I'm sure you've noticed the recent trend recently that many gas stations have been installing flat screen televisions on top of their gas pumps. My initial gut reaction to this was, "Oh goody!! Television while I pump gas! Now I won't be bored for the 4 minutes it takes to fill my tank!" But, alas, my initial enthusiasm was soon met by disappointment as I quickly realized that for every 20 seconds of news/weather or entertainment programing came 2 minutes of ads. So my 4 minutes was really 40 seconds of useful TV. Although, to be fair, one recent fill-up was a full 2 minutes 40 seconds as I would always consider any Billy Mays commercial to be useful television.
To make matters worse 1/4th of the screen on the left side are scrolling print ads. You can actually watch 2 ads at the same time! The gas stations are really trying to squeeze every last possible ad moment out of you when they know that they have a captured audience with no 30 second skip button. Personally, if I were an advertiser I would really see the value. We are drawn to the flickering light of TV like a moth to the flame. So while we are hypnotized into watching the gas pump television, we have no choice but to watch what the gas company wished to put in front of us. However, I suppose the idea hasn't caught on very well as of yet as half the ads are about advertising on their network of gas station TVs.
I guess I would be more willing to subject myself to this sort of advertising if I could see my share of the revenue being put into lowering the price per gallon. The least they could do is drop the extra 9/10th of a cent per gallon. You can't even buy a thought for less than a penny. It's the only product where we tolerate a company charging us tenths of a penny. What happens if I fill up with exactly 9 gallons of gas, does that extra tenth of a penny get rounded up or down? I'm willing to bet that they consider that a whole penny! Betcha that they don't charge that extra 9/10ths to the advertisers for their TV screens. Yet again, we the consumer are the ones getting screwed.
In the spirit of MLK Jr. day this past Monday, I say that we boycott whatever businesses that advertise on gas station televisions and that we keep boycotting until we no longer have to pay for that extra 9/10ths of of penny per gallon again!
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
My mp3 player is reading my mind!!
I realize that this sounds completely made up or I've gone off the deep end (finally!!) but I swear on my left testicle that it's true.
This morning when I was ready to leave for work it was pouring rain. Dummy me, I left my umbrella in my car, so I had to make a break for it and I got soaked as I ran to my car. Once inside I started up my mp3 player and hit the shuffle button. I have 641 songs on the player, it's supposed to hold 1000 songs but I have alot of jam band songs that last 10 minutes or longer on the player, so I'm actually surprised it holds that many. So out of the 641 songs I have, it decides to play "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head". Now I know most of you are wondering why the hell I have that song on my player. But I allow myself some guilty pleasures like BJ Thomas and Barry Manilow, thank you very much.
Of course I recognize that the apt song playing at that particular time was a small coincidence. But just then- I drove through a large puddle and swerved and lost control of the car a bit. The Blind Melon song, "No Rain" came from the mp3 player.
I quickly called my wife and told her how freaked out I was and how my mp3 player was the devil or possessed by demons or it was magical and it will somehow lead us to the promised land. She scoffed at me (yet again) and I hung up the phone. I turned onto Bristol Road in Warrington as the clouds were parting and the sun started to peek it's way through. "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles was the next tune the shuffle produced for me.
I called my wife yet again sounding even crazier than before. "It's trying to tell me something!!" My son Gabriel also picked up the phone and started to laugh at me. My own son, a non-believer. I hung up the phone and screamed frantically at the player-
"What is it that you want?! Tell Me!!"
I hit the next song button.
"Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac came on.
Stupid me. It had wanted what everyone wants, a little love and attention. How could I have not seen this before? I held the credit card sized player gently and caressed it's display and whispered, "shhhhh...there, there, poor sweet baby"
I think it liked that as it started to play, "And You and I" by Yes.
When I arrived at work I knew our short but intense affair had to end. No one could ever understand how two things so different could be together. I had to turn off the player and right before I did it started to play, "Let Forever Be" by the Chemical Brothers.
Yes my little mp3 player, I will let forever be.
This morning when I was ready to leave for work it was pouring rain. Dummy me, I left my umbrella in my car, so I had to make a break for it and I got soaked as I ran to my car. Once inside I started up my mp3 player and hit the shuffle button. I have 641 songs on the player, it's supposed to hold 1000 songs but I have alot of jam band songs that last 10 minutes or longer on the player, so I'm actually surprised it holds that many. So out of the 641 songs I have, it decides to play "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head". Now I know most of you are wondering why the hell I have that song on my player. But I allow myself some guilty pleasures like BJ Thomas and Barry Manilow, thank you very much.
