partial_accumen

but the quality of stuff from Amazon lately I might even cancel that.

Do it. You can still get free shipping on orders over $35 which further acts as a disincentive to buying things. Our household canceled Prime when the ads came. It was rocky at first just because we were so used to being able to order and get something quick. However, the shipping times kept increasing (no where close to 2-day) and the cost of Prime kept going up. Ads was the last straw and we dropped it.

Look at the cost you’re paying for Prime and consider how many orders you’d have to place to break even (using the Prime membership money just to pay for shipping when you need it faster, etc).

if they are stupid and scrape serially. the AI can have one “thread” caught in the tar while other “threads” continues to steal your content.

Why would it be only one thread stuck in the tarpit? If the tarpit maze has more than one choice (like a forked road) then the AI would have to spawn another thread to follow that path, yes? Then another thread would be spawned at the next fork in the road. Ad infinitum until the AI stops spawning threads or exhausts the resources of the web server (a DOS).

I remember Service Merchandise! That conveyor belt delivered magic.

I’m waiting for the ultimate reductive customer experience. These drug stores will eventually block off access to the shelves and aisles entirely. Instead, the front point-of-sale area and places where people used to wait in line with their purchases will be turned into a new blocked off large vestibule with floor to ceiling transparent glass. In there (where customers can access) will be kiosks which can control tele-presence robots that will let customers “walk the aisle” to look at product on shelves:

If you want to make a purchase, you press a button on the kiosk and pay for it, then a human worker inside will fetch the item off the shelf for you and drop it in a transaction drawer where you pick up your item:

If you can’t have everything, you’d prefer nothing? Isn’t that the same logic that got us a second trump term?