XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com   
      
   "Robert Bannister"  wrote in message   
   news:bjrjqbF3nfoU1@mid.individual.net...   
   > On 17/01/2014 3:22 am, Doc O'Leary wrote:   
   >> In article , "2671" <2671@gmail.com>   
   >> wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> "J. Clarke"  wrote in message   
   >>> news:MPG.2d40fa317eaa4e5498a3b6@news.newsguy.com...   
   >>>> In article ,   
   >>>> droleary@8usenet2013.subsume.com says...   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> 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!   
   >>>>   
   >>>> When I'm out of milk I need it tonight, not whenever the grocer gets   
   >>>> around to delivering it to me.   
   >>>   
   >>> Most of those situations would be covered by a system that monitors   
   >>> the milk supply and automatically orders some more when it sees that   
   >>> there is a need to do that, in plenty of time so that you never run out.   
   >>   
   >> This J. Clarke person clearly has no ability to imagine how things work   
   >> in such a hypothetical world.  The entire supply chain gets   
   >> revolutionized once the technology is sufficiently advanced.   
   >>   
   >>>> The thing that is stopping progress is shipping charges.   
   >>>   
   >>> I get plenty of stuff from China for quite literally $1 with   
   >>> postage included, delivered half way around the world.   
   >>   
   >> And the costs only decrease once you really start to exploit the   
   >> efficiencies of scale, containerization, driver-less transport, etc.   
   >>   
   >>> It's cheaper   
   >>>> for me to go a half mile out of the way on the way home than it is for   
   >>>> the grocer to deliver.   
   >>>   
   >>> But that isnt true of the stuff I get from china.   
   >>>   
   >>> The only reason to get it in person is because that is faster.   
   >>   
   >> And it's only faster because the supply chain stops at the store,   
   >> requiring you to make a round trip to cover the last mile.  And round   
   >> trips are wasteful on top of it.  Everything would be faster and cheaper   
   >> if the logistics were improved.  Instead, we get a world full of J.   
   >> Clarkes who think that everyone driving on paved roads everywhere in a   
   >> car to do everything is somehow cheap.   
      
   > The problems I see are that one thing you nearly forgot, but when you saw   
   > it in the supermarket, you remembered. Then, from the retailer's point of   
   > view, many people impulse buy stuff they see when shopping on top of what   
   > they need. None of this with online buying.   
      
   We already have that with online shopping. 'other people who bought   
   this also bought...' etc. Ebay and amazon keep sending me emails with   
   suggestions of stuff I might be interested in too. So does everyone else   
   I have ever bought anything from, and they stop doing that if you ask   
   them to too.   
      
   > I know when I am buying online I do notice things that I would like, but I   
   > am more conscious of how much money I am spending.   
      
   I'm not with the cheapest stuff from china.   
      
   I've just got into home distilling and have just got a   
   jewellery scale, max 100g, to make it convenient to   
   weigh out the flavoring for the 40% ethanol.   
      
   I have been into beer brewing for much longer and   
   got a very large brewing barrel at one of the garage   
   sales. Then realised that since its black, you can't   
   see what the water level is like you can with the   
   other white ones I now have 10 of. Couldn't work   
   out how to use the black one. A dip stick isn't ideal,   
   the digital bathroom scales wont work either because   
   the barrel covers the entire scale so you can't read the   
   scale.   
      
   The sorted on price including postage on ebay for   
   scales showed up lots of luggage scales which would   
   be ideal for the black barrel. For peanuts, $4, delivered.   
      
   > In the supermarket, since I am only buying for one and I shop almost every   
   > day,   
      
   I only shop when I have to. In the days when I deliberately   
   avoided having a car to force myself to exercise, I used to   
   do the food shopping every couple of months and that   
   was usually because the beer had run out.   
      
   Now I basically do it just after the garage sale   
   run, weekly, basically because I need to do it   
   that often for the nectarines in summer.   
      
   I only do it every 2 weeks for the tomatoes that   
   I get at the farmers market in winter. I grow my   
   own in summer.   
      
   > I get a shock if my bill comes to over $50, but I more or less expect to   
   > pay that much even if I only went in for a carton of milk.   
      
   I find it hard to go over the $30   
   to get the discount on the petrol   
   and that's with the fortnightly shop.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)