Uncle Walter's Rants

Blockbuster Video - Chapter 11 Has Finally Come

I want to take you back in time to an era where you would stay up late to see a movie on TV, before HBO was everywhere and on-demand meant going to the movie theater.  Back when the small mom and pop VHS and Beta rental stores were replaced by the big all-mighty conglomerates, the largest of which was Blockbuster Video.  Can you remember heading out on a Friday night to pickup a movie or two for that evening?  Can you remember the late fees?  Can you imagine doing it now?  Me, I can't.

And that is why Blockbuster Video has declared chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today.  Why would you go pickup a disc and worry about late fees when there is Netflix, on-demand, and even Redbox?  What amazes me is that they are still trying to save it as it currently exists.  I think it is time to say goodbye to Blockbuster and all the video rental stores for good.  Their time has passed.

-Uncle Walter

 

Historic ‘Blockbuster’ Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past

Bye bye Palm

So, as a techie kinda guy, I have had PDAs throughout my life.  My current one is a Blackberry, but back in the day the first one I really used was the 3Com Palm III.  It was a marvel of engineering.  It ran off two AAA batteries, kept my contacts and calendar as well as notes.  I even had a 14.4 modem for it and could do some basic web surfing.  All in all it was pretty cool... but times changed.  The newer Palms really didn't add anything significant to the mix.  Then came along Pocket PCs and the Palm looked weaker and weaker.  The Blackberry went from e-mail tool to a real PDA and the Palm never really improved beyond adding color and some more speed.  The last Palm I worked with was also a cell phone, but it was pale in comparison to what would come next on the scene.

Appearing almost out of left field was the Apple iPhone (who would have expected that after the Newton?).  People were clamoring for one for year, they loved the iPod and wanted more.  But how could Apple compete against Microsoft which had largely failed in the PDA market, Blackberry which was growing and Palm which maintained market share despite their outdated designs.  Well, they did it with such an impressive launch that every PDA/Phone that has followed has copied at least some part of it.  The iPhone was the game changer.  Soon Blackberry came out with the Touch, and Microsoft pushed hard with Windows Mobile 7.  But Palm sat back, and appeared to rest on their laurels.  Occasionally releasing a model that would run Windows Mobile.  They were trying to fit that tight market between the Blackberry and the Microsoft Device, and really weren't doing either well enough.  Finally they got a clue and began development on a new innovation the WebOS.

On January of 2009 the world got to see the WebOS and everyone was impressed.  Would this be the thing to save Palm since it was been failing.  Would this restore faith in the company?  Well, that was the hope.  But it appears that it was too late.  The iPhone 3Gs came out, Windows Mobile 7 is hitting the market, Google has jumped in with Android and the Palm, once the crown jewel of the PDA, was left in the dust.  Today on April 4th 2010 word has come out that Palm is looking to sell itself.  Current suitors are rumored to be HTC (which makes Google's phone) and Lenovo.  

It hurts to see Palm go away, but this is Darwinian economics.  The weaker products that do not adapt either vanish or get absorbed into a larger entity.  The only hope then is that the larger entity doesn't collapse.  (Take a look at Fiat and Chrysler in a few years and you may see that happen)

-Uncle Walter

USPS Five-Day Delivery - It's about time

Take a look here: http://www.usps.com/communications/five-daydelivery/

The US Postal Service is struggling against a change in the way we communicate.  E-mails, faxes and on-line bill pay have replaced the traditional mail.  The Postal Service has seen their volume and revenue decline substantially. Because the USPS is a government agency they cannot legally complete with FedEx or other private carriers and as such cannot reach for the profitable sectors.  They are left with the daily, expensive, door to door business.  This has left them with a potential $238 billion shortfall over the next decade.  As a private company the USPS would be an epic failure.  As a government entity it is a drain on society.  It's services are still needed, but the need will continue to decline, while the cost will increase.  Removing Saturday delivery is a small step that will have a large impact.

It is the lowest volume day, it has the same cost as any other day, it isn't necessary, most companies are closed that day.  It is true that I will miss my Netflix coming on Saturday, but that is a small price to pay to see to USPS survive as they struggle to adapt to a new world.

-UW

Today begins the $2 revolution!!!

