This makes me totally sad/disgusted. I want to pick out my own produce and products. I want to interact with PEOPLE.Originally Posted by BikingLady
This makes me totally sad/disgusted. I want to pick out my own produce and products. I want to interact with PEOPLE.
I have no interest in interacting with PEOPLE. No surprise there.
But buying items represented in a two dimensional way,on a digital screen, removes so much non-verbal information item that I wonder how subsequent generations will learn about physical properties of object. If you have never lifted a full, fresh, potatoe turgid with full cells, how will you know what a good and freash one is like?
I think often about clothes shopping online. I cant get the real heft and feel of fanric from an online description. And just because something is a higher price in that item class soes not mean it is quality fabric, it may just mean it is fashionable.
Yes, I have to touch, feel, smell, etc. to determine quality. Even saying cotton or wool is not clear enough to determine quality. It can be scratchy, cheap low end goods or silky smooth long lasting high end cotton goods. It could be thin woven wool or tight hand woven wool. I can only tell by feel.
Color is rarely shown clearly on screen. That is why I have large color cards of actual thread and fabric to order from. Costly for every product.
I only buy shoes online after I have already bought and worn from that manufacturer and even then it can be a crap shoot for sizing and feel.
I'm pretty much the opposite. I do wish the days of the neighborhood food co-op were back, but in my region they are all gone. I have trouble faulting a company that promotes real food, treats their people decently on a relative scale, tries to source from local suppliers, donates some profits, and at least on the surface encourages some version of a healthy lifestyle. I know little enough of Amazon's business model to take sides, but they seem to fall into the traditional mega-corp model.
I also long for the days when Tom's of Maine might have actually been made by Tom, or Burt's Bees by Burt. I would tend to complain more about how the bulk of the successful small organic and health food businesses have been snapped up by Unilever, Coke, and Kraft Foods. I doubt there is much generous social responsibility to any of these companies business models.
Whole Foods may not be the old Wild Oats, or the Mom and Pop health food stores, or neighborhood coops, but what ever they have been is probably going to be less community oriented now.
Haha--I'm with you on the people thing. Since I haven't been to my favorite thrifts lately, I've turned to ebay. I just got an excellent, pristine pair of (much needed) jeans and I couldn't be happier with them. I didn't take much of a chance, as they are from a manufacturer that I trust (Liz Claiborne) and that fits me. I paid $13.49 with shipping, which is maybe twice as much as they'd be at the thrifts, but they also didn't require multiple trips to find, so I think it's a wash. I love to browse, but if I'm going to have to forgo that, I'm glad there are on-line alternatives.
This may be a dumb question, but does this mean that Whole Foods will cease to be brick and mortar?
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
No, I don't think so.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/...oods-feel-like
It just means Amazon now owns all their real estate. I don't think the stores will go away anytime soon but even here, they recently closed one. The grocery industry is undergoing huge upheavals anyway. Even Kroger posted a loss last quarter - first time after years of growth. I have looked at certain food items on Amazon but they are always more expensive that buying locally. I do however order my favorite Texas foods from the regional chain there only cause I can't get those things here in Colorado. I guess someday we will never have to leave the house for much of anything.
A friend commented yesterday that she is amazed at the amount of traffic coming each day into her little survey by UPS, Canada Post, etc. The one has to drive some distance for shopping, being able to order online with free delivery and easy return makes life much easier. Not sure how that works with groceries though although non-perishables would be no problem.
Sometimes the slightly higher price might be attributed to the cost of 'free delivery and return'. It also reduces the cost of going out to shop because it is easy to search online and the selection there is much greater than the 'brick and mortar' choices.
My needs are so little that I can shop within walking distance but do drive for picking up. I buy at a local supplier for meat year-round, and locally fruit and veggies when in season.
Another friend commented that I was not thinking of travel out of my country as much as before. I thought about it and realized in my response to her, "I don't need to as much. The world is coming to me." My HD productions of the Metopera, theatre, ballet and art galleries, Youtube presentations of great productions, online shopping/books/music, church services, ...
The world has changed dramatically. Sometimes I don't think that we are as aware of the huge changes as we possibly should be. I am not saying this is necessarily bad in any way but obviously can be, if misused.
My focus now is on my community and then the world which seems much closer.
Enough mental meandering
As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
It's a rare week where I don't take advantage of my Amazon Prime membership. I'm not a big buyer of bean sprouts or tofu though.
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