go down a rabbit hole finding the best/best value/etc. place complete with lots of squinting at reviews to see if they're for real and/or have th…
"Hurry! Just 1 room left!"
Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#196Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#197Imho, the problem is Amazon and how everybody is aping them. Every store is now also a bazaar with infinite combinations of functionally-anonymous brands hawking indistinguishable Chinese plastic. I want a e-store where somebody has taken an editorial role in curating their crap. I used to be a habitual researcher and I'm completely burned out on the process.
Yep.... I remember how annoyed I was when NewEgg started this 'marketplace' crap. I think even Wal-mart does it now...
Oddly enough - DIY stores like Lowe's and Home Depot don't seem to suffer from the 'marketplace disease'.
Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aren't big corps not hierarchical bureaucracies anyway? Historically there were centrally planned economies. Nothing to say we can't organize things differently with collectives and worker's self management. "Consumers" might not be happier, but working people just might live a more fulfilling life.
Big corps were hierarchical bureaucracies, but they were replaceable . Let's say that GM messed up, and didn't build cars that people wanted to buy. Well, you could buy a Ford or a Chrysler instead. You could even buy a VW or a Honda. But if your central planning bureaucracy messes up, there's no way to bypass it to get what you want to buy. Or was your point that workers' fulfillment is more important than consumers…
Big corps are still hierarchical bureaucracies. They are replaceable in theory though not in practice. Funny that you mention car manufacturers which are consistently kept afloat by bailouts and subsidies in the current economy. VW can't go under, it would nosedive the economy of Germany and they would never let that happen. Workers without jobs aren't really good consumers.
Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that even in big cities, real world shops are disappearing. This year I wanted to buy a TV, and wanted to see them in real life to judge colors/brightness levels, and shockingly, in London, I found just one place which had like 10 TVs from the leading brands. I'm sure there are a few more, but I wasn't able to locate them using google, or walking the main shopping streets. I remember shops 10 years ago…
Brick and mortar shops can't stop you from coming in and finding the perfect item, then buying it online to save money. I bought an office chair recently and didn't feel confident picking one without trying chairs out in person. The chair I settled on was $100 cheaper online
This is one point the article forgot (or didn't catch) to touch upon. I would like to go buy items in-store but I always hesitate to make the purchase because I know that same item will likely be significantly cheaper somewhere online. Of course, when I go online to find that product, I get distracted by the score of other options available leading to further indecision.
Re: Shopping Sucks Now
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
Big corps were hierarchical bureaucracies, but they were replaceable . Let's say that GM messed up, and didn't build cars that people wanted to buy. Well, you could buy a Ford or a Chrysler instead. You could even buy a VW or a Honda. But if your central planning bureaucracy messes up, there's no way to bypass it to get what you want to buy. Or was your point that workers' fulfillment is more important than consumers…
Big corps are still hierarchical bureaucracies. They are replaceable in theory though not in practice. Funny that you mention car manufacturers which are consistently kept afloat by bailouts and subsidies in the current economy. VW can't go under, it would nosedive the economy of Germany and they would never let that happen. Workers without jobs aren't really good consumers.
Big corps get replaced all the time. It's a slow process, but it's effective. And even if they aren't replaced outright, the management can be replaced if the board so decides - the top layer is in fact "democratically managed" by their stakeholders, to the extent feasible. The problem is that even then they're still big, with no market discipline operating within.