I can imagine a situation where a stoplight turns green while you're still screwing with trying to close an ad, and either you don't go when you should and potentially get rear-ended from someone not paying enough attention, or you start moving while still half-distracted by trying to "x" out the ad (though maybe it would automatically stop at that point). Either way, it's a distraction that if nothing else would increase driver stress.

I already do. Would never buy a new one from Apple. Both of my SE's have been used, from online sources.

They're pretty much killing the only reason I changed from Android to Apple - no decent smaller phones running Android these days. I'm still using an SE 1st gen because it's way more portable than those ridiculous new phones (both Apple and Android). Bought a refurb SE 3rd gen on eBay, but it's also a bit larger, so I'm putting off the switch. And if the newer SE's they're coming out with are even bigger, there's no reason to continue with Apple's overpriced, locked-in ecosystem. Might as well go back to Android after the SE3 gets outdated. (Hate the removal of the headphone jacket, but wasn't aware that the SIM card & SD slots were also gone.)

The only good Dead Pool movie was the 1988 original, with Clint Eastwood. (sorry, couldn't resist ;)

Last time I went to a theater was the last Jason Bourne movie, 2016. Haven't been back since, as that was such an unpleasant experience - music too loud, too much spam before the movie, etc. (And I'm getting too old to sit through a movie without a r/r break!)

And there's the old saying, "There's nothing new under the sun." Are there any original ideas even left? I get that studios need to make money and movie fans want something to see, but surely there are diminishing returns from pumping out the same old recycled ideas. Before "Jason Bourne" became a thing, even Matt Damon said something to the effect that the next installment would be called, "The Bourne Redundancy" because there wasn't really anywhere else to go with the story. Guess they found a couple of new ideas, but overall this is the trend of the movie industry (all entertainment, perhaps?) in general: The Big Redundancy. Ho hum.

Personally, I don't give a da*n about AI OR crypto mining. Let the companies that came up with this sh*t and are profiting from it pay the costs for power upgrades.

Didn't know that about e-ink; thanks for the info. But I would think that if a hacker could get into the system and change prices, it would be an effective way to disrupt a retailer's operations - if they really disliked that retailer.

Capitalism, socialism, AND communism all seem to be disasters on some level or other. The former has just taken longer to show that. Would there be some way to take the best parts of all 3 to create something new, without the bad parts also tagging along? I have to say I'm pessimistic in that regard (not to mention a cynical old fart).

From my earlier response in this thread: As I understand it, "capitalism at its base expects individuals to act in their own best interests most of the time. So, to me, that suggests that capitalism only works if most people are selfish & greedy. Which to me is just sad and a big failing of capitalism. (not saying that socialism or communism work that great either)" And at a higher level, it's sad that corporations also are expected to most of the time act selfishly & greedy, in order to make the biggest profits possible for their stockholders and pay the ridiculously insane executive salaries. (I know I'll be in the minority when I suggest that all executive salaries should limited to a fraction of what they are now, and if the execs have a problem working for that, this shows they probably only care about money & greed, not the company.)

Yes, in my opinion, auctions could be considered another form of greed. The seller could just as easily post a single price that seems fair to them and buyers could take it or leave it. The prices for too many items get bumped up into the stratosphere to completely stupid levels. Just because a bunch of people want your item, that doesn't mean you can't just sell it to the first person who pays your posted price.

But I don't see retail stores as an auction for that very reason - stores post prices and buyers can take it or leave it, you don't see haggling over the sale of each individual item (except in car dealerships & such, but those aren't retail stores). And again (in my lame opinion, of course), competition alone is NOT sufficient justification for raising prices if the situation does not somehow increase production costs for you.

No, I would not charge more just for that reason. It's nothing but greed. As I mentioned elsewhere, if the whole situation somehow increased costs to where I had to, just to cover those costs, then I would have no choice if I wanted to stay in business.

Based on my understanding of economics (which is admittedly not that great), capitalism at its base expects individuals to act in their own best interests most of the time. So, to me, that suggests that capitalism only works if most people are selfish & greedy. Which to me is just sad and a big failing of capitalism. (not saying that socialism or communism work that great either)

Price increases from demand are always talked about as this mysterious, magical thing that "just happens". But somebody somewhere is MAKING THE DECISION to increase prices - either straight out, or it's somehow written into the software the business uses. Competition alone is not a justifiable reason to jack up prices, only if something in the process is driving up the company's costs. But that's mostly my opinion and I'm probably in a minority.

I was part of that Wendy's "backlash". Wrote a nastygram to their mgmt from their website and I'm glad to see they abandoned that idea. For now. As you say, surge pricing is nothing but "greedflation".

A price discrepancy happened to me one time on some sleeping pills. Turns out they had just neglected to update the posted price. I think they gave me the old price that one time. Price Chopper (regional grocery store chain) used to give you the item free if the price was posted wrong. Strangely(or not!), they quit that policy.

In general, I can only remember vaguely what the prices were for my last store visits, so I guess I might have to start taking pics or writing them down, or something.

I can see the potential for a clerk to call for a price check, and for both the clerk & customer to be wrong. Because the price changed WHILE THEY WERE TALKING. Total confusion.

Cool. Another outlet to display porn!