[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdupiano /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dont think its too hard to take a quick look around and talk to anyone under the age of 35 to realize that a good majority if not all of their spending goes to online/website retailers. With the exception of used cds and vinyl, the only time I go to brick and mortar stores is to buy something quick or on sale. There are a lot of things wrong with bestbuy (including the fact that their online store has different prices than their retail store -huge deal breaker for me), but I think we would be hard pressed the perfect store. While the perfect store doesnt exist, my current favorite is Microcenter -where the employees are paid on commission, made obvious by the desire of every employee to help you (but they don't come on strong like car dealer types). And don't forget that there are trade offs with everything and we can't always get what we want without paying for it. If you want customer service, knowledgeable responses, instant gratification, then Pay retail If you want to do your own research, hope that your email gets answered, call up someone from india then order online If you want to get the cheapest price, forego your warranty and any protection plans, go to ebay If you want dirt cheap, used, and maybe falling apart but still working, and a slight risk of getting shanked, then go to craigslist They are just trade off folks.

Agreed, it's just that if all of our choices have no community mindedness about them, we'll soon have no community left.

 

[pdupiano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed, it's just that if all of our choices have no community mindedness about them, we'll soon have no community left.

Sadly we're reaching that point. While the internet and the "mass WWW" movement was meant to allow us to connect to anyone in the world in mere seconds, we have instead chosen to use the internet to disconnect ourselves from the people near us. To put it bluntly, were lazy. We would rather make relationships work with people around the country or the world that require very little work, than make relationships with our next door neighbors because those relationships can be more difficult. While it may be good in the short term that we are now connected to people better suited to our attitudes and behaviors, it certainly takes away from any and all forms of local community.

 

[Baba booey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdupiano /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sadly we're reaching that point. While the internet and the "mass WWW" movement was meant to allow us to connect to anyone in the world in mere seconds, we have instead chosen to use the internet to disconnect ourselves from the people near us. To put it bluntly, were lazy. We would rather make relationships work with people around the country or the world that require very little work, than make relationships with our next door neighbors because those relationships can be more difficult. While it may be good in the short term that we are now connected to people better suited to our attitudes and behaviors, it certainly takes away from any and all forms of local community.

Pussification of our nation...?

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdupiano /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sadly we're reaching that point. While the internet and the "mass WWW" movement was meant to allow us to connect to anyone in the world in mere seconds, we have instead chosen to use the internet to disconnect ourselves from the people near us. To put it bluntly, were lazy. We would rather make relationships work with people around the country or the world that require very little work, than make relationships with our next door neighbors because those relationships can be more difficult. While it may be good in the short term that we are now connected to people better suited to our attitudes and behaviors, it certainly takes away from any and all forms of local community.

Yes, it is hurtful both economically and culturally.