I absolutely don't know enough to know how legit or ridiculous that idea is, but it's been stuck in my head ever since I read about it here, and it's been fun to mull over.
What do you like about the AI integration? I'm considering leaving iPhone just to have basically native chatGPT integration, assuming gemini works that way, and assuming it can read and write to my calendar and access other personal data.
I've always wondered why all the big chains are closing stores, blaming shoplifting, to the point where Belltown no longer has a single pharmacy. But I haven't seen any of the small independant shops/bodegas close, including a small grocery shop right next to the 3rd/bell bus stop. I can't imagine that nobody is shoplifting from those. I'm no expert but it's never added up to me.
I steal a bunch of candybars from a convenience store. What am I going to do, sell them for $1-2/ea just like the bodega? The high-margin goods like beer and wine require licenses to sell; I lose any benefit of plausible deniability in where I got these goods when I try and fence these on the street or online. Selling them without proper license is always a crime and practically impossible online.
Meanwhile I steal a bunch of vitamins and OTC drugs I can sell at $10-20/bottle, packs of underwear at $10-20 a package. A lot of this can even be sold through Amazon at full retail pricing, I don't even have to try and sell it on the street.
I agree and even though I usually have a lot of complaints about Stephenson's later books, I just keep reading them for some reason. There are real high and low points. He's the only author who I've read completely and I love to complain about him.
