NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] German firm creates "online changing rooms" + Woody Allen
German firm creates "online changing rooms" + Woody Allen
http://j.mp/urP0JL (Guardian)
"But while many people are now confident enough to buy books and DVDs
online, few shop for clothes on the internet - just 7% of all clothing
sales are made online in the US, for example, compared with 61% of all
books. It's not hard to work out why: what if that dress doesn't fit?
No wonder 40% of all clothes bought online are sent back, according to
a study by ibi, a research institute attached to the University of
Regensburg in Bavaria. A new German firm aims to solve this problem
by allowing shoppers to upload a highly detailed set of measurements
to online retailers to decide which garments are likely to fit best."
- - -
The link above was sent to me by a reader concerned about the "privacy
aspects" of these measurements. Frankly, I don't really see a privacy
problem. There isn't much nasty that anyone could do with my perfect
(ah, uh, cough) measurements. And even with precise measurements, my
suspicion is that typical manufacturing tolerances and variations of
the garments themselves would remain an impediment to a largescale
online migration for clothing purchases.
Still, the concept *does* immediately call to mind this sequence from
Woody Allen's film classic "Sleeper" (1973)! -
http://j.mp/rJMkLH (YouTube / ~30 seconds)
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
_______________________________________________
nnsquad mailing list
http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad