tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post717330478634042742..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: The slowness of innovationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-79761506503175456242013-10-13T10:14:56.547-07:002013-10-13T10:14:56.547-07:00You're home to receive your groceries, pat. Th...You're home to receive your groceries, pat. That isn't possible for most working people to arrange. You are also apparently insensitive to the delivery charge, but the poorer sort of working people might not be. Also, some people like to choose their own produce and meat to avoid the duds. That's not possible with a delivery service.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-16164175162103843492013-10-12T09:24:44.507-07:002013-10-12T09:24:44.507-07:00Two years ago I fell off a cliff. Well not exactly...Two years ago I fell off a cliff. Well not exactly fell. My dog pulled me over the edge. It wasn't a big cliff and I fell onto soft sand but like Mercutio's wound - " not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve".<br /><br />My back was messed up pretty badly. I sat in my den and popped morphine pills for a year. I never left the house. I discovered out of necessity that Safeway delivered groceries.<br /><br />I'm a lot better now but I still use their delivery service. I'm a little surprised that everyone else doesn't. It's nine o'clock now my groceries will be placed on my kitchen counter around eleven. There is a delivery charge I guess but I don't actually know what it is. <br /><br />AlbertosaurusPat Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13477950851915567863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-11482700820751657472013-10-11T13:01:22.816-07:002013-10-11T13:01:22.816-07:00Why not a machine that turns a few raw ingredients...Why not a machine that turns a few raw ingredients into prepared entrees for you<br /><br />You've been watching the Jetsons too much. People want the opposite of powdered and dried eggs - they want fresh eggs from their backyard hens. Williams-Sonoma sells designer chicken coops.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9102062549599505672013-10-11T00:23:47.890-07:002013-10-11T00:23:47.890-07:00Shouldn't innovation in this space aim a littl...Shouldn't innovation in this space aim a little higher? Why not a machine that turns a few raw ingredients into prepared entrees for you, sort of like a 3D printer for food? Eggs can be powdered and dried. Flour is already a powder. Meat can be sliced and dried. Flavors, spices, and catalysts can be titrated using similar tech to what's in the new Pinanfarina coke machines. Hot water could be plumbed into the machine, it could have a built-in convection oven, etc. Dave Pinsenhttp://twitter.com/dpinsennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-46218540526314543582013-10-10T22:55:11.471-07:002013-10-10T22:55:11.471-07:00For those who live in suburbia, do you trust that ...<i>For those who live in suburbia, do you trust that grocery items left unsecured on a porch wouldn't be stolen in 2013 America? What about the hungry Mexicans mowing your neighbors' lawns?</i><br /><br />Yes, we do. In my suburbia, everyone's moving his own lawn. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9856214690026252032013-10-10T21:09:45.915-07:002013-10-10T21:09:45.915-07:00Within a mile of where I live there are four groce...Within a mile of where I live there are four grocery stores, two of which I patronize. Within 2.5-3 miles there are four more. I have no problem with driving to them.Gringonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-12115255786243776262013-10-10T20:14:21.505-07:002013-10-10T20:14:21.505-07:00"I'm currently drinking a lukewarm Kirkla..."I'm currently drinking a lukewarm Kirkland diet cola from Costco"<br /><br />Dude, we care about you. No more donations if you're going to spend money on that poison.<br /><br />(To which Sailer might pointedly reply: 'How would I possibly survive such a MICRO-aggression against my cash flows?')<br /><br />But seriously, I have had the same experience with laying out technology strategies years ahead of their time. Same thing with investing - it's one of the reasons technical traders treat future-gazers with scorn. Too soon is as broke as too late.<br /><br />Gilbert P. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-79678664407964380982013-10-10T18:58:29.601-07:002013-10-10T18:58:29.601-07:00For those who live in suburbia, do you trust that ...For those who live in suburbia, do you trust that grocery items left unsecured on a porch wouldn't be stolen in 2013 America? What about the hungry Mexicans mowing your neighbors' lawns? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-60601311947872196392013-10-10T16:42:49.249-07:002013-10-10T16:42:49.249-07:00Wow, none of you geniuses are familiar with CSAs o...Wow, none of you geniuses are familiar with CSAs or Amazon Fresh, which has expanded into LA.<br /><br />Amazon Fresh solved all these problems, sometimes in quite clever ways, but the margins did them in, so they now are being refashioned as a high-end delivery service to earn back all the infrastructure money.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-67135885306585417582013-10-10T16:06:17.449-07:002013-10-10T16:06:17.449-07:00Steve said:
“American retailers have become vastl...Steve said:<br /><br />“American retailers have become vastly more efficient at minimizing their capital and warehouse space tied up in inventory. They scan bar codes to know when they are running out of a product so they can order more just-in-time.”<br /><br />Yes, JIT inventory management has enabled corporations to squeeze more efficiency out of capital stock and inventory management, and produce more shareholder value, but it creates a systemic vulnerability. JIT inventories are much more sensitive to disruptive shocks in the supply chain. You saw that in the last decade as stores struggled to keep high demand items stocked before and after large scale disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, et al. As with any new innovation, there are trade-offs.<br />Captain Trippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02303143412847947308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-27107028792594763232013-10-10T15:38:41.376-07:002013-10-10T15:38:41.376-07:00"Remember the milkman? Home milk delivery use..."Remember the milkman? Home milk delivery used to be common."<br /><br />"..the knife sharpening guy...potato chip delivery guy, ...ice cream guy..."<br /><br />And the ragman and cloth diaper delivery & pick-up.