I wonder if they were part of a collusive bidding effort. http://www.cramton.umd.edu/papers2000-2004/cramton-schwartz-collusive-bidding.pdf Probably just Google being geeky again though.

Don't games like Madden already have something like this for consumers? Hell, for cheap animations, they could just do it all in a PowerPoint presentation. Assuming you can view PowerPoint on an iPad.

Many of these companies that outsource are also part of your 401k and IRAs for retirement. You get upset when they lose their value. Sure, we hear about greedy CEOs in the media, but they're not the norm. Besides, some places are starting to outsource to Detroit instead of India. It comes around full circle.

I'm a big fan of the free market but if you don't buy a product, it's anyone's guess as to why you didn't. As far as they're concerned, you might just be drooling over their products and just not have the money. Or you just haven't seen it yet. Or you already have something that does the job. They almost never concern themselves with the flaws in the product or the advertising unless someone smacks them upside the head.

They're legally obligated not to fire you.

Why do you hate me?

In my current job I get to review and fix code written by a Chinese development firm. Since it's in the financial industry, they want to make sure all of the internal interface stuff (talking to banks, etc.) is done here in the US while the GUI can be done elsewhere. This company does not do a very good job of testing at all, many times we send it back to be redone. Because they cannot access the banks and other institutions directly, they have no motivation to test any of it. There's a lot of crap code to fix, and the names keep changing.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/multimedia/gtv_copyright.html

What do you call that?

What if C A T really spelled dog?

When I worked at Ford in 1995-1996 we were playing with wireless connections and UPS backups to move diagnostic PCs around a repair bay without tripping on wires. These diagnostic computers were already pretty old, 386 PCs running OS/2. I don't remember what the wireless routers ran though.

My parents have been doing garage sales for years, and early birds at every rummage and garage sale take the good stuff. Many have the knowledge in their heads. No one seems to be saying that they won't hold these sales anymore.

I remember the original eBay banner ads. They went something like "The thing you want in Washington, is sitting on a shelf in Ohio. Who knew?" He is doing exactly what eBay started out doing. The local area might not care about the book, but someone does. And there is value in it.

One year I decided to get a music keyboard on sale at Target for my kids for Christmas. The two Target locations near me were sold out. One in a poorer area had a ton in stock. Each market is different. Don't assume that the books in one area will always appeal to the locals. I have sold books on Half.com for much more than I paid at the local resale shop after it was marked down several times, and I didn't even have a scanner. Just a hunch.

Maybe they think instead of buying the books to resell, they should spend money on a PDA, scan all the books at a bookstore for free, and inform the bookstore owner that his prices are too low for these books. There is nothing stopping the bookstore from doing their own research. In fact, it would be even easier for a bookstore to do it. I know of one bookstore that listed most of his inventory on ABE at different prices than in the store. When it sold online, he'd erase the price he wrote in the book in pencil. The only objections I can see are to the people who grab a stack of books and block the aisle, or make the staff put them all back, or scan all day and not buy anything, etc.

Some people have fun doing it. One article said he was making $1,000 per week doing it on average, which for $52,000/year is not too shabby. Though he did work 80 hours per week.

There are many used book stores that sell online via ABE or Amazon. A better strategy if they don't want these people in their stores is to inform them that all books are scanned when acquired so all the good ones are already for sale online.