Bricks and Mortar beaten by the Internet

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Merry Christmas, we are closing the store.

I don't suppose this is the first business that has been done to death by the Internet, and I am sure it is not the last.

[hamsterTK 93]

no tears from me. Blockbuster was always terrible, here in the US anyways.

The only video store I ever liked was a place called Hastings, which still exists and is more of a big box format and tends to have everything.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Moly? I've grown that in my lawn. Nice little yellow flowers. It is a kind of garlic and the ancient Greeks considered it to be a panacea. One of the garden centers I used was giving it away at the end of the planting season so I bought some and put it in at the base of a tree. The number of different allium plants is quite interesting.

Meanwhile, January 1st, 2300 Canadians are out of work.

[x493x 446]

Never really liked my Blockbuster either. We always got our rentals from the small chain across the road from Blockbuster, it always had a more homey atmosphere.

Now we just get our movies from the library. Ours gets movies maybe a week after the video stores do and the library is free so we always get our movies there now.

[LivingInThePast 364]

Sad to see another store closing, just like Borders here in the US. A recent closing in College Station TX (my town) that made me mad was that H-E-B (a Texas supermarket with four stores in town) bought out the last Albertsons, which had one store in town (down about three from two years ago), but because of their existing store saturation, decided to close it outright, leaving dozens of employees out of work and a soon-to-be-vacant husk on that side of town (which needs a grocery store).

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[x493x 446]

Borders and Albertsons dying off is news to me. I though Albertsons was still going strong because I've seen it on TV a lot lately (maybe last ditch advertising?). I guess that's what you get from a Canadian who doesn't have any of these stores. But, hey, we're getting Target soon!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

In Canada, Target purchased the Zeller's chain from the Hudson's Bay Company's owners on Wall Street. Zeller's was the HBCo's discount arm.

The sale of Canadian businesses south is not too disturbing, but I do object to losing the Company of Adventurers Trading out of Hudson's Bay. It had been a Canadian Company for about 400 years. Now, it might just as well be a branch of Sears, but sort of upscale.

I will not miss Blockbuster.

[x493x 446]

In Canada, Target purchased the Zeller's chain from the Hudson's Bay Company's owners on Wall Street. Zeller's was the HBCo's discount arm.

Kind of like we used to have K-Mart in Canada but then HBC bought them out. I'm not sad to see my Zellers go (I get one of the first Targets) it was so junky, stuff just thrown on shelves and scattered throughout the isles. Definetally the worst kept store I've been to, I'm glad it will be gone within a couple years.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I certainly hope Target puts paid to Giant Tiger.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Ever try to find a record store lately?

book stores and video stores are next on the list.

after that Newspapers and radio stations that play music.

they closed most of the albertsons in N Texas.

we got Safeway/tom thumb/Randall's and a few HEB stores.

I think its wierd there are no HEB stores in the HEB Area.

HEB= Hurst,Euless and Bedford TX 3 central suburbs of DFW all in a row along State High 121/183

  Edited September 2, 2011 by Easy Bakes  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Ever try to find a record store lately?

book stores and video stores are next on the list.

after that Newspapers and radio stations that play music.

they closed most of the albertsons in N Texas.

we got Safeway/tom thumb/Randall's and a few HEB stores.

I think its weird there are no HEB stores in the HEB Area.

HEB= Hurst,Euless and Bedford TX 3 central suburbs of DFW all in a row along State High 121/183

Such gloom and doom. Books will be with us, but paperbacks may disappear. It is hard to get rid of 700 years of publishing physically when we all know the media are very impermanent. When holographic 3D recordings come out, DVD's will be obsolete.

[x493x 446]

Such gloom and doom. Books will be with us, but paperbacks may disappear. It is hard to get rid of 700 years of publishing physically when we all know the media are very impermanent. When holographic 3D recordings come out, DVD's will be obsolete.