Yes I have done it!  I have officially stopped carrying one dollar bills and have switched to two dollar bills, and one dollar coins.  So far the reaction has been positive.  My coworkers have been supportive, even trading some of their obsolete one dollar bills for twos and coins.  The people behind the register have proven to have humorous responses with the two dollar bills.  One was amazed that I was spending anything that old.  I had to break the news to her that they were still in circulation and that the bill I was spending was new.  Then another was really surprised.  She said it was the first she had ever seen, another was thrilled to see and and when I went back to the store to get something else, they produced the bill for my inspection, to let me know they remembered me.  Now just to get others doing it.

So go to the bank, pickup some twos and start spending!  This will only work if we all spend money with $2 bills and $1 coins.  Death to the $1 bill.  They are too expensive and I am tired of them.  Long live the $2!

-UW

Death to the one dollar bill

It is time for the traditional one dollar bill to go away.  These things are everywhere, they wear out and the dollar coin does the exact same thing!  We still have the two dollar bill, so the one dollar bill is irrelevant especially when you look at what inflation has done to the value of the one.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says the average life of a $1 bill in circulation is 21 months before it is replaced due to wear, and 45% of all currency is made up of dollar bills.  Do you know what the lifespan of the dollar coin is?  How about 30 years.  Seems pretty obvious that we should kill the greenback bill right?  In fact in 2000 the Government Accountability Office reported that a full implementation of the dollar coin and removal of the paper bill could save $500 million a year.  Talk about an obvious thing to do right?  How about no according  Save the Greenback.  They lobbied, along with the cotton industry (cotton is in the dollar bill), to make it illegal to phase out the bill.

That's just f**king nonsense.  Hey everyone lets pay more because we like it.  Um, people we have the $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills without the $1.  It is time.  Let it go.  In a time where we want to slash the deficit, rebuild the economy, do "smarter" things we need to kill the one.  Sorry George, you have to go.  We will let you keep the quarter. 

-Uncle Walter

So Much Confusion and Ignorance on Car Seats

My efforts in disposing old car seats have met some cheers, so far no complaints.  In the interest of further this cause I started some car seat research, perhaps for a future Professor Walter post, and learned a bit more about these things.  One neat thing I found was the manual for my actual car seat when I was a little kid.  Take a look, it is a 1974 GM Child Love Seat.

 

Not too bad Mom and Dad.  Five point harness with tether, overall a pretty safe seat.  I even found crash data on the seat at http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/500/2/44653.0001.001.pdf

Unfortunately what the data shows (from 1980) is something that is still a huge problem today.  The seats are not properly used.  And, when they are not properly used, kids often die.  

So, I went on trying to learn the history of the car seat.  I found out that Jeans Ames invented the first one in 1962 in England, but not much else.  In fact there is nearly nothing floating out on the net on the history of the car seat.  I will have to get something up on Professor Walter before too long.  What was disturbing was the Wikipedia page.  The main data was fairly standard, but when you read the comments about revising the article I was appalled.  One comment in particular was just disturbing.  In reference to the laws and safe practice of putting children in the right car seat for their age/size, not using after an accident and disposing expired car seats.

"Does anyone else see the consumerism ends of this product? New seats bought as the child grows; not usuable after an accident; don't buy a used product; expiration dates; recalls; this is not a product of a sustainable economy. Is the limited percentages of reduced injury in a crash worth sacrificing the planet to landfills and polution that nothing can live in?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Child_safety_seat

I don't even know how to respond to this one, children's lives are not important, because there will be more landfill material.  Never mind the fact that most of a car seat is recyclable.

-Uncle Walter

Michael Moore is Annoying

Michael Moore is an odd character.  He has the skills to convey broad concepts tailored to his perspective.  He attacks capitalism, healthcare, and everything that gets in his way.  In Team America: World Police he is referred to as "A Socialist Weasel" by I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. and that is not out of line.  What surprises me is that Moore makes valid points, and is skilled at playing them out on the screen.  The problem is that he picks a side, plays it out, and calls it a truth.  In Sicko we see how bad the US Healthcare system is, but we don't see the positives of the system.  He is infallible in his "documentaries".  That is another problem, they are called documentaries, but they aren't.  They are politically motivated campaigns to push his ideals on whomever will watch. 

Honestly his movies are more like the cheap romance novels I see all too often.  Moore is the hero who has come to enlighten us and save the poor victims.  He will sweep us off our feet and show us there is a better, safer place.  Then he will attack our enemies or friends, or anyone he doesn't agree with.  The only thing missing is the pebbled summits, and trust me I do not want to see his. 