<br /><br />E. Rekshunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61374693361502043772013-10-10T15:33:25.277-07:002013-10-10T15:33:25.277-07:00The last Capta test to prove I'm not a robot h...The last Capta test to prove I'm not a robot had the word: jewmanRay VonMartinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49223393402460478042013-10-10T15:31:58.060-07:002013-10-10T15:31:58.060-07:00Grocery delivery. Is this a job Americans just wo...Grocery delivery. Is this a job Americans just won't do? Better get Marco Rubio, Chuck Schumer, and the US Senate to figure out a way to remedy this.Ray VonMartinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-57734380653595105052013-10-10T15:27:30.997-07:002013-10-10T15:27:30.997-07:00Anon: "Grocery shopping...still has some all...Anon: "Grocery shopping...still has some allure."<br /><br />I hate grocery shopping; there's no allure. Although, I did meet an attractive young woman in line at the register not long ago. She had five 20-lb bags of cat food, and nothing else, in her cart. I should have recognized that as the bad sign that it was.E. Rekshunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63565093818298931262013-10-10T15:19:46.107-07:002013-10-10T15:19:46.107-07:00SS: "...how to deliver fresh (and thus spoil...SS: "...how to deliver fresh (and thus spoilable) groceries to household where nobody is home most of the day."<br /><br />In the early '70s, I delivered the morning Boston Globe to an 85-year old lady on my street. I was instructed to leave the paper on top of the "milk box" on her front porch. At that time she and a few neighbors still had fresh milk delivered three times per week by the milk man. He left a half gallon glass container of milk in the small lightly insulated aluminum "milk box" on the customers' front porch. This was not rural America, but a suburb of Boston.E. Rekshunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-65371987219985017102013-10-10T15:12:28.228-07:002013-10-10T15:12:28.228-07:00SS: "Back around 1995, I wrote a consulting r...SS: "Back around 1995, I wrote a consulting report for Peapod, advising them that there was this new thing out there called the Internet and that it was going to be big..."<br /><br />I first accessed the Internet in 1998 via my 56K dial-up modem and my AOL account.Ray VonMartinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-62962325163682567742013-10-10T15:03:40.657-07:002013-10-10T15:03:40.657-07:00@Anon: "I think even the underwear I'm w...@Anon: "I think even the underwear I'm wearing is Kirkland."<br /><br />Chicks dig me because I rarely wear underwear.E. Rekshunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73091344647414149212013-10-10T14:24:24.327-07:002013-10-10T14:24:24.327-07:00fresh direct makes evening deliveries for upscale ...fresh direct makes evening deliveries for upscale households in NYC you can get anything from gourmet prepared thanksgiving dinners to fruits and vegetablesanonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15381126857274472550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-57293484312267648152013-10-10T13:47:46.368-07:002013-10-10T13:47:46.368-07:00So, there's this company called Winder Farms t...So, there's this company called Winder Farms that delivers fresh produce and dairy.<br /><br />http://www.winderfarms.com/<br /><br />They have a cooler that you leave on your doorstep to exchange for the full one. The food is marked up significantly, but they're doing well enough to expand into California.<br /><br />But, I'd rather look at the produce I'm going to buy before I buy it.Geoff Matthewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07335872605196107867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-10382920891227502192013-10-10T10:33:38.728-07:002013-10-10T10:33:38.728-07:00My butcher just brings the meat in and puts it in ...<i>My butcher just brings the meat in and puts it in the freezer. But I live where many people don't lock their doors.</i><br /><br />That sounds like something you'd read on the poster to a horror movie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-20194936421335382032013-10-10T09:38:34.910-07:002013-10-10T09:38:34.910-07:00Costco has its own delivery service. I've neve...Costco has its own delivery service. I've never used it (our local store is only about a mile away), so I don't know if it covers perishables. Dave Pinsenhttp://twitter.com/dpinsennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-28417080878977230652013-10-10T09:00:15.174-07:002013-10-10T09:00:15.174-07:00Some new doorman apartment buildings (and some ret...Some new doorman apartment buildings (and some retrofitted old ones) in NYC now have walk-in refrigerators off the lobby. FreshDirect or whoever it is delivers your food, the guy on the door puts it in the walk-in, and you pick it up when you get home.slumber_jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-40019255454392298862013-10-10T07:57:30.392-07:002013-10-10T07:57:30.392-07:00My butcher just brings the meat in and puts it in ...My butcher just brings the meat in and puts it in the freezer. But I live where many people don't lock their doors.Cail Corishevhttp://cailcorishev.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-72382781460234605042013-10-10T07:31:05.918-07:002013-10-10T07:31:05.918-07:00I seem to remember that one of the delivery servic...I seem to remember that one of the delivery services that went broke in the 1st internet wave would leave stuff in some kind of insulated cooler ala shopbox. This is not rocket science - back in the day, milkmen would leave the milk in an insulated box too.<br /><br />As Steve says, Costco makes you part of their unpaid workforce - picking the goods from the warehouse floor, loading them into the vehicle, driving them home, etc. The problem w/ the home delivery business is that consumers don't value their own time or vehicle costs properly and so they are not willing to pay a premium to have someone else do this for them. We once had all sorts of home delivery services - milk, bread, etc. and they all disappeared for this reason - they could not compete on price because their costs were higher.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-34408042905206989622013-10-10T07:07:22.778-07:002013-10-10T07:07:22.778-07:00I remember signing up for Peapod when it first cam...I remember signing up for Peapod when it first came to town years ago.<br /><br />My one and only experience with it was that it took forever to navigate through the various choices and make selections. We actually never finished our order, and never used it again.<br /><br />Of course, that was in the early dial-up days. <br /><br />I had no idea Peapod was still around ... figured it had gone bust like so many other early Internet companies.poolsidenoreply@blogger.com