DVDs are already becoming obsolete, that's why Blockbuster is closing. There are more convient methods than disks now like Pay Per View and Netflix.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Such gloom and doom. Books will be with us, but paperbacks may disappear. It is hard to get rid of 700 years of publishing physically when we all know the media are very impermanent. When holographic 3D recordings come out, DVD's will be obsolete.

DVDs are already becoming obsolete, that's why Blockbuster is closing. There are more convient methods than disks now like Pay Per View and Netflix.

Actually, I think it is mass-produced DVD's that are going away. I write my own DVDs when needed. And there will still be movies published on DVD or some other media for sale to us old folks. Most of the seniors I know don't even have a computer, but most of them have DVD players. They were forced when VHS went away.

There will always be people like me who like to have the hard goods in hand. And I do use PPV, but if I really want to see a movie more than once, I purchase a copy. I hope the quality of DVDs will improve as the demand dwindles.

[x493x 446]

Such gloom and doom. Books will be with us, but paperbacks may disappear. It is hard to get rid of 700 years of publishing physically when we all know the media are very impermanent. When holographic 3D recordings come out, DVD's will be obsolete.

DVDs are already becoming obsolete, that's why Blockbuster is closing. There are more convient methods than disks now like Pay Per View and Netflix.

Actually, I think it is mass-produced DVD's that are going away. I write my own DVDs when needed. And there will still be movies published on DVD or some other media for sale to us old folks. Most of the seniors I know don't even have a computer, but most of them have DVD players. They were forced when VHS went away.

There will always be people like me who like to have the hard goods in hand. And I do use PPV, but if I really want to see a movie more than once, I purchase a copy. I hope the quality of DVDs will improve as the demand dwindles.

I'm still surprised when I walk into BestBuy that I can actually buy a VCR, that shows that although something may die off from the main stream it will still be around. I'm sure DVD's will never die, they just won't be main stream and easy to come by in the future.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[x493x 446]

It must depend, because when I went to Best Buy to buy blank VCR tapes, the dingleberry I spoke with had no idea what I was talking about and had to call his manager. The manager was also a dingleberry. Seriously, his question was "what is it, again? How would it be used?" Simple enough - I said "it's a tape for recording. I am going to record on it. That is what it is for." Under my breath, I also asked "Are you some kind of idiot? Haven't seen your type before - must be a new breed of dumb." Needless to say, they did not have blank VCR tapes, so I just went to Fry's and gave them my business. I no longer even look at Best Buy as a best buy.

[rant]

I don't understand why so-called technical gurus have no inkling of knowledge for older technology. While I was born in the '70s and only a young chap, I knew what an 8-track was. I knew what a record was. I grew up on cassette tapes. I knew the difference between Betamax and VHS, even though I had never used a Betamax. People don't realize it, but our youth are growing up to be practical idiots. Smart in current tech, but stupid in thought. It's sad.

[/rant]

Barbarossa

As a youth, who is always around youth I can say that what you said only applies to some individuals just like ignorance against youth only applies to some adults. As for Best Buy yours must not be as good as mine because it is definetally the place to go for electronics in my city (we don't have Fry's). They even sell VCR DVD combos, and they still cost $200!

[hym 358]

It must depend, because when I went to Best Buy to buy blank VCR tapes, the dingleberry I spoke with had no idea what I was talking about and had to call his manager. The manager was also a dingleberry. Seriously, his question was "what is it, again? How would it be used?" Simple enough - I said "it's a tape for recording. I am going to record on it. That is what it is for." Under my breath, I also asked "Are you some kind of idiot? Haven't seen your type before - must be a new breed of dumb." Needless to say, they did not have blank VCR tapes, so I just went to Fry's and gave them my business. I no longer even look at Best Buy as a best buy.

[rant]

I don't understand why so-called technical gurus have no inkling of knowledge for older technology. While I was born in the '70s and only a young chap, I knew what an 8-track was. I knew what a record was. I grew up on cassette tapes. I knew the difference between Betamax and VHS, even though I had never used a Betamax. People don't realize it, but our youth are growing up to be practical idiots. Smart in current tech, but stupid in thought. It's sad.

