X-Message-Number: 10888
Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 10:27:32 +0100
From:  (John de Rivaz)
Subject: money

There is already a problem with industries marketing luxury goods and 
services. That problem is the customers' time, not their money. Already the 
source of customer-money is to all practical purposes infinite in some part 
so of the world. Customers are limited to the amount they will spend on 
hi-fis, personal music players and the such like because it consumes time to 
listen to them. That time competes with time spent gardening, enagaging in 
sports, eating out, going to public entertainment events and so on. That 
time is quite definitely finite - you can't get more than 24 hrs in a day, 
regardless of how long people live or how much money they have. If they are 
at the gymn they cannot be at the theatre at the same time. They cannot be 
using a computer, watching television and listening to a walkman at the same 
time.  

This probelm is likely to become more noticeable as technology advances and 
yet more opportunites appear to create leisure products anbd services.

One already sees today a pheneomenum I call "time gazumping" - mailings re 
special offers that have to be bought within a limited time before they 
expire. ("This is your last chance", "open immediately", "time sensitive 
material enclosed" etc etc) What these traders is trying to do is to attract 
your *time* from competitors.

There is a disturbing trend apparent in the marketplace in the UK, and 
probably more so in the US. That is to create a need for a service by 
legislation.  There was a recent example locally - a small-business local 
industry had a regulation applied to it that seems sensible at the first 
glance. However in order to comply, they must be inspected periodically, and 
the cost of the inspection is UKP50. The government has created an agency 
which qualifies fee earning people who are allowed to charge this 
exhorbitant fee. Most people working in this industry (I forget extactly 
what it was, it *may* have been oyster beds) reckon to earn UKP3.50 per 
hour.

If this trend is extrapolated into the future, money may be essential to 
placate protection racketeers of this nature. Mind you, I rather suspect 
that if this trend is not stamped out, technology will never be able to 
develop to a point where cryonics revival become possible, so don't lose too 

much sleep over waking up in such a society - you may simply not wake up at all 
:-)

-- 
Sincerely,     * Longevity Report:  http://www.longevb.demon.co.uk/lr.htm
John de Rivaz  * Fractal Report:    http://www.longevb.demon.co.uk/fr.htm
**************** Homepage:http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JohndeR
    In the information age, sharing can increase world wealth enormously,
        because giving information does not decrease your information.

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=10888