From: Brian Atkins (brian@posthuman.com)
Date: Mon Jul 08 2002 - 11:57:09 MDT
Alfio Puglisi wrote:
>
> On Sat, 6 Jul 2002, Mike Lorrey wrote:
>
> >Alfio Puglisi wrote:
> >
> >> As I said before, it's a matter of balancing things. If discovering the
> >> GM status of my food requires an effort comparable to the OJ Simpson
> >> investigations, I feel that the rules should be shifted to benefit the
> >> consumer a little bit more.
> >
> >The consumer is a lazy selfish idiot who fails to obey caveat emptor,
> >and deserves what they get.
>
> You are using some strong language here. I don't have the time to check
> *everything*. When you buy a battery, do you check a CR report to be sure
> that it won't explode in your hands? Do you check a no-brand $20 chair for
> weight requirements? Maybe it collapses over 60 Kg, and you didn't asked
> the salesman for that. In your ideal free market system, no government is
> requiring mininum standards for chairs, so if you sit on it, and it
> collapses and you get a spinal cord injury are you just an idiot? Sure,
> you can sue the company. The damage is already done. And did you check if
> there's a label for the chair's materials toxicity? Maybe there's a little
> label that says "No water, otherwise it'll break" (of course, there's a
> better chair with a label "Water is fine"). Or maybe the label isn't
> there, and you should ask for it too. Or buy the CR report and spend 2
> hours studying the matter. IF there is a chair article. IF enough "idiots"
> bought the chair, to build a high enough complaint.
>
> Ok, I'm ranting too far. But I hope that a little regulation doesn't
> sound unfair. I want to know what I buy. And I don't want to spend my life
> worrying about it.
>
Think about it a bit more Alfio. What I imagine is that I would only buy
products that had some symbol on them showing they are "ok", and I would
likely shop only at stores that actively advertise the fact that they
stock "good" items. In other words, the "regulation" will be done by
the retail chain in order to increase its own sales. Not as many people
will want to shop at the "Ye ole piece of crap" store. The stores and
products that develop long term trust with the consumers will do the
best.
-- Brian Atkins Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence http://www.singinst.org/
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