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Wal-Mart, Moore's Law and Open Source
J.E. Kazor writes: "In MIT's 'Technology Review' magazine, Michael Schrage writes about Wal-Mart, Moore's Law, and Open Source. Perhaps instead of spending all of our energy bashing bashing the 800-pound gorilla, Microsoft, we should align the support of a 900-pound gorilla, such as Wal-Mart. Such a symbol of cost conscious efficiency should embrace the benefits of Open Source."
Wal Mart's very *existence* in a community destroys "mom and pop" retailers. It's for a REASON: Wal Mart sells more things at lower prices than the mom and pop retailer. I'd certainly rather that.
And censorship at Wal Mart? Do they have Playboy and Hustler (or even Maxim) on the magazine rack? Does Wal Mart have an "Adult" DVD section?
I think Wal Mart's "censorship" (read: not selling CD's that require warning labels) is perfectly reasonable and consistent. Don't sell any obscene media. You can still go buy your rap cd's full of cursing at Wherehouse or CDNow, just like you can buy your Maxim or softcore porn movies at another local retailer or through the internet.
Wal Mart censoring? Get the fuck over it, it's a family store, and I wouldn't want going to the store with my children to be an uncomfortable experience.
Any sufficiently large business will create a huge amount of opposition, no matter what they do. I buy things cheaply at Wal Mart. I'm very happy with their "censorship" of music, magazines, and video. The stores create tons of jobs, don't treat their employees any worse than most major retailers (or fast food joints). Take your preaching about censorship elsewhere and *pull your head out your ass*. Would you rather do your shopping with your kids at three different corner stores, each of which has obscene music and porn mags on the racks?
Didn't think so.