[/rant]

First, they weren't actually tech gurus. A real expert would know about VHS. But if Best Buy actually tried to employ people like that, people would complain about how much Best Buy charged for its stuff.

Second, and more importantly, you were asking about obsolete tech (and if the person was young enough, it might have been before he/she took any notice of the technology). It has been scientifically proven that certain technology advances fundamentally reshape the brain. There is a reason why there are people in my generation who literally cannot be trained to understand how to use a slide rule and seniors who will never understand how to use a computer.

[Easy Bakes 253]

It must depend, because when I went to Best Buy to buy blank VCR tapes, the dingleberry I spoke with had no idea what I was talking about and had to call his manager. The manager was also a dingleberry. Seriously, his question was "what is it, again? How would it be used?" Simple enough - I said "it's a tape for recording. I am going to record on it. That is what it is for." Under my breath, I also asked "Are you some kind of idiot? Haven't seen your type before - must be a new breed of dumb." Needless to say, they did not have blank VCR tapes, so I just went to Fry's and gave them my business. I no longer even look at Best Buy as a best buy.

[rant]

I don't understand why so-called technical gurus have no inkling of knowledge for older technology. While I was born in the '70s and only a young chap, I knew what an 8-track was. I knew what a record was. I grew up on cassette tapes. I knew the difference between Betamax and VHS, even though I had never used a Betamax. People don't realize it, but our youth are growing up to be practical idiots. Smart in current tech, but stupid in thought. It's sad.

[/rant]

First, they weren't actually tech gurus. A real expert would know about VHS. But if Best Buy actually tried to employ people like that, people would complain about how much Best Buy charged for its stuff.

Second, and more importantly, you were asking about obsolete tech (and if the person was young enough, it might have been before he/she took any notice of the technology). It has been scientifically proven that certain technology advances fundamentally reshape the brain. There is a reason why there are people in my generation who literally cannot be trained to understand how to use a slide rule and seniors who will never understand how to use a computer.

Sometimes i understand the lack of Knowledge at places like best buy.

At places like best buy they probaly have new models of a lot of thier products every week,

you see it yourself when you go there, there are 6 models of samsung monitors, 7 Dell laptops,6 toshiba laptops,3 LG laptops and dozens of phones and camcorders ect. I dont see how they could even keep up with the new model changes.

  Edited September 2, 2011 by Easy Bakes  

[simlink 1,098]

At most electronic stores (including BestBuy) you will notice the selection of music CDs is much smaller than what it used to be. Interestingly, though, the movie DVD section in our local BestBuy did not shrink, ableit there is now a larger selection of BluRay...

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Sometimes i understand the lack of Knowledge at places like best buy.

At places like best buy they probaly have new models of a lot of thier products every week,

you see it yourself when you go there, there are 6 models of samsung monitors, 7 Dell laptops,6 toshiba laptops,3 LG laptops and dozens of phones and camcorders ect. I dont see how they could even keep up with the new model changes.

Interesting that you'd put a capital letter on Knowledge. Think about our family physicians. They are supposed to be knowledgeable in everything from Galen to the latest, greatest drug and technique available. Do you think the byte pushers at Best Buy could ever join those ranks? Talk about keeping up... Take a look at the stack of medical journals that profession gets each week.

If you want to have fun with your Best Buy guy, ask him if he can get you a 6SN7 tube (vacuum tube, that is). That will stop them all cold. How long has it been since those were used in balanced pairs in binary counters, hmmm? Last time I saw any of those was 1956.

In the seventy four years I've been around, I've seen it go from crystal sets (a fun project for kids in my day), to tubes, to transistors, to IC's which are really fancy crystal sets. The more things change, the more they are the same. The technology of silicon crystals is not a great deal different from the old galena crystal sets, except the doping agents in the new crystal chips are are lot more poisonous than lead sulfide.

