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I hate these things, I have seen them in some of the Walgreens around town and I just keep on thinking about the energy wasted both by lighting up the whole scr

I hate these things, I have seen them in some of the Walgreens around town and I just keep on thinking about the energy wasted both by lighting up the whole screen brightly enough to see in the store, and by customers opening the doors up so they can see what's actually there and letting more cool air out. I've never seen them displaying ads, just big graphics saying "WATER" or "ICE CREAM" or "MILK" or whatever when there's nobody in front of them. And I find it kind of fascinating how, when they do notice someone's in front of them and deign to switch to showing the inventory, my brain just completely slides off of the crisp pictures of the drinks on a bright white background. Even before the first time I opened one up to find that it was inaccurate, it felt like my brain just knew that the inventory would not necessarily match what would actually be in there, so why bother wasting energy parsing it? (And this is with them all working, largely as designed.) I am glad to know they are on the way out. "'Vegas' in a derogatory way" is a good summation of my reaction to them.

Mistletoe 3y ago
“If there are eyes somewhere, put a screen in front of it.” could be the mantra for the 21st century so far. I wonder and worry about the tablet toddlers in the shopping cart and at restaurants and what kind of world they will create when they have spent their whole lives looking at a reality several times removed from Plato’s shadows on the wall of the cave. These stupid cooler screens are just more fake reality for them to consume. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave
- scetron 3y ago
  The show Legion had an excellent vignette about this very topic near the end of season 2. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHj2slKBF98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHj2slKBF98 for reference). I thought it was pretty well done, although it doesn't really answer any questions, just raises the topic.
naikrovek 3y ago
the future could have been amazing but advertisers only view things as places to put advertisements. i have a strong feeling that things are going to get worse before they get better.
- kibwen 3y ago
  The ad industry is not Midas, but Mierdas: everything it touches turns to shit.
  - marcosdumay 3y ago
    Anybody that uses "Midas touch" in a positive way completely failed to grasp the story.
    - abawany 3y ago
      In a culture where 'greed is good' turning (spoiler alert) your own daughter into inert gold is considered 'smart monetization.'
      - standardly 3y ago
        Yeah! We call that liquidity
        naikrovek 3y ago
        we're creating value by turning everything into gold! most won't ever be turned into pure gold, so let us create our value as we see fit. we're hurting no one; you say we are, that this lump of gold was a person, well that skeleton over there was a person, too, and that person died without the pure GIFT of being turned into gold and becoming pure value. That could have been that person's religion! Are you saying that you do not respect freedom of religion! Look at this guy, he doesn't want to turn people into gold-colored value!
    - pohl 3y ago
burnte 3y ago
Every time I'm in a new store (and occasionally I'll repeat it) I'll tell managers that "as a customer, I'm complaining about those doors, and I'm not going to waste time opening all the doors to find what I want, I'll just go to another store." Now I realize they themselves don't care, but by saying "as a customer" I'm trying to help them truthfully say "customers are complaining and we're losing sales." Can't wait for them to be gone.
CalRobert 3y ago
It was unsettling to see a notice in a CVS that by looking at their sodas on said screen I was consenting to having my facial details processed.
jonhohle 3y ago
At first I thought this is like a clear oled panel on the door, but it’s just a huge, opaque when off, LCD screen? And they use cameras to show you what clear glass would have shown you otherwise?
- shaftway 3y ago
  No, they show you stock footage of what should be in there, but isn't because it hasn't been stocked.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

Mistletoe 3y ago

“If there are eyes somewhere, put a screen in front of it.” could be the mantra for the 21st century so far. I wonder and worry about the tablet toddlers in the shopping cart and at restaurants and what kind of world they will create when they have spent their whole lives looking at a reality several times removed from Plato’s shadows on the wall of the cave. These stupid cooler screens are just more fake reality for them to consume. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave

scetron 3y ago
The show Legion had an excellent vignette about this very topic near the end of season 2. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHj2slKBF98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHj2slKBF98 for reference). I thought it was pretty well done, although it doesn't really answer any questions, just raises the topic.

naikrovek 3y ago

the future could have been amazing but advertisers only view things as places to put advertisements. i have a strong feeling that things are going to get worse before they get better.

kibwen 3y ago
The ad industry is not Midas, but Mierdas: everything it touches turns to shit.
- marcosdumay 3y ago
  Anybody that uses "Midas touch" in a positive way completely failed to grasp the story.
  - abawany 3y ago
    In a culture where 'greed is good' turning (spoiler alert) your own daughter into inert gold is considered 'smart monetization.'
    - standardly 3y ago
      Yeah! We call that liquidity
      - naikrovek 3y ago
        we're creating value by turning everything into gold! most won't ever be turned into pure gold, so let us create our value as we see fit. we're hurting no one; you say we are, that this lump of gold was a person, well that skeleton over there was a person, too, and that person died without the pure GIFT of being turned into gold and becoming pure value. That could have been that person's religion! Are you saying that you do not respect freedom of religion! Look at this guy, he doesn't want to turn people into gold-colored value!
  - pohl 3y ago

burnte 3y ago

Every time I'm in a new store (and occasionally I'll repeat it) I'll tell managers that "as a customer, I'm complaining about those doors, and I'm not going to waste time opening all the doors to find what I want, I'll just go to another store." Now I realize they themselves don't care, but by saying "as a customer" I'm trying to help them truthfully say "customers are complaining and we're losing sales." Can't wait for them to be gone.

CalRobert 3y ago

It was unsettling to see a notice in a CVS that by looking at their sodas on said screen I was consenting to having my facial details processed.

jonhohle 3y ago

At first I thought this is like a clear oled panel on the door, but it’s just a huge, opaque when off, LCD screen? And they use cameras to show you what clear glass would have shown you otherwise?

shaftway 3y ago
No, they show you stock footage of what should be in there, but isn't because it hasn't been stocked.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]