If that's your definition of that criterion, then fine, but I have to say that it isn't mine so I don't accept your conclusion.. I certainly wouldn't vote for anybody proposing to increase taxation in any form because fundamentally I don't think that governments should be in the businesses of health care or education, or anything beyond a bare minimum of activities.
Even in that context they are cheap. It's a matter of priorities. Nobody said that it even had to be a new computer. For web surfing, any old thing will do and can be bought for a few pounds at a computer sale.
There are even volunteer organisations who organise computers for the elderly etc.
Not really. I am a regular visitor to the U.S. and the only situations where transactions without a credit card are difficult are if you want to do something like checking into a hotel or renting a car. Obviously they want a means to track you down if you don't pay. However that is true anywhere, including the UK.
If you want to go into a store in the U.S. and buy an item, then greenbacks are just fine.
Ultimately they will have to learn or be helped to learn. You can't hold back progress just because it doesn't suit a minority of people.
If there are a significant number of people who are unwilling or unable to adapt to or use new technology then they will be a market of their own and the smart business person will look at the opportunity and address it while it lasts. In a sense, that is the remaining role of the small shopkeeper. The point is that they had better watch their market because it is changing and disappearing.
Whatever. I was simply trying to pick something that could have been used in the past and now practically can't so the Euro was not a good example.
There are so precious few of those left that it isn't worth discussing.
The trouble is that it doesn't put anything very much of use in my wallet or anywhere else that is of value to me or most other people. If it did, I would mind less.
Exactly. So the town centre shops should focus on doing things that attract people to want to go into a town centre. Most town centres are a complete pain in the bum. It is difficult and expensive to park and a large amount of time can be wasted finding parking. The alternative of using public transport is pretty awful and inconvenient with time and place and one can't practically carry large amounts of shopping anyway.
The shopkeepers should think about and focus on what will make people
*want* to go to the town centres and go to their shops. They are on a loser to begin with because few are attractive places. It's not surprising that many town centre shops are based around relieving the single under 30s of their disposable income, which is why there are so many fashion and music shops.Of course. That's inevitable. People want to buy some things on price and not quality, artistic or intellectual content. It's the latter three that will be the remaining territory for the small shopkeeper. The other would be convenience, but that is tenuous at best.
If and when that happens it will be because a) customers have voted with their feet and b) that shopkeepers have not made the effort or succeeded in encouraging them to visit their shops. It's as simple as that. Shops will remain as long as there is a demand. If people want to shop at low prices as their main criterion then they go to out of town retail parks, on line or by mail order. You don't need a computer to shop by mail order.
I don't think they are. For the car owner, it's much easier to go to one of these places and park for free. For the non car owner, many of them are reachable on bus routes anyway, so there is no real issue. Again it's driven by the market. Enough customers without cars want to go to shopping centre - business opportunity for bus operator.
If you ask anybody to tell you honestly which they care most about, it is their wallet. It is the main basis on which they vote. After that they may care about public services if they've drunk the government Kool Aid and after that law and order. The most effective way of delivering so called public services is for them not to be public services other than a financial investment by the government from tax revenue into the service of the individual's choice.
I did above. It's pretty simple. Some people will adapt to the progress of technology - there are many silver surfers for example. Others won't. For these people, there will be a market opportunity for businesses that operate outside of technological advance if the numbers are significant.
Ultimately it's always the customer.
This is true, but it is possible for businesses to influence what the customer buys quite heavily if they have the financial muscle to do so.
Ask yourself why people go to online stores. Again it's pretty simple:
- Price (quite often)
- Choice
- Time
- Convenience
The high street stores are simply not competing with that and in some cases can't. They need to provide better/different reasons for customers to visit.
For a commodity item like paint why not? Let's say I want to buy a particular brand and colour of paint. I phone B&Q or any of the others to ask if they have it. When they eventually decide to answer the phone it's usually a call centre who then have to telephone the store and hopefully find a sentient being to go and take a look on the shelf and if I'm lucky have the right thing in the right quantity and be willing to put it under the counter. More often than not, they haven't got all that I want and I end up needing to contact 2 or 3 places to get the entire list. So that's probably the best part of an hour on the phone, and by the time I've visited them all to get the items and discovered that they've got the item wrong anyway, half the day's gone. A complete waste of time and effort.
Alternatively, from home or anywhere on a business trip in Europe or anywhere else, (except at the moment when flying but that's about to change) I can connect to the Internet by high speed network, wireless LAN, telephone or even GPRS and access Farrow and Ball's web site, order exactly what I want and it will be there waiting when I get home at the weekend.
That isn't laziness, it's maximising use of time. To me time is the most expensive commodity, so that's what I seek to optimise.
I can appreciate that some people have plenty of time on their hands. That's fine. They have the freedom to choose where they wish to shop. If there are enough of them then the bricks and mortar stores will remain, otherwise they die. It's that easy.