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       #Post#: 3718--------------------------------------------------
       A rant about the way some things are sold now
       By: agate Date: July 20, 2022, 1:34 am
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       Some time ago I was looking for a lamp, and I found that often
       when you buy a lamp, you buy the shade separately.
       I noticed that when this happens, the customer ends up paying
       more for the lamp and the shade than when buying a lamp already
       furnished with a shade.
       Measuring lampshades properly is a bit tricky. I'd really prefer
       to buy a lamp that already has a shade, thank you.
       Then I was looking for pajamas. I found that I could buy a
       pajama top, and then I could find a pajama bottom to go with it.
       What?  Always, in the past, when you bought pajamas, you bought
       the two pieces together. As a unit.
       Once again, as with the lamps and lampshades, I found that I'd
       end up paying considerably more if I bought pajama tops, then
       bought the bottoms separately.
       You can still find lamps sold with lampshades, and you can still
       find pajama with their two parts sold together as a unit, but
       they aren't so easy to find.
       Then there's the TV.  For a long time I've noticed how poor the
       sound quality is, particularly if someone on TV is being
       interviewed. I've blamed my hearing, I've blamed my hearing
       aids, I've blamed the TV.
       Then I found out about sound bars. It seems that you can have a
       sound bar (for $$$) to add to your TV that will enhance the
       sound quality. So now are we in a world where if you want TV,
       you can buy a set, but you buy the sound separately--as with the
       lamps and lampshades, or the pajama tops and bottoms?
       This is from a Wikipedia entry about sound bars:
       [quote][font=arial]Soundbars were primarily designed to generate
       strong sound with good bass response.[/font]
       [font=arial] Soundbar[/font][font=arial] usage has increased
       steadily as the world has moved to flat-screen displays.[/font]
       Earlier television sets and display units were primarily
       CRT-based; hence the box was bigger, facilitating larger
       speakers with good response. But with flat-screen televisions
       the depth of the screen is reduced dramatically, leaving little
       room for speakers. As a result, the built-in speakers lack bass
       response. Soundbars help to bridge this gap.[/quote]
       So what we have now is a world where products are being sold to
       us part by part. More money will surely be made by the companies
       that make these products. Consumers will have even less money to
       spend because they will have spent so much on the parts that are
       needed to assemble their pajamas. Or lamps. Or TVs.
       This could get fairly involved if it happens with cars, for
       instance. You buy the car, and you get the chassis. You pay
       extra for the engine, the steering wheel, the windshield wipers,
       the seating, the mirrors. The possibilities here are
       mind-boggling.
       Or even pianos. You could buy the piano but buy the keys
       separately. And the pedals.
       The ways in which, under capitalism, enterprises can reach into
       consumers' pockets are nearly infinite.
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