Sunday, February 19, 2006
New Definitions
Have you noticed how the new world uses new definitions for old worlds? Sizes are a good example. Restaurants don't have smalls anymore. Usually a small is called a medium at best. They don't have large - they have mucho grande or some such. I don't get it. If you have three sizes of drinks, there should be a small, medium and large. Try buying a small drink anyplace. Many places will refuse to do it. Their smallest is a medium, unless you want the kid's size or some such rubbish. They have to have a drink that contains less liquid than any other - that's what I want, the small one.
On the other hand, unlimited has taken on all new definitions. If a company offers you unlimited anything, you can pretty much bet that you can't get all you want. Netflix has been in the news for this recently. In one quote I saw the company said you shouldn't expect to get 10,000 DVDs a month should you? Actually, as long as I meet their requirements in all other ways, why shouldn't I? It seems that once you get above a certain level a month, they will drag their feet on delivery times. So what they actually mean when they say "3 at-a-time (Unlimited), you can rent as many DVDs as you want for just $17.99 a month plus any applicable tax" what they really mean is that if you try to get more than around 12 a month, they won't send them to you.
I noticed the slow down, but what can you do? It's like Blockbuster and their no late fees. There may not be any late fees, but if you return a DVD after it's supposed to be returned (late) there are extra charges (fees) you have to pay. Somehow that's lawyer talk for no late fees.
I used to have a dialup Internet account that allowed unlimited access. The thing was that you couldn't stay online constantly and you weren't allowed over a certain bandwidth. I had a site shut down because there were too many visits to my site. I tried on several occasions for them to tell me what my unlimited limit was, but they would never tell me.
Have you ever noticed how a 5 year/50,000 mile warranty on a car or car tires works? Pretty much the only thing covered is stuff that doesn't go bad. If something breaks it's not part of the warranty. If something wears out it's not part of the warranty. You can try to get something fixed under Volkswagen warranty and they'll fuck with you and not fix stuff until the warranty is passed. Then they'll charge you for the same problem that they allegedly worked on when they weren't supposed to charge you.
Basically it's all a scam and you can't trust anyone. Company pensions last just long enough for the company to go into bankruptcy where the executives get their bonuses and the workers get crap. Life time medical care lasts until they close enough of the VA hospitals so you have to travel a few hundred miles to get an appointment six months (if you're lucky) in the future. Free checking is free until the bank sends you the bill - or they make you close your account because you don't use it enough.
