Quote:
Originally Posted by l_macd
Well I'm not going to argue over whether it's a question of ethics or morals, but I don't mean that in general terms browsing is wrong.
What is wrong, is taking advantage of the knowledge and expertise of a shop & it's staff with no intention of purchasing the product from them. I appreciate that not many people will care either way, but there is a difference between doing that and just idle browsing or actually going in to perhaps buy something.
If people want to argue that is just free market choice and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, carry on. In my moral code, you are wrong. But like you say fjtorres, tough sh*t for me then, eh?!  |
Is it wrong when I go to a bookstore, scan a ISBN with my phone to get Amazon reviews, and then buy from the bookstore? I'm taking advantage of Amazon's infrastructure, the 1000s of man-hours they put into designing the software that runs the site and the server bandwidth, with no intention of buying.
Is that wrong? Or is it only wrong if it harms a business model you have a nostalgic attachment for?
The people in this thread that are saying that it's some combination of wrong, immoral or unethical to browse but not buy are confusing morality with personal preference.