The key phrase to remember here is: Price Discrimination.

Stores already possess the technology to track anyone’s shopping experience through loyalty cards. The “discounts” you get are really just a tax on everyone that doesn’t participate, and the benefits to the company for having your data are worth potentially losing business from un-tracked customers. That’s how valuable your data is.

So why aren’t we seeing per-customer targeting? This is not to suggest that businesses are benign here, but rather, just cautious about outright per-customer discounts and other price manipulation. Custom coupons are kinda/sorta a part of this. IMO, the door is still wide-open to find ways palatable to the customer (and courts) while dialing everyone in.

In that context, all cameras do is make the system practically impossible to dodge. Considering how much stores value that kind of information, it makes sense they’d invest to capture 100% of their retail activity.

As true now as ever.

Too bad.

…

Hello there!

For me it’s the damn scale under the bag, and how long the kiosk takes to register the weight of the last scanned item. Then the system “unlocks” and lets me scan another item. This system slows me down to the speed of the worst clerk in the store.

Maybe? I think that’s open to interpretation. IMO, only the devs at Bethesda can make that call.

Me? I’m not going to hold onto the opinion that it’s game-breaking so strongly. After all, if you’re having fun, what’s the problem?

Well, it’s a shitpost so: Hacks and exploits. But since it’s Skyrim, probably just exploits.

True, but it’s clearly no Powerthirst.

Oh, is that what this is? Here I was thinking they “shipped Amazon Prime” to people and thought “well that’s bad grammar but… what did they actually ship using Prime?”

And yeah, fuck that guy.

Why am I suddenly staring at the sun?

Username checks out.

Not just porn, but classic art by a famous artist. Check out Hokusai’s “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife.”

I recently spotted one that had this two-tone paint: copper and purple. I couldn’t decide if it was an improvement or not.

You are living up to, and by my estimation exceeding, your username. Sorry to hear you had a rough childhood. Glad to hear that things are better - you sound like an awesome host.

I’m inclined to agree. I think the best path through would be to focus on laws that benefit multiple minor players that have a seat at the table.

Antitrust laws in general are a good example. These function at the direct expense of big monopolies, but are exactly what companies need if they want in on what was monopolized. And in the case of breaking a monopoly down, the resulting “baby” companies given more power, growth opportunity, hiring opportunities (job growth) and money making potential than the parent. This can also spur economic growth for all the fat cats out there by creating many new investment and hiring potentials. Overall, if you can get past the monopoly itself (read: take the ball away from your billionaire of choice), everyone else involved stands to benefit.

There may be other strategies, but I can’t think of any right now. I think the key is to tip the scale in favor of more favorable outcomes, then repeat that a few more times, achieving incremental progress along the way. Doctorow outlines the ideal end state for all this, but it’s up to everyone else to figure out how to get there.

While I don’t like the idea of embracing capital to improve things, the whole system is currently run this way. Standing with other monied interests that are aligned with the same goal might be the only way to go.

Just yesterday, Mrs. Warp Core was trying to enroll with an online service. The self-service email confirmation link refused to function correctly in Firefox on a desktop operating system (Windows in this case). It worked flawlessly on Firefox+iOS. Said link also shuttled the user straight off to the phone app.

I’ll add that nearly ever other aspect of their public facing web, including the online chat support, worked flawlessly everywhere I tried it. This all just reeked of hostile design.

When asked about why this is, I simply said:

The browser provides good security and choice for the user. Apps provide good security and control for the vendor.

That’s a “lawful evil” move if I’ve ever seen one. I like it.

I think this meme template is a bit like The Aristocrats; many tellings but it’s all the same joke. In this case, I think almost any back-and-forth text would work and would have it’s own “ew” factor, some worse than others.

A: I want to grow up to topple the proletariat!

B: Bro, we’re in a coconut.

Which season is this? Winter, Still Winter, or Road Construction?

I’m more impressed that you got the batter to stay put. Or is the entire appliance at 120 degrees?

I can see it now. It’s like The Fact Core from Portal, only worse.