23 ms·

There's no such thing as a level playing field... you think EVERY brand can fit on store shelves for discovery?

by tracker1 10mo ago

shimman 10mo ago
This is entirely a human construct, we can absolutely make it a level playing field if we collectively choose so. What a sad comment.
- mvdtnz 10mo ago
  Until you try to grapple with real world problems like limited shelf space, limited directory space, how the ads (ahem sorry, directory entries) should be sorted, how to deal with setting boundaries around local directories, etc.
  - shimman 10mo ago
    Good thing there is no fundamental law of the universe forcing merchants to stock every single good ever invented.
    - tracker1 10mo ago
      Without advertising (or marketing of some kind), how do you propose for any new product to EVER reach a store shelf.
      - shimman 10mo ago
        You convince the store owner in person, this was kinda the case throughout all of humanity until very recently. It's not society's problem to ensure corporations are able to take prime real estate by abusing their customers. They can meet with every shop owner and argue why their products should be sold, although if you ask me I bet the shop owner knows exactly what their customers want so once again where is the benefit for society here? That some greedy people aren't able to make a buck abusing human psychology? Once again, what is the benefit for society here?
        tracker1 10mo ago
        But that's marketing/advertising/sales... as would be printing catalogs that the seller pays for.
- tpmoney 10mo ago
  You can make it more level, but in any system constrained by the physical world, you can never make it completely level. Ever notice that there used to be a lot of businesses with names like "A+ Heating and Cooling" or "AAA Chimney Sweeps"? That was because being at the top of the phone book's alphabetical listing was more likely to get you business since a lot of people would open to a section, start at the top and start calling. There's only so much shelf space to go around, eventually decisions will be made about who can put their products on a given shelf. Any large business with the ability to produce multiple different products will inherently have the advantage of getting more shelf space assuming you want to display all products. But even assuming you just wanted your shelf space to be a bunch of "per company" catalogs, businesses with more money to spend on glossier catalogs, or brighter inks, or more variations so thicker catalogs will have an advantage. Then there's names and numbers. Hooked on Phonics gets a leg up on every other competing reading program because they got the phone number that is 1-800-ABC-DEFG, no one else can have that number. The lawyer who gets 1-800-555-5555 (or other similarly easy to remember number) has a leg up on anyone with a random number out of the phone company's inventory. But I'm curious, what would this perfectly level field you envision look like? How would these sorts of problems be solved?

There's no such thing as a level playing field... you think EVERY brand can fit on store shelves for discovery?

This is entirely a human construct, we can absolutely make it a level playing field if we collectively choose so. What a sad comment.

mvdtnz 10mo ago
Until you try to grapple with real world problems like limited shelf space, limited directory space, how the ads (ahem sorry, directory entries) should be sorted, how to deal with setting boundaries around local directories, etc.
- shimman 10mo ago
  Good thing there is no fundamental law of the universe forcing merchants to stock every single good ever invented.
  - tracker1 10mo ago
    Without advertising (or marketing of some kind), how do you propose for any new product to EVER reach a store shelf.
    - shimman 10mo ago
      You convince the store owner in person, this was kinda the case throughout all of humanity until very recently. It's not society's problem to ensure corporations are able to take prime real estate by abusing their customers. They can meet with every shop owner and argue why their products should be sold, although if you ask me I bet the shop owner knows exactly what their customers want so once again where is the benefit for society here? That some greedy people aren't able to make a buck abusing human psychology? Once again, what is the benefit for society here?
      - tracker1 10mo ago
        But that's marketing/advertising/sales... as would be printing catalogs that the seller pays for.
tpmoney 10mo ago
You can make it more level, but in any system constrained by the physical world, you can never make it completely level. Ever notice that there used to be a lot of businesses with names like "A+ Heating and Cooling" or "AAA Chimney Sweeps"? That was because being at the top of the phone book's alphabetical listing was more likely to get you business since a lot of people would open to a section, start at the top and start calling. There's only so much shelf space to go around, eventually decisions will be made about who can put their products on a given shelf. Any large business with the ability to produce multiple different products will inherently have the advantage of getting more shelf space assuming you want to display all products. But even assuming you just wanted your shelf space to be a bunch of "per company" catalogs, businesses with more money to spend on glossier catalogs, or brighter inks, or more variations so thicker catalogs will have an advantage. Then there's names and numbers. Hooked on Phonics gets a leg up on every other competing reading program because they got the phone number that is 1-800-ABC-DEFG, no one else can have that number. The lawyer who gets 1-800-555-5555 (or other similarly easy to remember number) has a leg up on anyone with a random number out of the phone company's inventory. But I'm curious, what would this perfectly level field you envision look like? How would these sorts of problems be solved?