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Wednesday
Dec222010

Consumer Tracking

My dream yurt.

I bought a little stylus draw pad thing so I can start getting really frustrated with Photoshop. (---> See?)  I shopped around.  The thing arrived, and the next day I started getting these targeted emails and pop-ups advertising the exact thing I bought, but cheaper.

I know that any piece of technology I buy is automatically cheaper the next day; this is an undisputed pillar of the electronics industry.  What is the point here though?  Are "they" thinking, "Well, he bought one -- maybe he'll buy another one!" Or is it something less endumbening?  Less endumbening, more evillifying. 

Since capitalism depends in large measure on a certain high water mark of dissatisfaction, perhaps these targeted ads are not realistically expecting me to A:  See an ad for the thing I just bought but at a lower price and then B: Cancel my previous order so that I can C: Order the same thing again for $5 less.  Perhaps they just want to annoy me, so that I will be irritated by my own purchase.  Ultimately this may not lead me to purchase another identical item, but perhaps to seek retail comfort elsewhere.  AH HA.  Customer tracking as a means to ensure customer dissatisfaction leading to an overall increase in consumption.

Always the new thing. 

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