As someone who lives 40 miles from the nearest walmart, I mail order just about everything I can. The cost in time and fuel doesn't even compare, I'd go broke only shopping "local"[actually "regional"] (and have little for choices) and rack up many fewer billable working hours. I run a mail-order business too (which happens to take orders by internet, phone, fax, snailmail, pigeon or dogsled).

I live on an old freight rail line. From here we still send you wheat, corn and soybeans. In the early years, it was the rails that brought most of the goods, and it was made available for pick up (or distribution) at the (very) local level. Initially, of course, you had to walk, ride your horse or drive your wagon to town (which could take a day). But it surely beat months of travel going several hundred miles overland to the nearest "real city" I'm sure. Don't ask me about the carbon footprint of these things: don't know, don't care.

Sears Roebuck was the "biggie" (probably akin to WalMart now) and their catalog + rails made availability of almost anything/everything to the hinterlands for a price. There really are "kit houses" out here that were ordered from Sears back in the day.

The internet + shipping serves in the same capacity now.

Yes, I will go "hunt down" my to-be-purchased prey in person when I can, it's way more fun and satisfying to triumphantly tote the "pelt" out of the store. But, the hunting is really boring in the more remote areas like this, most of the time. And many things (like most of the supplies I require to manufacture) aren't even available locally. Several of my suppliers that make proprietary items for me, also live in remote areas, and using the transport/ freight systems... we're able to do enough business that I only have to leave my immediate environs once a week. Once every 2-3 weeks if I choose to plan out farther. They don't need to leave home much either.

Groceries-- those I have to personally purchase. Nobody ships produce door-to-door here that I'm aware of. But if there was a firm that did for a reasonable price, I'd be using that too. (Or if the grocery 12 miles away offered delivery, I'd take them up on the offer).

I can't see how this is LESS "green".

What costs more, 25 people a day from here driving the 40 miles to town for a doc appt or a doc driving out once a week to take care of the basics of those same people in a small outreach office?

Society has gone through periods of more or less efficiency overall. In tougher times, you figure out the shipping costs WAY LESS than the fuel to get to town (in my case, I have to order from 3 different outfits with avg shipping to account for the fuel to get to town and back just once).

The cost can't be more than that for the shippers, else the shipment would cost me more than going myself. Very LARGE or weighty items, I am better off to drive a considerable distance (packing peanuts-- don't weigh much, cost a fortune for mere volume to have shipped). In this case, I can drive 200 miles, make an overnight trip if I choose, eat at a good restaurant/visit friends and end up breaking even or coming out ahead of having the same volume shipped. You just pick which deal works best in time vs. money on that score.

What the internet and shipping items by mail (especially smaller items) does is provide huge universal access to all manner of things you want (and didn't know you wanted) at what is probably the least possible cost overall. Especially if you live in a remote area. If you live in a place where you can walk around the block and examine the goods in a number of stores, having the same items shipped you could get locally wouldn't work out as neatly, no doubt.

I do buy locally whatever it is they have that I need/want. It would make things really lousy if we had NO businesses at all out here. I can get basic groceries, basic hardware and autoparts. (40 miles for a ream of paper though).

At least as far as I'm concerned.

Last week I spent a good deal of time here (St John Lateran church):

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_giovanni/vr_tour/Media/VR/Lateran_Nave2/index.html

It definitely takes the prize for the most impressive copyright notice as well :)
(see if you can find it).

So many wonderful historical sites in the world that would be wonderful to explore this way. I had the privilege of visiting the Sistine Chapel once, I don't know if I ever will be able to again. I hope so!

I get all this "digital" crap via cable-- and I wondered if the newer tv sets handled things more gracefully than the what I have. I'm guessing not.

I do a lot of work at my bench daily and listen to a lot of tv for background noise. It has to get really bad before I can't follow analog, but the digital stuff-- if the wind is blowing, it rains or there's sunspots or whatever, it's a continual snap crackle and pop as the signal comes on, and goes off. The sound is gone first, the picture is garbled/pixelated to various degrees, or just plain freezes or goes to black/blue screen (depending on tv). You really DO lose a lot of continuity with those outages... to the point I have to shut it off to keep from bashing it in.

I have no intention to purchase a "better tv" and no interest in directTV or similar either. From my perspective, I fail to see where this "digital" thing is an "improvement". If the message can't be followed... it's inferior. Just what I want, an important weather warning to go to blue screen ....