I was exactly the same! But then StarCraft 2 came out, I went out of my way to purchase the retail box, it had nothing more than a slip of paper with a CD key inside, I grudgingly went to download it and Blizzard demanded a bunch of PII from me. I regret the purchase.
Not making that mistake twice. I imagine this is one of the reasons that Steam is so successful. No surprises and near zero friction. Why risk going elsewhere as a consumer?
Steam requires the same bullshit. It's just that you only do it once, and it remembers your PII for your future purchases. In this way, centralised marketplaces have lower friction.
Did Steam change something? I first opened the account to claim a game via license code. It only required a working email at the time.
Later I chose to provide my credit card for convenience. As far as I know I could have instead used gift cards or prepaid cards.
Regardless, there's also an issue of trust. I might choose to provide PII to a large central marketplace that has a good reputation but providing it to each individual producer seems highly questionable.
Stuff like fans for extra downforce and higher power engines were tried in F1 but ultimately they push the limits of safety too far. Wouldn’t want to be in that car if it popped off the ground or the fan failed.
The limits on safety are moved in both directions all the time.
Example of more safety: the halo device.
Example of less safety: driver controlled active aero in 2026.
It was dogma that it would be unsafe so it has been forbidden in F1 since aero has been a thing in car racing. Then they remove energy recovery from the exhaust (the MGU-H) to lure new manufacturers in. They don't want to add refueling again, they don't want to make a bigger ICE and they are scratching their heads for how to run in about the same lap times with the same amount of gas and a less efficient power unit. So they reduce drag with active aero.
They could have allowed it at least since they let DRS in, or allowed fans. Both are greener ways (as in more energy efficient) to run fast and generate downforce than throwing HPs at it.
Anyway 2026 cars will lap slower than in 2025, especially on fast circuits like Monza because a less efficient engine is still a less efficient engine and simulations show that active aero can't compensate the loss of the MGU-H. F1 has been getting more and more prescriptive with its technical regulations since at least the 90s.
my custom logic runs as something in home assistant usually, haven’t yet had a need to add stuff in the esphome config yet (although I could imagine many situations where it’s necessary)
I have a mental list of who the fast/slow checkout people are at my store, would be curious to see numbers but I think the fast people are more than 2x as fast as the slower ones.
An example of my experiences: you’ll get the apple with the bruise and maybe some damage instead of the nice one you’d pick out if you’re shopping for yourself.
A counter-example - with a weekly shopping list way too long (family of 4), its hard for the husband to pick up all items as fresh as possible and do all necessary checks on each of them. Or in other words - even people themselves do make same mistake, I certainly do.
People will forgive themselves for saving money, but will not forgive others at the delivery service for charging extra.
There is no delivery service that's cheaper and good enough, or dirt cheap and expected to be awful, but those are large profitable retail operations. The only sector offered is more expensive, which annoys people if they occasionally get a below average item while also paying a lot more.
Delivery is for people who buy tenderloin not ground chuck and they get MAD when their tenderloin isn't perfect.
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