Pirates are not considered to be part of "the market". Movies and music are still priced at the point that maximizes profit from the purchasing public. If they could lower prices 25% and sell twice as many, believe me, they would do it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Ability to pirate music and movies has made the price curve inelastic, and so lowering the price doesn't affect demand as much as it would if there was no ability to obtain them illegally.
I rented a movie and couldn't return it because the box was full.
This is the ultimate in idiocy. if the machines available slots are full and an additional movie comes in, it needs to accept the movie and drop it into an overflow bin where the local representative can manually deal with it as punishment for not understanding the need for empty slots in the machine.
And $1.20 per movie is still about $60 per year less than I would spend if I had Netflix. But then I understand that other people have nothing better to do but watch TV and Movies all day, and so therefore Netflix is understandably a better deal.
There are sometimes lines for the Redboxes in the residential areas around here.
That's because people are idiots or their time is worthless. I always rent my movie online and then just go pick it up, but I will not pick up at McDonald's or Walgreens. At those places, idiots take 5 to 10 minutes each to browse through the selections available. usually the ones INSIDE the grocery stores are relatively safe from this idiocy.
Redbox really needs to provide a separate kiosk for browsing the selection, and then those people can move over to the machine to pick up their selection. This would cost more, but would recover the lost revenue of millions of people getting tired of waiting and leaving.
You are not the only one that notices. I make well above minimum wage, and yet I have noticed that in the last 10 years, the price of staple items has risen from as low as 100% to in some cases, 400% or more. It is difficult to believe that there is a constant 0% to 3% inflation rate when 10 years later the price is 100% to 400% more.
I do however believe that there has been no WAGE inflation, since my salary is about half what it was 10 years ago, and I work a lot harder.
I also say don't blame Redbox, but unfortunately, the way the laws are written, the accepting company is almost always the loser in a battle over a credit card charge. It is a wonder that any businesses take credit cards at all.
Their business model does check with the credit card company to insure that the charge will go through. If the card was reported as stolen, then it would not have worked. Also, I am not sure that you can use just any old card with Redbox. At least in my case, it always wants the one associated with my account.
Yes, and 10 years ago you could buy 4 loaves for a dollar. And 10 years ago, I made twice as much money. If you are trying to say that automation makes prices increase much faster than salaries, then your point is well taken.
That is not ENTIRELY true, at least for me. I do work to get stuff, but I also work because I enjoy it. I would enjoy it more without deadlines and if I was given more latitude to design it the proper way. However, I definitely don't want to be in a position where I get exactly what everyone else gets. I want to be able to get more or less than everyone else depending on my ability to produce. I think without the drive of being able to get more by doing a better job, then it will be a race to the bottom of producing nothing.
I would be fine with them replacing lawyers with...nothing. If we got rid of sue-happy people and the lawyers that spur them on, then everything would cost half what it does.
I'm a programmer working on process automation... when computers can do that themselves I'll start to worry.
They don't need to. You are already programming yourself out of a job.
Re:Because of course those are the only two option
on
The Real Job Threat
·
· Score: 1
How about we not even allow companies to provider medical insurance and make it a person's own responsibility for their own healthcare. Company provider healthcare is a snare to keep people from moving jobs. I have found that it is actually CHEAPER to provide my own insurance than use my company's insurance, and I am no longer tied to the company if for some reason I feel like moving on.
Secondly, we should make insurance be insurance, and not what it is now. Insurance is for when you have something bad happen that would be out of your means to afford. It is not meant to cover every time you go to the doctor or dentist. Those should be out of pocket expenses. If we handled those expenses ourselves instead of shuffling them through the paperwork and contract negotiations between the provider and the insurance company, then it will be cheaper.
Which is why sales taxes should not be charged on necessities. It should only be charged on toys. In many states, including my own, that is the law (although they don't enforce it here, because they still collect sales tax on groceries of all kinds).
However, I think that you will find that the poor also spend a lot of their money on toys, probably more on a percentage basis than the rich. The consumption mindset is something that keeps the poor poor. Hollywood also helps keep poor people poor by enforcing a consumption mentality. We need to educate people that they don't have to have the latest gadget. They can put their money away and invest it. By showing a little restraint in the present, they can have a much better future. However, the whole world has bought into the "have it now and the future be damned" mentality. It will not be an easy attitude to change.
Then people will still have jobs designing smart phones and curing diseases when it comes to the point that saving a half year's wages will give you food and shelter for the rest of your life.
Well, that would be great, but the last 50 years worth of improvements in automation have managed to move us to where more and more of a year's wages is necessary to cover food and shelter. I feel like we are in a deep hole and someone has given a very convincing argument that we can dig our way out and so we keep digging.
Pushbutton start cars generally require you to press and hold the button for a few seconds to turn the engine off while at speed.
