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Walmart isn't a dumb-pipe, for one. A dumb pipe would be electric and water companies, are those as profitable as cable companies?

by Touche 12y ago

Zigurd 12y ago
For things like detergent, motor oil, and some categories of food, Wal-mart offers zero differentiation and lower prices. i really can't think of one thing where I think "Oh, I have to go to Wal-mart for that." The only reason is efficiency, and hence price.
- Touche 12y ago
  None of those things constitute a "dumb pipe".
  - Zigurd 12y ago
    I don't understand your assertion. Bodega vs. Stop & Shop vs. Wal-Mart to buy Tide detergent. Wal-Mart adds nothing to the product, but delivers it more efficiently. That is the definition of a "dumb pipe." Can you explain how that's not a dumb pipe?
    - Touche 12y ago
      Using massive scale and buying power to influence the price of a produce is adding something to the product. Can your electric company do that? No, they only delivery the product at it's market value. Also, a pipe doesn't care what travels through it; does Wal-Mart sell every retail product in existence?
      - VLM 12y ago
        "Also, a pipe doesn't care what travels through it; does Wal-Mart sell every retail product in existence?" None of the employees you'll ever interact with, with the possible exception of the pharmacist and optician, will know anything at all about the boxes they put on the shelves. Thats a dumb pipe. None of the consumers know or care about how smart the HVAC thermostat is, or how JIT the truck drivers drop off the next pallet of kitty litter 3 hours before the store runs out of stock. Its not an applied technology question. Pipe manufacturing can be fairly technologically advanced, perhaps for aerospace work or car brake systems. Xray inspection of welds and fittings, seamless exotic metal alloys. Highly trained and experienced installers and quality assurance teams. Advanced 3-d cad to bend and place the pipe just so. None the less, its still fundamentally just a dumb pipe, stuff pours in one end of the pipe, then it comes out the other end of the pipe.
VLM 12y ago
"Walmart isn't a dumb-pipe" Have you actually talked to walmart employees? Go to an upscale A/V audiophile class store and talk to a salesperson for awhile. They'll be a lot of green ink on CDs and thousand dollar speaker cable talk, but they'll also know at least some analog EE stuff, maybe not much, but more than their average customers. The sales guy almost certainly understands the features and UI and can teach you if you ask or put on a rather impressive demonstration and describe at length how to connect components together (with the hope of addon sales obviously). That is not a dumb pipe. Then go to walmart and ask any drone about that surround sound amp on the shelf. Good luck getting more than "I donno man, all I do is match up the UPC on the box with the UPC on the price tag" Now that, is a dumb pipe. We can do this all day with house paint, furniture, board games, firearms, camp gear, movies, video games, clothes, I think the only things where they're keeping up with the competition is the pharmacy, which is solely due to legal licensing stuff, and food, where the standard supermarket drone (I was one in high school) knows absolutely nothing about food or cooking. Another fun analogy in the famous HN car analogy theme, is a non-dumb pipe car dealership would have salespeople who can answer any FAQ or weird question about a car. Oh thats how you pair your bluetooth phone to the radio. The spark plugs need changing every 50K miles. It runs just fine on 87 octane gas although the more expensive stuff will burn just as well. A dumb pipe of a car dealership would be you walk up to a car on the lot, flag down an employee, ask them if the car has four wheels, and they're all "I donno man, I just park them in the correct spot as fast as I can and thats all I know about them."

Walmart isn't a dumb-pipe, for one. A dumb pipe would be electric and water companies, are those as profitable as cable companies?

by Touche 12y ago

Walmart isn't a dumb-pipe, for one. A dumb pipe would be electric and water companies, are those as profitable as cable companies?

Zigurd 12y ago

For things like detergent, motor oil, and some categories of food, Wal-mart offers zero differentiation and lower prices. i really can't think of one thing where I think "Oh, I have to go to Wal-mart for that." The only reason is efficiency, and hence price.

Touche 12y ago
None of those things constitute a "dumb pipe".
- Zigurd 12y ago
  I don't understand your assertion. Bodega vs. Stop & Shop vs. Wal-Mart to buy Tide detergent. Wal-Mart adds nothing to the product, but delivers it more efficiently. That is the definition of a "dumb pipe." Can you explain how that's not a dumb pipe?
  - Touche 12y ago
    Using massive scale and buying power to influence the price of a produce is adding something to the product. Can your electric company do that? No, they only delivery the product at it's market value. Also, a pipe doesn't care what travels through it; does Wal-Mart sell every retail product in existence?
    - VLM 12y ago
      "Also, a pipe doesn't care what travels through it; does Wal-Mart sell every retail product in existence?" None of the employees you'll ever interact with, with the possible exception of the pharmacist and optician, will know anything at all about the boxes they put on the shelves. Thats a dumb pipe. None of the consumers know or care about how smart the HVAC thermostat is, or how JIT the truck drivers drop off the next pallet of kitty litter 3 hours before the store runs out of stock. Its not an applied technology question. Pipe manufacturing can be fairly technologically advanced, perhaps for aerospace work or car brake systems. Xray inspection of welds and fittings, seamless exotic metal alloys. Highly trained and experienced installers and quality assurance teams. Advanced 3-d cad to bend and place the pipe just so. None the less, its still fundamentally just a dumb pipe, stuff pours in one end of the pipe, then it comes out the other end of the pipe.

VLM 12y ago

"Walmart isn't a dumb-pipe" Have you actually talked to walmart employees? Go to an upscale A/V audiophile class store and talk to a salesperson for awhile. They'll be a lot of green ink on CDs and thousand dollar speaker cable talk, but they'll also know at least some analog EE stuff, maybe not much, but more than their average customers. The sales guy almost certainly understands the features and UI and can teach you if you ask or put on a rather impressive demonstration and describe at length how to connect components together (with the hope of addon sales obviously). That is not a dumb pipe. Then go to walmart and ask any drone about that surround sound amp on the shelf. Good luck getting more than "I donno man, all I do is match up the UPC on the box with the UPC on the price tag" Now that, is a dumb pipe. We can do this all day with house paint, furniture, board games, firearms, camp gear, movies, video games, clothes, I think the only things where they're keeping up with the competition is the pharmacy, which is solely due to legal licensing stuff, and food, where the standard supermarket drone (I was one in high school) knows absolutely nothing about food or cooking. Another fun analogy in the famous HN car analogy theme, is a non-dumb pipe car dealership would have salespeople who can answer any FAQ or weird question about a car. Oh thats how you pair your bluetooth phone to the radio. The spark plugs need changing every 50K miles. It runs just fine on 87 octane gas although the more expensive stuff will burn just as well. A dumb pipe of a car dealership would be you walk up to a car on the lot, flag down an employee, ask them if the car has four wheels, and they're all "I donno man, I just park them in the correct spot as fast as I can and thats all I know about them."