XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   Ryk E. Spoor wrote:   
   > Robert Bannister wrote:   
   > > Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:   
   > >> Doc O'Leary wrote:   
   > >>> "sna" wrote:   
   > >>>> J. Clarke wrote ...   
   > >>>>>   
   > >>>>> When the train can take me from my garage to my office and stop off   
   > >>>>> for   
   > >>>>> groceries on the way home, all on my schedule, without my having to   
   > >>>>> walk   
   > >>>>> several blocks in the snow at each end or make several transfers, get   
   > >>>>> back to me.   
   > >>>>   
   > >>>> Yeah, that one is never going to happen, even with the pod system.   
   > >>>   
   > >>> Only a fool would imagine that's a good idea in the first place.  Part   
   > >>> of the beauty of a "pod" system is that it can not only abstract a   
   > >>> transporter, but a replicator as well.  You need groceries?  You push a   
   > >>> few buttons and it all gets sent *to* you!  Hell, we already have   
   > >>> approximations of this with companies like Amazon.   
   > >>   
   > >>      Not even vaguely close. I do my shopping in person because there is   
   > >> no way I'm trusting some guy I don't know to check every piece of   
   > >> produce and make sure it's in good shape, and even if I did, do I trust   
   > >> the shipping company or delivery people? No. The remote location   
   > >> ordering approach is great for things like books, or gadgets, but not   
   > >> for fresh food.   
   > >   
   > > Same with clothes. I have bought clothing on line, but I much prefer to   
   > > be able to feel the material and to try the garment on.   
   >   
   >  Indeed. Exacerbated by the fact that a lot of clothing companies have   
   > non-standardized their sizes over the years,   
      
   Exacerbated by the fact that Americans, as usual, decided to create   
   their own systems rather than the already standard British ones.  ;-)   
      
   Hence shoes (for example) here in New Zealand confusingly come either   
   in UK or US sizings.   
      
      
      
   > so an XXL in one is an XL in another, and a 36 waist in one is a 38   
   > waist in another. (yes, one of them's effectively lying).   
      
   Often that depends on where the product was made. Asian people tend to   
   be smaller, so an XL Asian is smaller entity than an XL American ... of   
   course, thanks to McDonalds and the "obesity epidemic" all Americans   
   are XXXXXXL anyway.  ;-)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)