The worst thing about it is that he is so good at conveying messages, too bad all of his are diluted mutated truths.

-Uncle Walter

The American Healthcare System Needs Some Serious Help

Long long ago, in the 1920s our modern health care system began to take shape.  Plans were formed linking multiple hospitals together.  "Modern Medicine" was the wave of the future and it would save us all.  Well, not everyone (Uncle Walter would have had another Aunt if "Modern Medicine" hadn't give Grandma so many pain killers in the 1930s that the baby was stillborn).  Time marched on and around 1939 we had HMOs.  The health care insurance system evolved, we gained a bit of Medicare, which was, GOD FORBID, government run health care, yep Socialism!  How horrible, except for all the good it did for the people without insurance, but I am not going to debate medicare, today.

So our health care system evolved like a giant creature.  More and more people got insurance so they could go to the doctor.  Then more and more drug companies made better and better drugs, mostly for people's benefit.  Then the unthinkable happened.  People lived longer.  Strange as it is when people get check-ups and go to the doctor for simple things like cancer, they tend to live longer.  Combined with the baby boom there were more and more people in the health care system.  So doctors had more and more patients, so segmentation by specialty became more and more prominent.  The family doc will take care of you if you have the flu, but if you need to have blood drawn there is a flabotomist.  Yes, I misspelled it, I can't figure that one out. (phlebotomist -- edited to add by The Wife.  Sorry UW, couldn't let that one go).

Anyway there are docs for everything.  From simple to complex.  More and more people made sure that there would be mistakes.  Then you have big lawsuits, then big insurance to insure the doctors, who have to be protected from the insured, fueled by lawyers with lawsuits.  In turn the insurance companies, which keep in mind are for profit organizations, wanted to have less and less sick people.  Makes sense, less sick people, less to pay.  So, some plans say you can't go to a doctor outside of your plan or without talking to the on-call nurse to get pre-approval.  I kid you not, I know someone who had to get pre-approval for an emergency room visit and ended up waiting six hours for the on-call nurse to call back and authorize the visit for a real emergency.

Then you get to the absurdity of the plans themselves.  PacificCare is a good example.  They don't insure high risk professions, like policeman, or firefighter, or air traffic controller.  OK, I don't get the last one.  After that you have the fact that you may be declined for taking certain medications like Zyrtec.  I hope my allergies don't come back under that plan!  And of course the all mighty pre-existing condition!  God forbid you have AIDS, Cancer, Appendicitis (un-operated) - Good thing I didn't have their plan, obesity, acne, and more.  You can even be declined for being an expectant father.  You can read for yourself here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/PacifiCareUnderwriting.pdf.

The whole thing gets crazy and the prices go up while the coverage levels go down.  The insurance companies are at great risk of losing money, hospitals are going broke, general doctors become specialists so they can make more and we have a shortage of generalists.  Not to mention that it costs a bloody fortune to become a doc, and for that you only have to barely pass your classes.  I don't know my doctor's GPA, do you?

So, what the h*ll can we do?  Well, before we revise, change and alter the existing system, we need to know the history and realize the fact that the current system is a result of the natural growth of an economic entity reacting to the environment.  Next we look at the real question, does it work?  Yes, but not all that well.  So now what do we do to fix it?  Damned if I know.  I just complain about this stuff.  Lets hope the politicians are better at fixing this than I am.

-Uncle Walter

Thrifty and Cheap Are Not Bad Words

I want you to think back in time to a period where the world's economy was in collapse.  A time called The Great Depression.  This was the bell-weather event to which all other economic crises are compared to.  Never has it been so bad and never has it impacted our lives so much.  Herbert Hoover was the president when it began and bared the brunt of the blame.  Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was elected pushing his "New Deal" to revitalize the economy.  During this period of great economic unrest the we became thrifty and penny pinchers.  Our efforts helped to keep us alive until we began to emerge from the crisis.  Then, we had Perl Harbor.

WWII was the catalyst of change beyond measure throughout he United States.  Companies that were struggling to survive found their factories fully utilized to drive the war engine.  New factories sprang up, and we everyone became part of the effort.  The people maintained their thrifty ways and the US economy grew, basically on a massive federal stimulus package called war.  Then the unthinkable happened, the war ended.

