Ads replace vacant storefronts

There used to be an incredibly disturbing full-store video billboard in midtown Manhattan. It looked like the windows and glass doors of an ordinary - if somewhat close to the sidewalk - office, except the perspective was skewed (which it had to be, existing on a flat video screen and all). I don't recall what it was advertising.

I've been seeing a lot more of these plastered-over storefronts lately. It feels sort of like living inside a big plastic product that hasn't been unwrapped yet.

Why pay to have a storefront in a busy location, when you can get all the marketing benefits for only 10-15% of the price?

You can then eat 8-10 times as much ramen (think: eat daily, not weekly) as you work from the room above your garage.

First thing I did was try to see if I could get one. But it looks like the $500/month deal was a one-off. But I'd do that in a heartbeat.

Perhaps they also need to consider discount office space for fledgling hacker business...