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Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse. (arstechnica.com)

submitted 2 months ago by moe90@feddit.nl to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I don't agree but you can either vote with your wallet or mindlessly consume.

One is better than the other but yeah 80% of spending is not really discretionary... Gonna need to get a rental, gonna need healthcare, transports education etc

But you can stop drinking soda for example... It ain't much but it is something.

People don't have to pay subscriptions either...

[–] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I ... think i understand what you're saying. You don't agree with my definition of VWYW? I don't wanna assume, but i think maybe you define it as reckless vs thoughtful spending?

Mine has to do with the effectiveness of our purchases in driving market trends. They do not.

You don't have to buy a subscription to Netflix, but deciding not to isn't changing anything for anyone (besides saving you 15 bux).

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Is $6 too much for a bag of Ruffles?

After nearly three years of price increases, signs that buyers have had enough are starting to mount. On Thursday, the food and beverage giant PepsiCo reported a 0.5 percent decline in revenues in the second quarter in its Frito-Lay snack business from year-ago levels, a result of a 4 percent drop in volumes in the category.

I think maybe we voted with our wallets against $6 chips but you could probably convince me otherwise in a paragraph :)

[–] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

Well sir I'm always down for a nice discussion, you had me at hello. But youre in trouble if you only wanted a paragraph 🤣

Your link is great evidence to your point. It absolutely does reinforce the idea, with evidence that voting with your wallet does indeed affect change. I should say also my point isnt VWYW doesn't ever work but that it has very little power.

I'd like to suggest that same article also helps mine, at least some.

Point being it shows VWYW (at the consumer level) didn't have the power to stop the inflation of chips in the first place. Leaving aside the illusion of choice, the current system has taken the power of VWYW out of our hands almost completely.

The fact that PepsiCo even has that kind of market power is beyond question at this point right?

I'm not saying anything controversial if i take it further, that supply chains between our bag of chips and Pepsico, (distributors, grocery stores etc) are also consolidated, yeah?

At each step of the process, market consolidation reduced the ability of the companies within that chain to VWTW, and they pass the costs on down to the next link who also has no ability to VWTW. At the end of this chain we sit with our wallets, but the power has been diminished before we got to open them. Just like the lesser evil, VWTW becomes a choice of voting between ALL chips that cost more across the board or no chips at all.

That's what i mean when i say VWYW in this system, at this time, is meaningless.