Economists across the United States gritted their teeth and prepared for the worst.  We had built up a huge manufacturing base, and our only customer was leaving.  On top of that people were still set in their depression era ways and were reluctant to spend.  It was a new depression looming on the horizon.  Things needed to change, and change they did.

I would like to introduce you to Scrooge McDuck, created in 1947, he was the embodiment of what the public hated about the depression wealthy and projected the same thrifty values that everyone held dear.  He is one example of the public view changed to one that through of thrifty and cheap as bad words.  And Scrooge along with the other pressures to public view made an impact and changed the way we thought.  Now buying the new car was patriotic, and fixing things was cheap and wasteful.  Why keep that old thing going when a new one was only a few dollars more in the long run.  It wasn't long until a new post WWII invention made it's debut and changed the way we spent money.

The year was 1950 and Diners Club changed the world with the first credit card.  Now we began on a path of borrowing that we feel today.  Buying became easier and easier and bigger was better.  Our cars of the 50s and 60s exemplify that with their size and scope.  Not to mention our collective ignorance of the threat foreign auto makers were to the American makers.  The 70s changed some things with recessions and oil embargoes which set the stage for the foreign makers to take over.  But we did see recession gardens, a throwback from the victory gardens of WWII.  Thrifty seemed to have a chance again, until the 80s hit.  The bottom line is we boomed, grew and changed.  Debt soared, but it wasn't such a big concern.  We had $$$ we had cars, we had massive buffets.  We grew larger.  The old mentality of new is better and spending is patriotic spread to our foods.  We spent more, we ate more, we consumed more.  And it was all OK, because this was the American dream.  Eating a lot meant you were successful and American.  K-Mart was for losers, because it was cheap, I got my clothes at the gap.  How often have you heard someone say I'm doing my part for the economy by buying a new washing machine?  It was a wonderful consuming time and we loved it.  Then the world changed...

The dot-com boom was a sign of what a massive collapse would feel like. 9/11 changed our attitudes and people began to think of self-reliance again out of fear of the loss of public services.  But, cheap and thrifty were still bad words.  After all everyone was buying houses, things were great!  Then...

The housing bubble crashed.  The American dream began to fall apart for millions.  Finally, we began to assess just what the American dream was.  And at last thrifty began to become a good thing, or at least I hope so.  People are learning to keep their clothes longer.  Used isn't cheap, it is smart.  My dishwasher stopped working the other day, so I fixed it.  I hope everyone does that.  Yes, we will not buy as much, but it is time we learn to do more with what we have and make a change for the better by being thrifty.

Sadly there is a legacy we need to overcome.  Many baby boomers learned the ways of repair from their parents, but those skills were not passed on as the next generation (my generation) went out on their own.  We were raised on the beliefs that buying is better, and you need to pay someone to fix everything.  We have a gap of experience and knowledge that we need to defeat.  Thankfully the internet provides many resources for the do-it-yourselfer.  Check out www.instructibles.com

One final note, I encourage everyone to look at your life and belongings and see every item for more than it currently is.  Those old jeans that are falling apart and be used to patch other clothes.  The dishwasher is easy to fix with a little elbow grease.  The economy will thank you when you are self-reliant rather than borrowing and the environment will thank you for preventing the manufacture of another appliance or garment that we didn't really need in the first place.  Remember it is better to reuse than recycle (with a few minor exceptions to efficiency).  And above all remember that thrift and cheap are good words you should be proud to have attached to you.

-Uncle Walter

The economy is recovering, no wait it isn't, oh yeah yes it is, nope it's not except that it is...

So today the jobs report has shown there to be an increase in unemployment claims and job losses are declining.  Does this mean the economy is going down?  No it doesn't.  This is one of many indicators that appear in the news that help us to understand the path of the economy and its overall health.  Overall the indications are that the economy is in recovery mode.  Spending is slowly increasing, but hiring is going to lag on till the last possible moment.  Take a look at productivity, it has increased because companies are filling orders but not filling seats at the office.  They are taking a wait and see approach to confirm the recovery can be sustained.  Everyone is doing that.  Hiring will pick up toward the end of the recovery process and is the last sign of strength.  Job losses are declining as companies stop laying people off, but they aren't hiring... yet.  It will come in time.

So be patient and accept that a recovery doesn't happen overnight.  And don't take every economic indicator as the sign of the future.  No single aspect can determine the whole health just as you can't see painting by only looking at the shades of blue.

-Uncle Walter

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