On Monday 25 February 2002 20:20, you wrote: > you honestly feel like they masterminded some plan in 1979 that would'nt be > fully implemented until 1994? No, I don't think they cared about their customers enough to give us that kind of thought. Each step along the way was an individual act of inconsiderate selfishness that looks like a master plan only in retrospect. At risk of changing the subject, look at Apple... with every model they change the hardware. The loyal fans keep buying the new hardware thinking it'll be the new standard, and within two years it's incompatible with the new Apple hardware. Is this a master plan to screw the consumer? Or are the Apple designers just mistakenly using a brainstorming list as a checklist? "proprietary 15-pin monitor cable -- check. "proprietary 30-pin monitor-and-sound cable -- check. "big honking proprietary monitor-and-sound-and-keyboard-and-mouse cable -- check. "standard VGA monitor cable -- check. "proprietary digital monitor cable -- check. "built-in monitor and no cable -- check. "What shall we do this year? Let's think different..." Back to Wal*Mart... I don't honestly think they intended to suck the life out of downtowns, but that was a consequence of their business plan that they could have foreseen if they had cared enough to try. Regardless of their intentions, they're still guilty of creating the consequences. --Ben