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Restrictive Sales Practices on the Web?
"Here are a few examples:
IBM, Apple and Dell operate web stores that sell almost their entire range of kit, they only ship to the USA. Power Notebooks have the same policy but cite different reasons (see below). Some manufacturers have local country websites but these offer a restricted range compared to the main site.
Apple has their new iTunes system. As I am outside the USA they will not let me logon to the system.
Amazon.com are willing to sell me books but nothing else.
The reasons for this policy range from the (almost) reasonable to the downright silly. Amazon cite difficulties with warranty returns as their reason and while most of the rest won't tell me why they don't want my business Power Notebooks told me that recent anti-terrorist legislation stops them from exporting equipment. Quite why they cannot export a notebook originally manufactured in the Far East is beyond me.
Getting the kit to me in Hungary is no problem either. FedEx and UPS have local offices and if that fails there is always the Hungarian Postal Service. Shipping time from the USA can be as short as two working days, I know this because my company obtains spares from the USA for our products."
The US owns the world.. aparently.. Anything that sounds like it doesn't come from the USA scares us.
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I bet you still think the war with Iraq did the rest of the world a massive favour too, right?
C'mon, break out of the box a little.
Given that even the G5 is 3 times slower than a new Intel (what's it at now, 3.6GHz compared to the Mac's paltry 1.5), I don't think Mac owners have much to worry about.
Do Europeans know where the fifty states are? By god, they don't make Europeans remember the names and capitals of the States? Well, they do teach both that AND european countries in geography in middle school in the US.
Since there's no reason to think about other countries, the only time we give Europe a thought is when we are at war and a country's map is on the TV (totally serious.) There is absolutely no reason for us to ever give one thought about Europe.
The only countries I suspect an average American knows is USSR/Russia, France, Italy, and England. And Australia, I suppose. And for good reason. There is not one good thing from knowing where a European country is if one doesn't care.
Fact is, Europe can't hold a stick to the opportunities an educated person has in the US. Europeans would snob at many business owners' attempts unless they fit the look of their country. But here, all diverse groups are putting their heads together and there is virtually no discrimination like an Irish person being in England, I suppose.
Europe's time has passed. The 'in' thing is the United States. Only dumb asses would avoid the U.S.. Granted, if you come from a long family history and you have inherited shit loads of land from the 1400's and go skiing every day in your European country, then maybe that's good for you. But for the majority of people, almost everybody who isn't held back by commitments to their current country, the best choice is the United States.
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For example, IBM (International Business Machines) allows
Um, that's Industrial Business Machines.
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There is no point in most Americans knowing where other countries are, because they will never visit or interact with them in any way. Take Hungary for example. I will never have anything to do with Hungary. If the minute chance ever comes up that I will, I can look it up in half a second. It's useless information to me until that time.
I think the reason others often attempt make fun of Americans for not knowing world geography is part jealousy and part elitism. But what they don't realize is that most Americans just don't give a fuck. And rightly so.