Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Moral Dilemmas

We got a Wal-Mart flyer yesterday, advertising their Black Friday AM specials. On page 3, there's an ad for a Kodak digital camera - one of the EasyShare DX models (I forget exactly which one) for only $198. Jane and I have been considering the idea of replacing our much older digital camera for about a year now - it's been on the "things to get once the money's coming in" list since then.

Which left me with a quandary: I hate Wal-Mart. Because they're one of the prime offenders in the movement that's driving virtually all manufacturing overseas. Because they care about nothing except squeezing their cost of goods down a little farther every quarter. Because they abuse their workers something fierce. Because they were the key player in driving out all the intermediate-sized regional and local chains. And many more reasons.

So should I buy it there, even though I hate them? Well, I thought, at that price it's almost certainly a loss leader - or at best a break-even item for them. If I go in there, buy just the camera, and leave, I'm screwing them out of profits. That's good, right?

So while I thought about it, I also looked up the camera on the excellent Digital Camera Resource Page (the owner used to run a great informational site for PowerComputing owners). It's a good camera. Very good. But, fortunately my dilemma was solved for me while I read the review...

The camera uses a lens cap instead of a retracting cover. We don't want another camera that uses a lens cap. So it's now a non-issue, and I'll just sleep in on Friday. Whew. I feel much better now that I was able to duck the moral question.

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