PlayStation 3 Madness
You can almost see it now: the "PlayStation 3 Law," which states that no manufacturer may release a product in the United States without having sufficient supply to meet preorder demand. Why would anyone want such a law, you ask? Ask people who are waiting in line for a PlayStation 3 as the following is happening around them:
- Two men hold up a GameStop in Elk Grove, CA and take several XBox 360s and four PS3s at gunpoint, presumably intending to resell the PS3s on eBay for upwards of $8,000 total.
- Two guys from Raleigh hired a U-Haul van to transport a group of homeless men to a local Target to wait in line for the PS3. They're paying $100 a day, along with food. The two entrepreneurs are planning on making the money back via eBay. The idea isn't necessarily a bad situation for either the entrepreneurs or the homeless men, although I could see that causing "crowd-reaction" problems in certain places…
- Like New York City, where people are gathered outside of Sony's 5th avenue store are getting antsy…the sort of antsy where they start shoving other people, turn into a mob and need to be arrested by police. Besides a seething mob in New York City, we have fights in West Bend, Wisconsin and a drive-by BB gun shooting in Lexington, KY
- Dr. Murray Newlin, a dentist from Columbus, OH hired 60 people to wait in 8-hour shifts at different Walmarts across Columbus to help him buy 15 PS3s for his grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Dr. Newlin abandoned the plan after numerous people complained to both him and store managers about the unfairness of the practice.
Ideas about foolish laws aside, I really don't get people's lack of control. Would it be cool to get a PS3? Sure, but I wouldn't spend $600 to $2,000 on it and I definitely wouldn't wait days in line to get one, especially if there was a pretty big change there wouldn't be a unit waiting for me when I finally got to the door.
I suppose I could take this time to write some sort of condemnation of human nature and human greed, but I'd not doubt come off as a self-righteous ass and be factually incorrect anyway. So instead, I'm going to make fun of people. To everyone who's waiting in line, especially those getting into fights, you're a bunch of saps for wasting five days in a line just so you can spend $600. Enjoy your purchase…if you get one.
Via GWN
