I went to my first indoor mall in 1960 with my mother. It was very cool. All indoors, with fountains and shops and food! - a real playground.

Now I wonder if there'll be any malls at all in 10 years. Or brick & mortar retail stores for that matter.

I like the process of shopping. But millennials and such were born into online services. Even the boomers that I know today, use Amazon for the day to day things. I've resisted for years - just because - but have had to relent in recent months. Sigh. 😢

Online will inevitably funnel down to a few 100s vendors who will handle 60-70 - 80% of the world's retail output. That notion gives me hives.

I like the idea of a 1,000,000 mom and pop stores selling things. I like talking to clerks and gaining insight in product usage.

In an Online environment, the "chatting" is perfunctory; the process dry and painful at times. Customer Service's scope is dwindling downward as sales outlets ratchet up and up. Today I can "return" a product in a millisecond and I suppose that's a good thing, but it just doesn't feel that way. I'd rather explain why the product didn't work so that things can improve.

I recently bought a $189 keyboard and the letters on the keys, lasted about 4 weeks before they began to fade. I ended up getting 3 replacement keyboards - all with the exact same problem. The last one began fading after 2 weeks. No quality control 9/10ths sales. I finally went to Staples and bought a $49 one that lasted much longer. 😒

Sorry, Paul, I'm going on and on. I really like this article and what it brings to mind. Yes, online is vital, yes online is absolutely needed today and in our immediate tomorrow. But f**k I like the old ways too. I like the interaction and will miss it.

Cheers