Mark, I will respond to our earlier thread, have a couple things going on that I need to tend to before I try to tackle that one. I tip my hat to you for even trying to define what it s to you, the prospect of doing so myself is somewhat daunting.

As for Best Buy, and places like it, I find that the sales droids, and thus their service, are without value. I assume that like myself, you research what your going to buy prior to buying it; more often than not you know much more than the people helping you. I one time purchased Jurassic Park, the DTS edition, only to find that it was not in fact DTS. I took it back, and exchanged it without issue, but prior to leaving the store I opened it (the new one) and found that this one was off as well. The manufacturer had just screwed up. So, when I told this to the droid, they called the ‘AV’ manager and he told me that it is the right version, and that DTS and Dolby 5.1 were the same thing. I got my money back when I explained to him the difference in bit rate between the two (never mind the different logo’s and that this particular DVD came in two versions…). That Best Buy left me alone after that. I actually prefer to be unmolested because I find it awkward to call a sales type on their BS. In my estimation, the Best Buys and whatnot are best used to put eyes to technical info from the net, and if the price and availability is right, buy.

I actually had a fairly decent experience at ‘Video Only’ over the weekend, in that the guy complemented info on details that I was unsure about without trying to sell something else. M’s dad is going to buy an HDTV monitor, and I will make it a point to buy it from him.

Kinda rambling, but, there was an article in the WSJ that I read the other day about the prodigies of Jack Welch. One of them went to Home Depot, and has done poorly; he centralized the distribution model as in the aircraft industry, and pushed for more and more temps. The downside is that they rely on just in time stocking’ and at times are without product in a retail market, and the high turnover of employees means that there is a dearth of knowledge. The lack of expertise in particular has lead to a growing market share for Loews and other hardware type chains. The Best Buys suffer from a similar problem, in that they have a fair amount of turnover and there is no incentive to stay and learn, thereby making one of real use to a customer. As sure as I may be about tech related equipment, the old guys at Home Depot or Loews intimidate me…