Of course I recognize that the apt song playing at that particular time was a small coincidence. But just then- I drove through a large puddle and swerved and lost control of the car a bit. The Blind Melon song, "No Rain" came from the mp3 player.
I quickly called my wife and told her how freaked out I was and how my mp3 player was the devil or possessed by demons or it was magical and it will somehow lead us to the promised land. She scoffed at me (yet again) and I hung up the phone. I turned onto Bristol Road in Warrington as the clouds were parting and the sun started to peek it's way through. "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles was the next tune the shuffle produced for me.
I called my wife yet again sounding even crazier than before. "It's trying to tell me something!!" My son Gabriel also picked up the phone and started to laugh at me. My own son, a non-believer. I hung up the phone and screamed frantically at the player-
"What is it that you want?! Tell Me!!"
I hit the next song button.
"Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac came on.
Stupid me. It had wanted what everyone wants, a little love and attention. How could I have not seen this before? I held the credit card sized player gently and caressed it's display and whispered, "shhhhh...there, there, poor sweet baby"
I think it liked that as it started to play, "And You and I" by Yes.
When I arrived at work I knew our short but intense affair had to end. No one could ever understand how two things so different could be together. I had to turn off the player and right before I did it started to play, "Let Forever Be" by the Chemical Brothers.
Yes my little mp3 player, I will let forever be.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Case of the Blue-Rays
The dust has finally settled and Blue-Ray has won the high-def DVD battle. With me being a big movie watcher and especially a big at home movie watcher (when you have young kids you don't get to go see movies that aren't PG or G too often), you'd think I'd be rushing out right away to get my fancy and shiny new Blue-Ray player for my LCD high-def TV set.
Well, I guess you forgot what a cheapskate I am at times. I would hate to pay $300-400 now, when I know that in just a few months the price will probably drop to $200-250 and then come Black Friday you'll see a great deal at the Walmart for $88 from some weird electronics outfit that you've never heard of before. (I can picture names like Aiwony, Santhro, Yomikishu, and Mismachi- Japanese sounding but made in Hong Kong or Mexico)
There's something about feeling ripped off when you know that there's a better deal around the corner. The problem being is that often you wait and wait and wait and you never get the item and the next you know a brand new fancy and shiny invention comes along that replaces what you wanted in the 1st place. But you can't buy the new invention because it's too much and you know that it'll be cheaper if you wait.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
It's why buying a computer sucks. 2 weeks later and you see your computer cheaper or it has much better upgrades for the same price.
It's all a big conspiracy, I tells ya. Those Japanese are still pissed off at us for nuking their asses and having bigger penises.
Well, I guess you forgot what a cheapskate I am at times. I would hate to pay $300-400 now, when I know that in just a few months the price will probably drop to $200-250 and then come Black Friday you'll see a great deal at the Walmart for $88 from some weird electronics outfit that you've never heard of before. (I can picture names like Aiwony, Santhro, Yomikishu, and Mismachi- Japanese sounding but made in Hong Kong or Mexico)
There's something about feeling ripped off when you know that there's a better deal around the corner. The problem being is that often you wait and wait and wait and you never get the item and the next you know a brand new fancy and shiny invention comes along that replaces what you wanted in the 1st place. But you can't buy the new invention because it's too much and you know that it'll be cheaper if you wait.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
It's why buying a computer sucks. 2 weeks later and you see your computer cheaper or it has much better upgrades for the same price.
It's all a big conspiracy, I tells ya. Those Japanese are still pissed off at us for nuking their asses and having bigger penises.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Where has all the nostalgia gone?
As mentioned briefly a few weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with my long time friend Mike about how nostalgia doesn't exist anymore. Thanks to recent technologies and mainly the ability of niche marketers to be successful on the internet he felt that we can get anything that we missed or remembered without too much problem or expense.
The impetus of this conclusion was the fact that he was able to purchase an exact copy of the Air Jordan sneakers that he had as a teen. I'm willing to bet that even if there weren't a company making replicas he could've easily (though paid much more) found a pair on Ebay or some other online specialty site like Craigs List. Unlike our parents who had to hunt for nostalgic items at yard sales and pay through the nose at auction houses, mine and future generations will have no problems finding much if not all of their precious childhood memorabilia.
You even see it in "collectible" hobbies. Comic books can be read online and downloaded for free if you're savvy enough with the computer. (and most comic book nerds are...) Even before that the major comic book publishers would reprint the difficult to find issues in paperback or reprint issues. I've even seen food items and candies that aren't as popular anymore being sold on the web at specialty stores.
