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Comment by alistairSH | Hacker News Reader

I'm shocked that people continue to "showroom" items. The local Best Buy has a terrible selection of items and the employees don't know any more about the products than I do. It doesn't make any sense to go to Best Buy for anything at all - there is almost literally zero value added by a big chain electronics store.

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I can think of a few things that you just need to see or feel.

I was shopping for a monitor and all the reviews on Amazon are great but I can't see the difference on my current monitor or what it actually looks like despite all the specs listed.

I did buy it on Amazon but only after I saw the actual differences in store.

Yeah for something like a tv or monitor, you have to see it in person or you're rolling the dice. How's the glare? How does it look from other angles beside straight on? Hows this 4K res compare to the one next to it?

Even if Amazon could provide a Hololens sessions for me to look at the product (which maybe they should do at some future Amazon retail location) alongside all the specs and reviews, it's still not going to bridge the gap of seeing it in person.

Amazon could integrate that into Amazon Prime Now (1 hour delivery service). They could charge a small showroom fee and have a driver go out with a "floor model" they keep at the warehouse and an unopened box model for if you want to buy it on the spot.

Wow. The value of human time is incredibly low, if that can be made to work.

I have this thought every time I see a sign waiver.

Depends on your preferences... I prefer to read reviews online then buy in the store. One reason being, you get the product right away. Second, if the product is defective, it is just another quick drive to the store to have it replaced.

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