My grandkids are just the same. They are growing up in this era. Radios occur only in cars, and that not much any more. You are more likely to have a DVD player in your car than a CD player/sound only system with a radio tuner. TV in Canada became totally digital yesterday. The ol' rabbit ears have finally folded for the last time. :bunny:

  Edited September 2, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[x493x 446]

Interesting that you'd put a capital letter on Knowledge. Think about our family physicians. They are supposed to be knowledgeable in everything from Galen to the latest, greatest drug and technique available. Do you think the byte pushers at Best Buy could ever join those ranks? Talk about keeping up... Take a look at the stack of medical journals that profession gets each week.

I think if I was a doctor my $40/hr paycheque and lives at stake would encourage me to learn everything out there. As for the near-minimum wage Best Buy employee, would you want to learn about all technology dating back to the mid 1900's while earning pennies and probably cramming for university studies?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Interesting that you'd put a capital letter on Knowledge. Think about our family physicians. They are supposed to be knowledgeable in everything from Galen to the latest, greatest drug and technique available. Do you think the byte pushers at Best Buy could ever join those ranks? Talk about keeping up... Take a look at the stack of medical journals that profession gets each week.

I think if I was a doctor my $40/hr paycheque and lives at stake would encourage me to learn everything out there. As for the near-minimum wage Best Buy employee, would you want to learn about all technology dating back to the mid 1900's while earning pennies and probably cramming for university studies?

There, of course, is the fly in the unguent. Don't expect the working high-school kid to know much, eh? Those kids have probably never seen a VCR and wouldn't know what to do with it if they did. "Duh ... what's that big door for?"

And $40 per hour is only 80K per annum. No physician would work for that.

  Edited September 4, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[x493x 446]

There, of course, is the fly in the unguent. Don't expect the working high-school kid to know much, eh? Those kids have probably never seen a VCR and wouldn't know what to do with it if they did. "Duh ... what's that big door for?"

Ok, I'm a high school student and we own two VCRs and still use them (and yes I know what the big door is for). I even remember when we used to have a Rewinder. The only reason we switched to a PVR was because of the digital conversion not being compatible with the VCR. Don't underestimate the knowledge of a high school student.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

There, of course, is the fly in the unguent. Don't expect the working high-school kid to know much, eh? Those kids have probably never seen a VCR and wouldn't know what to do with it if they did. "Duh ... what's that big door for?"

Ok, I'm a high school student and we own two VCRs and still use them (and yes I know what the big door is for). I even remember when we used to have a Rewinder. The only reason we switched to a PVR was because of the digital conversion not being compatible with the VCR. Don't underestimate the knowledge of a high school student.

I don't. Just the slaves hired by Best Buy.

It is not that long ago that I was a college professor. There were two types of high-school grads: the bright ones; and the ones who failed to get left behind.

[Duke87 1,070]

The thing of it is, the smarter kids who know all this stuff have no interest in working in customer service in a retail chain, because they would consider the job beneath them.

[Easy Bakes 253]

The thing of it is, the smarter kids who know all this stuff have no interest in working in customer service in a retail chain, because they would consider the job beneath them.

and most people why buy stuff at best buy just want something they just turn on

and run till it dies.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The thing of it is, the smarter kids who know all this stuff have no interest in working in customer service in a retail chain, because they would consider the job beneath them.

Probably. Most of the smart kids find real jobs or volunteer internships. In the current unemployment situation in the U.S. however, I'll guess that many of them just took the summer off.

[Duke87 1,070]

There's also a question of class. I never had a job in high school. Most people around where I live didn't. None of us needed the money - we all had parents who were perfectly capable and willing to bankroll our social lives and everything else. Those of us who did have jobs didn't work as a cashier or a waitress or the sort of drudge work you might consider typical of a high schooler. My sister worked as an assistant in a lawyer's office, for instance.

And I'm sure that many a parent around here would be embarrassed to admit it if one of their children were working at Target or Best Buy or whatever. It isn't professional enough to be considered "respectable".