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I think you're stretching a little to get from faster merchandise delivery to mob-rule government. Or, your objections would have been valid against the railro

I think you're stretching a little to get from faster merchandise delivery to mob-rule government. Or, your objections would have been valid against the railroad and the telegraph as well (both of those reduced friction tremendously). I get the gist of what you're saying, but I don't agree that artificially limiting technological innovation, or improvements in efficiencies is beneficial at all.

mc32 11y ago
I think railroads reduced times to human times (from weeks/months to hours/days --but it wasn't a snap of the finger kind of response. The objection I have is more with the psychology rather than the physicality of it. It makes things more disposable. You lost a sneaker, we get it replaced in minutes. It's allowing people to gorge on consumerism. It also puts the local shops at a disadvantage. But, mostly, it removes the barrier to thinking about buying more. You don't have to think about waiting till tomorrow, or two days from now, or having to walk twenty minutes, or get out and take transit, or jump into a car to go satiate the impulse. No, all you need is your desire (and buying power) and it's fulfilled.
- function_seven 11y ago
  Fair point. This just happened to me yesterday. I needed a 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect my TV to the receiver[1]. The one I had wasn't long enough, so I found one on Amazon and ordered it for the next day. By the time it was delivered, I had already found my long-lost extension cable and didn't need it anymore. Waste of money and—to your point—if I didn't have that option I probably would have searched a little more around the house before resorting to buying a new one. Ultimately I still want to see these things advance, though. Whatever mechanism that would set lower bounds on delivery times would be worse than the problem it would be intended to prevent. [1] Never mind why the TV only outputs audio on a 3.5mm jack, kinda cheap.

mc32 11y ago

I think railroads reduced times to human times (from weeks/months to hours/days --but it wasn't a snap of the finger kind of response. The objection I have is more with the psychology rather than the physicality of it. It makes things more disposable. You lost a sneaker, we get it replaced in minutes. It's allowing people to gorge on consumerism. It also puts the local shops at a disadvantage. But, mostly, it removes the barrier to thinking about buying more. You don't have to think about waiting till tomorrow, or two days from now, or having to walk twenty minutes, or get out and take transit, or jump into a car to go satiate the impulse. No, all you need is your desire (and buying power) and it's fulfilled.

function_seven 11y ago
Fair point. This just happened to me yesterday. I needed a 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect my TV to the receiver[1]. The one I had wasn't long enough, so I found one on Amazon and ordered it for the next day. By the time it was delivered, I had already found my long-lost extension cable and didn't need it anymore. Waste of money and—to your point—if I didn't have that option I probably would have searched a little more around the house before resorting to buying a new one. Ultimately I still want to see these things advance, though. Whatever mechanism that would set lower bounds on delivery times would be worse than the problem it would be intended to prevent. [1] Never mind why the TV only outputs audio on a 3.5mm jack, kinda cheap.