Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Small things I'd change if I was king

These are the small things, not grand policy ideas or anything.

My first things are consumer-oriented:
  • No car commercial can feature "Professional drivers on closed course." I want a car that requires neither.
  • Gasoline cannot be sold for per-gallon costs that include that stupid 9/10ths of a cent. $3.219 is not something you can make change for if I buy exactly one gallon of gas. Just sell it for $3.22 and be done with this ugly charade.
  • Rebates are evil, but if as a producer you think you must use rebates there's some new rules. First, you may not advertise the after-rebate price. That TV is not $200 (after $100 rebate). It's $300 and a $100 rebate may apply. Second, the rebate redemption process must be sane: a form that human beings can fill out my name and address (not some 1" square I have to cut out from the box and microprint my life story onto), receipt, UPC. That's it. Then 4-6 weeks later you send a check. No tricks or gimmicks that allow you to disqualify 99.999% of all submissions.
  • If your ISP or cell phone provider advertises "Unlimited" use, then they're not allowed to disconnect you for "excessive use".

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