ONLINE GROCERIES GO BACK TO THE FUTURE: With Peapod and Webvan having both gone bust (in one form or another), my wife has taken to shopping online via Albertsons.com, which has the order ready for us at our local Albertson’s supermarket. A friendly clerk wheels it out, puts it in the trunk, and off we go, saving a good half hour or more of shopping, waiting in line, etc.
It put me in mind of Ike Godsey’s General Store from The Waltons TV series, which of course, was set in the 1930s. In the old days, a customer would enter a store and the clerk would fill his or her order, bag it, and carry it out–or, I assume, have it ready for them when they arrived at the store.
Alvin Toffler wrote that many trends of The Third Wave are First Wave trends revitalized with high technology. Working at home and custom made goods instead of mass production are two of several examples he gave. This seems like another one.
Everything old is new again–or is that the other way around?
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