Ahh, just like a computer. To turn it off, press the "ON" button and hold it for awhile. or like Windows, to stop Windows, first click Start....
That's kind of harsh and doesn't represent all people from the U.S.
I, for one, WANT a diesel car, but they don't sell one to my liking. I want an Audi A6 or similar type car with a diesel and a manual transmission. So far, the only manual diesel sedans I have found have been VWs and I am not interested in a VW.
Every year Audi proclaims that they will have the A6 diesel available in the U.S. within the next two to three years. This has been going on for at least five years.
Mine locks when the key is in OFF position. 2001 Lexus ES300. I know this intimately because when I tow it behind my RV I have to be sure to put the key in ACC so that the front wheels can pivot.
Furthermore, once your car is moving at a walking pace, you no longer need power steering. Try it some time in a parking lot. Eh, actually, it's the other way around -
He IS saying it the right way around, just going from the opposite direction. He is saying once you get to a walking pace FROM ZERO, then you no longer need the power steering. I also made that mistake on the first readthrough.
Steering wheel lock will not engage unless the car is in park. Not even neutral. You might need it in neutral because you might be pushing or towing the car, or you might have shut down the engine while traveling at a high rate of speed and had a software glitch in the cruise control.
I also hardly ever use cruise control. it is extremely poorly designed. It also reinforces the incorrect idea that you should try to hold your car to a constant speed. It is much more efficient to hold your car to a constant throttle setting. Instead of kicking up and down gears in hills in a vain effort to try to hold 60 MPH, the car should hold a constant throttle setting and allow the car to slow down going uphill and speed up going downhill. This is much better for gas mileage and for the engine and the transmission and makes for a more comfortable ride.
Once you are up to about 20mph you hardly even notice that the power steering is b0rked.
And if it didn't have power steering in the first place, then it would probably not be noticeably under 20 either. Most of your effort is going into overcoming the added resistance of the "power" equipment.
I would like to be surprised that a car as small and lightweight as the Focus even HAS power steering, but sadly, I have become used to such foolishness from the car manufacturers.
I'd wager if you had to do that you should be driving an automatic.
I'd wager that if the hill was steep enough that an experienced manual driver was worried about rolling back then the automatic transmission will probably do the same thing.
Slashdot Mirror
Pirates are not considered to be part of "the market". Movies and music are still priced at the point that maximizes profit from the purchasing public. If they could lower prices 25% and sell twice as many, believe me, they would do it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Ability to pirate music and movies has made the price curve inelastic, and so lowering the price doesn't affect demand as much as it would if there was no ability to obtain them illegally.
I rented a movie and couldn't return it because the box was full.
This is the ultimate in idiocy. if the machines available slots are full and an additional movie comes in, it needs to accept the movie and drop it into an overflow bin where the local representative can manually deal with it as punishment for not understanding the need for empty slots in the machine.
And $1.20 per movie is still about $60 per year less than I would spend if I had Netflix. But then I understand that other people have nothing better to do but watch TV and Movies all day, and so therefore Netflix is understandably a better deal.
There are sometimes lines for the Redboxes in the residential areas around here.
That's because people are idiots or their time is worthless. I always rent my movie online and then just go pick it up, but I will not pick up at McDonald's or Walgreens. At those places, idiots take 5 to 10 minutes each to browse through the selections available. usually the ones INSIDE the grocery stores are relatively safe from this idiocy.
Redbox really needs to provide a separate kiosk for browsing the selection, and then those people can move over to the machine to pick up their selection. This would cost more, but would recover the lost revenue of millions of people getting tired of waiting and leaving.
You are not the only one that notices. I make well above minimum wage, and yet I have noticed that in the last 10 years, the price of staple items has risen from as low as 100% to in some cases, 400% or more. It is difficult to believe that there is a constant 0% to 3% inflation rate when 10 years later the price is 100% to 400% more.
I do however believe that there has been no WAGE inflation, since my salary is about half what it was 10 years ago, and I work a lot harder.
I also say don't blame Redbox, but unfortunately, the way the laws are written, the accepting company is almost always the loser in a battle over a credit card charge. It is a wonder that any businesses take credit cards at all.
Their business model does check with the credit card company to insure that the charge will go through. If the card was reported as stolen, then it would not have worked. Also, I am not sure that you can use just any old card with Redbox. At least in my case, it always wants the one associated with my account.
You also have the added hassle of having to have an account with Redbox and have the card associated with it. That makes fraud even less likely.
Yes, and 10 years ago you could buy 4 loaves for a dollar. And 10 years ago, I made twice as much money. If you are trying to say that automation makes prices increase much faster than salaries, then your point is well taken.
