I found a scanner... And other thoughts

First of all, good news: I have updated the image of the flowchart appearing in the previous post and it now looks much better! Victoire. :)

Today morning I found myself thinking about a topic that I've had in my mind for a while. I recognise two aspects to it: one is the "buy three and pay for two" kind of deal that is so popular here in the UK. The other involves "membership/priority/club/whatever-suggests-an-affiliation-with-benefits cards". I guess I could engage a lenghty discussion on both aspects, but I think I'll limit myself to a rather concise comment on the second one, at least for the time being.

When it comes to club cards, the choice is fairly binary: you either decide to get one or say "No, thank you" instead. Clearly both choices are pretty much reversible, but let's not think about this - let's say you've made up your mind. What I then find interesting is the following observation: both choices affect your actions as a customer, the difference being in the way they do so. If you've got a club card, you'll be likely to become a quite regular customer - that's what these cards are made for, aren't they? This is a rather clear influence on your daily/weekly life. Now let's suppose you haven't got a club card: then what happens is that you may feel you've got more freedom of choice - and you're right, in a way. So you'll go wherever is more convenient depending on your actual needs, thinking that there is no bias in your choice because you don't own any membership card. Yet it may also happen that, after a while, you realise that you do go to that same place over and over anyway, which means that you could have benefited from getting such a card. Hmm. What do you do then? You may finally change your mind and become part of the club, so to say. Or you may resist. But why would you do so? Just as a general protest against consumerism? Fair enough. Sometimes you'll maybe feel like you're losing the opportunity to get a deal and spare a little money, but at least you won't have given up on your position. Ultimately, I guess that my point goes back to the beginning of the paragraph: yes and no are indeed different answers, but both of them will change your perception of that environment. Thus the issue is in the initial question to the customer: I know this may sound a bit over the top, but it just appears as though the offer of a club card is, in a way,  an invasive action as it effectively influences individual behaviour. Where does this lead then? Perhaps to this: no matter what choice you make - keep thinking with your mind and, if necessary, well... Disobey. [Please note that the photo above is not mine - I found it on the Guardian website. If you don't know where the mask comes from, you may wish to check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)]

On a rather different note, I was coming back home tonight when I noticed a whole heap of Harley-Davidson motorbikes neatly parked on a significant portion of sidewalk. The scene in itself wasn't particularly eye-catching, but as I walked through this metallic assembly I felt a wave of heat coming from the vehicles and heard tickling and cracking sounds from the motors that were, I presume, still cooling down - the metal slowly readjusting its structure to the new temperature conditions. Cool. Immediately after this post-industrial observation I wondered whether I would have heard the bikers leaving whichever place they were at on that street. The answer came half an hour later - and it was yes, indeed you can. Rrrrroaaarrrrr. My reply, well, I guess it is contained in the photo shown below (which I took in Vienna). :)