Gas And Ingredients Are Cheap, So Why Are Grocery Prices Rising? [Groceries]

Gas And Ingredients Are Cheap, So Why Are Grocery Prices Rising? [Groceries]

via Consumerist by Alex Chasick on 3/3/09

With the the cost of ingredients, gas prices, and interest rates dropping, why are food manufacturers continuing to hike prices and shrink products? According to the L.A. Times, supermarkets don't know, but they're as pissed as we are.

We noted in July that food prices were expected to rise. The justifications offered by the companies at the time were that the price increases were necessary due to the rises in the cost of production and commodity prices.

When we wrote that post, gas was about $4 per gallon. The price has fallen dramatically since September, to around $2 per gallon, about what it was in 2005. So fuel costs are no longer a justification.

The Times article cites a few examples of products whose main ingredients have also decreased in price, yet the products themselves have gotten more expensive (and gotten smaller). Kraft macaroni and cheese, for instance, went up by 9% this year, even though cheese and wheat prices have dropped by 38-68%. There's a chart that lists the drops in commodity prices over the last year; pretty much everything but chicken wings and pineapples have decreased in price.

Manufacturers blame the price increases on futures contracts they unwisely bought, and now they're paying too much for cheapened ingredients. Bad speculation strikes again!

Grocers, name-brand food producers at odds over prices [L.A. Times]
(Photo: billadler)

AT&T Mobility And RadioShack Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over $5,000 Overa...

AT&T Mobility And RadioShack Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over $5,000 Overage Bill [Lawsuits]

via Consumerist by Chris Walters on 3/2/09

A woman in Oklahoma bought a 3G netbook from RadioShack for $100, subsidized by a two-year data plan from AT&T Mobility. That plan comes with a 5GB monthly data cap, which she exceeded, and as a result her first monthly bill was over $5,000. Now the two companies are facing a class action lawsuit that alleges they are not clearly disclosing to purchasers that overage fees could be "astronomical."

We don't know any more details about the woman's story, but the $60/mo DataConnect plan offered directly from AT&T Mobility has a similar 5GB limit, and every GB over that bills at $480. If that's a reliable model, then we can assume this woman must have gone over her monthly limit by 9 or 10 GB.

And if that's the case, then WHAT THE HELL was she using her netbook for? Certainly not email or general web browsing—maybe bittorrent downloads, or streaming TV and movies. And if that's the case, then we're wondering just what kind of explanation was given by the RadioShack rep who sold the package. At $480 per GB overage, you certainly should be warned to be mindful of your data usage—but then that begs the question of why AT&T Mobility wouldn't contact her as soon as she exceeded her 5GB limit, or disable access since she's a new customer who might not understand the intricacies of overage billing.

Anyway, the lawsuit specifically accuses RadioShack and AT&T Mobility of:

...common law fraud and violation of state consumer protection acts in connection with allegedly false, misleading and inaccurate advertising of the netbook DataConnect plan.

"AT&T Mobility, RadioShack hit with 3G netbook class-action lawsuit" [RCR Wireless]

Amazon Allows Publishers To Kill Text To Speech Function On Kindle 2 [Amazon]

Amazon Allows Publishers To Kill Text To Speech Function On Kindle 2 [Amazon]

via Consumerist by Chris Walters on 3/2/09

The 8,000 member Authors Guild—the RIAA of the publishing world—has complained about the text to speech feature on the Amazon Kindle 2, which can read aloud your ebook in a computerized voice (something text to speech programs have been doing for years). The Guild says that's equivalent to an audio book, and that Amazon can't just allow it without paying extra, so last Friday Amazon caved in and announced they'll let writers and publishers disable the feature on a title by title basis moving forward.

If you don't own a Kindle 2, the problem obviously won't immediately affect you. But what's unfortunate about this is it's the second time in recent years that the Authors Guild has "won" a specious claim primarily because the bigger entity—Google last year, and now Amazon—didn't want to go to the trouble and expense of a lawsuit.

With Google, the Authors Guild managed to score a $125 million settlement and arguably interfered with fair use rights under copyright law. Now they're tampering with the functionality of a consumer device that they should have no control over. Google argues in the LA Times story that what the Kindle 2 was offering was completely within the boundaries set by copyright law, and we agree:

"Kindle 2's experimental text-to-speech feature is legal: no copy is made, no derivative work is created and no performance is being given," the company said. "Nevertheless, we strongly believe many rights holders will be more comfortable with the text-to-speech feature if they are in the driver's seat."

Lawrence Lessig, founding board member of Creative Commons, points out that by allowing the Authors Guild to prevail, "publishers get to control a right which Congress hasn't given them—the right to control whether I can read my book to my kid, or my Kindle can read a book to me."

"Amazon lets publishers and writers disable Kindle 2's read-aloud feature" [LA Times]
(Photo: ElvertBarnes)

RIAA Layoffs 'Bloodbath' May Be the Beginning of the End for the Evil Organi...

RIAA Layoffs 'Bloodbath' May Be the Beginning of the End for the Evil Organization [Inevitability]

via Gizmodo by Adam Frucci on 3/2/09

The RIAA is currently laying off dozens of employees in what's been described as a "bloodbath" at the lawsuit-happy organization. Could this be the end of the RIAA?

Hypebot, the site that reported the layoffs, says that the "RIAA as you know it is probably history by Tuesday." And yes, that means tomorrow. Offices are closing and over 100 people are being shown the door, so this is clearly a serious move.

Microsoft Tells Broken Xbox Owners To Find Their Own Shipping Boxes [Recessi...

Microsoft Tells Broken Xbox Owners To Find Their Own Shipping Boxes [Recession Watch]

via Consumerist by Alex Chasick on 3/2/09

Reader Zach's Xbox 360 just suffered its second Red Ring of Death. He dutifully called up Microsoft customer support to get a shipping box to mail his Xbox in for repairs, and instead was told he'd need to find his own box and ship it himself.

My Xbox red-ringed for the second time this weekend. Which is almost a relief after hearing how bad my disc drive was sounding, but not so much after hearing the new policy. I was told that Xbox no longer ships out a box to you and you must find a box to ship it out in. Yeah I guess its not a big deal, but I think it gives them another thing to hold over your head; "We are sorry, Sir, but you didn't back it well enough and it appears the damage was due to shipping, we cannot help you."

This might not seem like a big problem-it's just a box, right? Yes, but the problem that Zach had, the Red Ring of Death, is such a notorious failure in the Xbox 360 that Microsoft extended its warranty three years for RROD repairs. It's enough of an inconvenience that Zach's console broke from a design flaw and will be inoperable for several weeks; now he needs to track down a box and packing supplies for it?

Perhaps more importantly, as Zach notes, by making customers use their own packing materials, Microsoft is (depending on your level of cynicism) exposing its customers to further damage on their consoles or giving itself an irrefutable reason to deny a repair. The boxes that electronics companies use for repairs are uniform, sturdy things. In our experience, we've had anti-static wrap, form-fitting foam padding, and a solid box. That would probably cost about $20 for a customer to purchase; instead, he'll probably stuff a box full of crumpled newspaper and hope that his broken Xbox doesn't break any more in transit.

(Photo: Tengaport)