That is not ENTIRELY true, at least for me. I do work to get stuff, but I also work because I enjoy it. I would enjoy it more without deadlines and if I was given more latitude to design it the proper way. However, I definitely don't want to be in a position where I get exactly what everyone else gets. I want to be able to get more or less than everyone else depending on my ability to produce. I think without the drive of being able to get more by doing a better job, then it will be a race to the bottom of producing nothing.
I would be fine with them replacing lawyers with...nothing. If we got rid of sue-happy people and the lawyers that spur them on, then everything would cost half what it does.
I'm a programmer working on process automation... when computers can do that themselves I'll start to worry.
They don't need to. You are already programming yourself out of a job.
How about we not even allow companies to provider medical insurance and make it a person's own responsibility for their own healthcare. Company provider healthcare is a snare to keep people from moving jobs. I have found that it is actually CHEAPER to provide my own insurance than use my company's insurance, and I am no longer tied to the company if for some reason I feel like moving on.
Secondly, we should make insurance be insurance, and not what it is now. Insurance is for when you have something bad happen that would be out of your means to afford. It is not meant to cover every time you go to the doctor or dentist. Those should be out of pocket expenses. If we handled those expenses ourselves instead of shuffling them through the paperwork and contract negotiations between the provider and the insurance company, then it will be cheaper.
Which is why sales taxes should not be charged on necessities. It should only be charged on toys. In many states, including my own, that is the law (although they don't enforce it here, because they still collect sales tax on groceries of all kinds).
However, I think that you will find that the poor also spend a lot of their money on toys, probably more on a percentage basis than the rich. The consumption mindset is something that keeps the poor poor. Hollywood also helps keep poor people poor by enforcing a consumption mentality. We need to educate people that they don't have to have the latest gadget. They can put their money away and invest it. By showing a little restraint in the present, they can have a much better future. However, the whole world has bought into the "have it now and the future be damned" mentality. It will not be an easy attitude to change.
Then people will still have jobs designing smart phones and curing diseases when it comes to the point that saving a half year's wages will give you food and shelter for the rest of your life.
Well, that would be great, but the last 50 years worth of improvements in automation have managed to move us to where more and more of a year's wages is necessary to cover food and shelter. I feel like we are in a deep hole and someone has given a very convincing argument that we can dig our way out and so we keep digging.
Tata already owns Jaguar, so i don't know that they can outsource it any further. Maybe to China?
Pushbutton start cars generally require you to press and hold the button for a few seconds to turn the engine off while at speed.
Ahh, just like a computer. To turn it off, press the "ON" button and hold it for awhile. or like Windows, to stop Windows, first click Start....
That's kind of harsh and doesn't represent all people from the U.S.
I, for one, WANT a diesel car, but they don't sell one to my liking. I want an Audi A6 or similar type car with a diesel and a manual transmission. So far, the only manual diesel sedans I have found have been VWs and I am not interested in a VW.
Every year Audi proclaims that they will have the A6 diesel available in the U.S. within the next two to three years. This has been going on for at least five years.
Mine locks when the key is in OFF position. 2001 Lexus ES300. I know this intimately because when I tow it behind my RV I have to be sure to put the key in ACC so that the front wheels can pivot.
Furthermore, once your car is moving at a walking pace, you no longer need power steering. Try it some time in a parking lot.
Eh, actually, it's the other way around -
He IS saying it the right way around, just going from the opposite direction. He is saying once you get to a walking pace FROM ZERO, then you no longer need the power steering. I also made that mistake on the first readthrough.
Steering wheel lock will not engage unless the car is in park. Not even neutral. You might need it in neutral because you might be pushing or towing the car, or you might have shut down the engine while traveling at a high rate of speed and had a software glitch in the cruise control.
Be sure and close all your windows before rebooting. You can lose any changed data in your windows if you don't close them properly.
I also hardly ever use cruise control. it is extremely poorly designed. It also reinforces the incorrect idea that you should try to hold your car to a constant speed. It is much more efficient to hold your car to a constant throttle setting. Instead of kicking up and down gears in hills in a vain effort to try to hold 60 MPH, the car should hold a constant throttle setting and allow the car to slow down going uphill and speed up going downhill. This is much better for gas mileage and for the engine and the transmission and makes for a more comfortable ride.
Once you are up to about 20mph you hardly even notice that the power steering is b0rked.
And if it didn't have power steering in the first place, then it would probably not be noticeably under 20 either. Most of your effort is going into overcoming the added resistance of the "power" equipment.
I would like to be surprised that a car as small and lightweight as the Focus even HAS power steering, but sadly, I have become used to such foolishness from the car manufacturers.
I'd wager if you had to do that you should be driving an automatic.
I'd wager that if the hill was steep enough that an experienced manual driver was worried about rolling back then the automatic transmission will probably do the same thing.