So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[LizzieMaine]

As McLuhan had it, first we shape our tools, and then our tools shape us.

In keppitalist America, internet search you.

 

[ChiTownScion]

There's also the way the internet tends to make all information equal. But despite what the Wikipedia mentality want to tell us, *facts* are not a matter of social or political consensus.

I have a friend who, in high school, would set up daily fake Wikipedia accounts just so that he could wreck the grades of lazy fellow students. Ex.: If the class was assigned to write a piece on Shakespeare, he'd edit the Wiki article to include, "In 1939 Shakespeare masterminded the invasion of Poland." Of course it'd be corrected within an hour, but a number of the slackers trying to get something cobbled together on the morning an assignment was due would fall for it.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I think, a psychological very critical thing in todays society is, that you just can read valuations/recensions of movies, books and all media, every time you want. And of course I'm doing it, too.
That brings surely confusion and disorientation into society and I don't know, if that's a good thing in the long run.

 

[ortega76]

The cellphone plague is at its worst in American supermarkets. People will think nothing of blocking entire aisles by parking their carriages crosswise and then standing in front of or behind them, yapping into their squawkboxes about inconsequential nonsense that could easily wait until they were someplace other than blocking my access to the cat food display. I have on many occasions turned around, walked all the way around the next aisle and then up the desired aisle from the other direction to get at what I need, only to find that they've shifted their position so they're now blocking it from a different angle. "They'll Do It Every Time."

You know what I am guilty of doing? Standing in the aisle on the phone with my wife trying to figure out what she told me to get. I'm a very specific guy and she is not always very exact.

"You said you wanted a regular size package of beans? So is that 8 ounces or 20? Red beans or kidney? What brand?"

I'm THAT guy.

 

[Zombie_61]

In keppitalist America, internet search you.

I'm almost certain that someone, somewhere out there, knows more about me than I do.

 

[tonyb]

I'm almost certain that someone, somewhere out there, knows more about me than I do.

Untold billions have harbored such a sentiment since our ancestors took to bipedalism. Maybe even earlier than that.

 

[GHT]

I'm almost certain that someone, somewhere out there, knows more about me than I do.

Well, if you have bought on line, your credit card company knows, the vendor knows, the carrier knows and I wouldn't mind betting that your broadband supplier knows. If you use your card to do your shopping your bank knows what you spent, when you spent it, how often you spend. If you have a store loyalty card, the store will know every single purchase, the time bought, the amount paid and how often you spend. Add to that mix all the things like your utilities, tax returns and anything to do with officialdom and you can see how quickly a profile is built up on you. Then they come out with some B/S about if you are above board, what have you got to hide? This is to keep you adding to the profile. What they don't tell you is that they sell all that information.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You, the Sacred Individual, are as much a commodity in today's world as a can of cling peaches. Your purpose is to be stacked, stored, inventoried and sold, and in the end, to feed the machine.

 

[ChrisB]

When it comes to "Big Brother", I fear Google more than the government.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

You, the Sacred Individual, are as much a commodity in today's world as a can of cling peaches. Your purpose is to be stacked, stored, inventoried and sold, and in the end, to feed the machine.

Sounds like there is a meaning to life after all.

 

[MisterCairo]

You, the Sacred Individual, are as much a commodity in today's world as a can of cling peaches. Your purpose is to be stacked, stored, inventoried and sold, and in the end, to feed the machine.

How is any of this different than any other epoch in history? Slave to serf to servant to sales pitch.

Plus ca change, plus c'est pareil.

 

[LizzieMaine]

How is any of this different than any other epoch in history? Slave to serf to servant to sales pitch.

Plus ca change, plus c'est pareil.

 

[Edward]

Well, if you have bought on line, your credit card company knows, the vendor knows, the carrier knows and I wouldn't mind betting that your broadband supplier knows. If you use your card to do your shopping your bank knows what you spent, when you spent it, how often you spend. If you have a store loyalty card, the store will know every single purchase, the time bought, the amount paid and how often you spend. Add to that mix all the things like your utilities, tax returns and anything to do with officialdom and you can see how quickly a profile is built up on you. Then they come out with some B/S about if you are above board, what have you got to hide? This is to keep you adding to the profile. What they don't tell you is that they sell all that information.

Ah, yes..... the ever-popular "If you have nothing to fear, you have nothing to hide." Always amusing to point out to the folks who unthinkingly trot that one out that this charming little maxim originated, in fact, with one Joseph Goebbels.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

How is any of this different than any other epoch in history? Slave to serf to servant to sales pitch.

Plus ca change, plus c'est pareil.

We are prehaps more aware of it today & our cynicism & comfortable lifestyles allow us to joke about it. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose mais avec un sourire.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Another saying, more recent: "If the service is free, you're the product."

 

[Stearmen]

When it comes to "Big Brother", I fear Google more than the government.

No, Bill Gates! He probably has more information on the people of Earth then any one else!

 

[sheeplady]

I personally never trust a company who mentions evil in their motto... in any capacity.

 

[tonyb]

I personally never trust a company who mentions evil in their motto... in any capacity.

Yeah, no kiddin'. Just as I don't trust a person who habitually says "to be honest with you" or "believe me." Just as I question the intellect of a person who will tell you how smart he is. Just as I know to keep the kids (and my billfold) away from a person who tells you what a fine family man he is.

 

[MisterCairo]

Victimized again today by that bane of my driving life, the "blocked lane on a major road because cars are back up entering the drive-thru of a flippin Tim Hortons donut shop".

 

[tonyb]

Victimized again today by that bane of my driving life, the "blocked lane on a major road because cars are back up entering the drive-thru of a flippin Tim Hortons donut shop".

Same thing happens at a Starbucks drive-thru on what would be the most expeditious route to the dewy-eyed bride's workplace if not for it. I save myself the frustration by taking a different route.

Still, it angers me. It's selfish of Starbucks and their patrons to impede everyone else's progress, especially during the morning rush hour. It's a good location for Starbucks, and a shi@@y one for everyone else.