Novelty VS. Strategic Frugality
In hard economic times like these, it's pretty interesting to see what sorts of financial decisions the average person can make. You truly have to wonder why people buy the things they choose to purchase. Of course, working at Target has exposed me to the most unusual of investments that people make. You could say that the campfire stories that arise while working in retail more than makes up for the fact that I make less money than you do. And a strange occurrence that happened the other day made for a fine tale indeed.
The electronics department at Target has all the basics: Video games, cell phones, TV's, iPods, etc. In other words, things that everyone knows in and out, and understand to a pinpoint. Target has always been a store to sell the most basic of things, for the frugal consumer. That doesn't mean that we don't carry the odd piece of equipment that nobody has a damn clue about. For us, that little mystery is the Sony Reader: a laptop-like device that reads books on disc. In other words, it's a $300 piece of garbage that nobody would ever need, considering that your average paperback book costs about ten dollars.
We've only ever sold about four of those things (probably four times as many as every other store in the region) because most people are rational enough not to buy them. I can understand blowing money on one if you have tons of money to spare and like gimmicks... but an LCD screen can never replace the beauty of a real book. But factoring in that the books-on-disc cost about thirty bucks apiece, it really isn't a financially-friendly gimmick. Unless, of course, you want to pay thirty dollars for John McCain's biography on CD-Books, because those are the only kinds of books they put on CDs anyway.
Anyway, we had a woman come in the other day, asking if we sold accessories of the Sony Reader. Me and my co-worker stood there for a second, blankly gazing at the wall, trying to figure out what the hell as Sony Reader was. It hit me within time: "Oh! That... thing! Yeah, it's over here... Lemme show you."
We did have SOME accessories for it, but again, why would you buy any?
"Ah, that's what I was looking for!," she replies to me. I bid her good day and start back over to the counter, until she asks: "Isn't this thing wonderful! I love it so much!"
I kind of just stared back at her, and nod my head in uncertainty. Even if it's part of my job description, I probably couldn't have said anything nice about the Sony Reader even if I tried. The conversation goes on, and more or less I just lie through my teeth, replying falsities such as "I guess it's nice..." and "It is pretty neat, huh..." The only thing going through my head was "This woman must be either rich and bored, or incredibly dependent on technology." As well as the fact that the combined value of all the books on my bookshelf is about half that of the Sony Reader (And I have some damn good books on that shelf.)
I think, at some point, she mentioned that she loved it because she was always "reading while traveling." I read while I travel too, but I would think that lugging around a $300 Sony Reader would be far more awkward than carrying a small paperback book around with you. That, and LCD screens are bad for your eyes, and unpleasant to stare at.
Again, I don't understand any of this at all. Maybe i'm just a cheapass.
The electronics department at Target has all the basics: Video games, cell phones, TV's, iPods, etc. In other words, things that everyone knows in and out, and understand to a pinpoint. Target has always been a store to sell the most basic of things, for the frugal consumer. That doesn't mean that we don't carry the odd piece of equipment that nobody has a damn clue about. For us, that little mystery is the Sony Reader: a laptop-like device that reads books on disc. In other words, it's a $300 piece of garbage that nobody would ever need, considering that your average paperback book costs about ten dollars.
We've only ever sold about four of those things (probably four times as many as every other store in the region) because most people are rational enough not to buy them. I can understand blowing money on one if you have tons of money to spare and like gimmicks... but an LCD screen can never replace the beauty of a real book. But factoring in that the books-on-disc cost about thirty bucks apiece, it really isn't a financially-friendly gimmick. Unless, of course, you want to pay thirty dollars for John McCain's biography on CD-Books, because those are the only kinds of books they put on CDs anyway.
Anyway, we had a woman come in the other day, asking if we sold accessories of the Sony Reader. Me and my co-worker stood there for a second, blankly gazing at the wall, trying to figure out what the hell as Sony Reader was. It hit me within time: "Oh! That... thing! Yeah, it's over here... Lemme show you."
We did have SOME accessories for it, but again, why would you buy any?
"Ah, that's what I was looking for!," she replies to me. I bid her good day and start back over to the counter, until she asks: "Isn't this thing wonderful! I love it so much!"
I kind of just stared back at her, and nod my head in uncertainty. Even if it's part of my job description, I probably couldn't have said anything nice about the Sony Reader even if I tried. The conversation goes on, and more or less I just lie through my teeth, replying falsities such as "I guess it's nice..." and "It is pretty neat, huh..." The only thing going through my head was "This woman must be either rich and bored, or incredibly dependent on technology." As well as the fact that the combined value of all the books on my bookshelf is about half that of the Sony Reader (And I have some damn good books on that shelf.)
I think, at some point, she mentioned that she loved it because she was always "reading while traveling." I read while I travel too, but I would think that lugging around a $300 Sony Reader would be far more awkward than carrying a small paperback book around with you. That, and LCD screens are bad for your eyes, and unpleasant to stare at.
Again, I don't understand any of this at all. Maybe i'm just a cheapass.