Strange how so many businesses try to trick and manipulate their customers. Printers appear to be free—but ink cartridges cost big bucks, and their associated printers are covertly designed to reject carts that have been refilled or made by other companies. Razors are built to sell high-profit replacement blades. Software starts off dirt cheap; when users are locked-in the price of an upgrade skyrockets. Cellphones cost next to nothing, if one signs a multi-year service contract. And on, and on.

Imagine the same principle applied to running shoes: give them away, but craft laces so that they're quick to break, subtly incompatible with the competition, and horrendously expensive. (And if possible, try to cause the wearer's feet to get addicted to the shoe.) How happy would that make purchasers?

Or maybe figure out a way to be honest with customers, give them real value, listen to their changing needs, and run a business to be long-term healthy?

(cf. GamblingAddiction (5 Feb 2004), ...)

TopicEconomics - TopicHumor - TopicOrganizations - TopicSociety - 2005-08-14

(correlates: My Business, Hot and Sour, PushingTheEnvelope, ...)