While replicas and reprints and downloads aren't the same thing as the genuine item, it will decrease the demand and nostalgic feelings that we as a culture share for certain things. There will always be a demand by some people for the "real" article, but most of us will satisfy our long lost yearnings with replicas and reprints. This ability to have what we want, when we want it, and how we want it is a mostly a good thing, but I'm reminded of when you spoil a child and then don't deliver. I wonder if there will be some sort of cultural meltdown or temper tantrum if that day were to come.
The impetus of this conclusion was the fact that he was able to purchase an exact copy of the Air Jordan sneakers that he had as a teen. I'm willing to bet that even if there weren't a company making replicas he could've easily (though paid much more) found a pair on Ebay or some other online specialty site like Craigs List. Unlike our parents who had to hunt for nostalgic items at yard sales and pay through the nose at auction houses, mine and future generations will have no problems finding much if not all of their precious childhood memorabilia.
You even see it in "collectible" hobbies. Comic books can be read online and downloaded for free if you're savvy enough with the computer. (and most comic book nerds are...) Even before that the major comic book publishers would reprint the difficult to find issues in paperback or reprint issues. I've even seen food items and candies that aren't as popular anymore being sold on the web at specialty stores.
While replicas and reprints and downloads aren't the same thing as the genuine item, it will decrease the demand and nostalgic feelings that we as a culture share for certain things. There will always be a demand by some people for the "real" article, but most of us will satisfy our long lost yearnings with replicas and reprints. This ability to have what we want, when we want it, and how we want it is a mostly a good thing, but I'm reminded of when you spoil a child and then don't deliver. I wonder if there will be some sort of cultural meltdown or temper tantrum if that day were to come.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Technological/generational gaps
Im starting to wonder if I've become older than I previously thought. I just got my first MP3 player for Christmas this year. I almost expected a "Welcome to 1998 Brian!" note to be attached to it. Even though it's taken me ten years to fully enjoy a technological gadget, at least I know how to use it. I watched my in-laws get a navigational GPS system as a gift from my sister-in-law. Their eyes seemed to just glaze over as she was explaining how simple the touch screen is to use.
I shouldn't paint all older folks as having technophobia . My 63-year old father is further ahead the learning curve on the internet than I am. Then again, the internet is a place where you can find things for cheap or free, so for him to miss out on such things would be uncharacteristic. I'm constantly getting links on where I can get services or stuff for free from him. He really should be the one with a blog as he's an expert on finding the best deals on the web. I bet he would have thousands of hits a day if he were to put something like that together.
I guess part of my reluctance on some technologies is wondering whether they'll become obsolete or better after a few scant years. I'm still waiting for the dust of the high-def DVD player war to settle before I take a plunge on buying either Blue-ray or HD DVD. Not only that, but part of me wants to wait to see if bugs can get worked out and costs drop. (hoping for a cheaper and better iphone in 2 years...) When I was younger I had the gotta get it now impulse. Nowadays, I am much more patient.
Maybe, the older we get, the more we get used to doing things a certain way. I know my father-in-law loves to read maps, so I'm sure a little computer telling him to make a turn in 1 mile seems foreign to him. I guess if they could change the GPS voice to sound like my mother-in-law nagging him that he's going the wrong way he'd feel a little more at home with it.
I shouldn't paint all older folks as having technophobia . My 63-year old father is further ahead the learning curve on the internet than I am. Then again, the internet is a place where you can find things for cheap or free, so for him to miss out on such things would be uncharacteristic. I'm constantly getting links on where I can get services or stuff for free from him. He really should be the one with a blog as he's an expert on finding the best deals on the web. I bet he would have thousands of hits a day if he were to put something like that together.
I guess part of my reluctance on some technologies is wondering whether they'll become obsolete or better after a few scant years. I'm still waiting for the dust of the high-def DVD player war to settle before I take a plunge on buying either Blue-ray or HD DVD. Not only that, but part of me wants to wait to see if bugs can get worked out and costs drop. (hoping for a cheaper and better iphone in 2 years...) When I was younger I had the gotta get it now impulse. Nowadays, I am much more patient.
Maybe, the older we get, the more we get used to doing things a certain way. I know my father-in-law loves to read maps, so I'm sure a little computer telling him to make a turn in 1 mile seems foreign to him. I guess if they could change the GPS voice to sound like my mother-in-law nagging him that he's going the wrong way he'd feel a little more at home with it.
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