Perspective: The decline of Black Friday

Police and security guards reported only sporadic conflicts and violence between shoppers on "Black Friday" and this past Thanksgiving weekend.

My god, what's happened to us?

Just a year ago, police had to subdue a crowd with pepper spray at a Target in Tysons Corner, Va., that had been waiting in line to buy a PlayStation 3. Meanwhile, Wii mania gripped shoppers elsewhere. Early shoppers tried to sell their places in line and then hawk their consoles for excessive prices on eBay.

And for the past three years, Wal-Mart has offered super cheap laptops as bait to shoppers, who responded by trampling each other in the predawn light of store parking lots. In 2005, police had to be called in to restore order to the electronics department at Wal-Mart in Mountain View, Calif., claims one witness.

"A few years ago during a Thanksgiving holiday in Dallas, my wife and her sisters got up before dawn Friday morning to go doorbusting, hitting the sales at Target and other retailers on the biggest shopping day of the year," wrote a blogger of his experience a few years ago. "I thought this sounded nurse-a-shotgun dreadful, but when I saw some of the prices at computer stores, I became one of these sad, bargain-crazed freaks."

Don't be ashamed. We're Americans. The British came to prominence by being great sailors. Germans have excelled in music and math. The Japanese cornered the market on precision engineering.

We know how to find a bargain. Our national motto should be "Ten percent off." And scoff as you might, the obsession with a good deal has had tremendous historical impact. Advertising led to the growth of a free and robust press. The Internet is a creature dominated and subsidized by shopping. Globalism and the slow alleviation of poverty in Asia? Due to the quest for a cheaper Etch-a-Sketch. We started a movement to let seniors live lives of quiet, fulfilling dignity, and led to discount coupons for the Olive Garden.

In that context, it is a cause for concern that no one got injured looking for hot deals on a bed liner for a Ford F-100?

Personally, I blame the electronics industry. For the last few years, they have enticed buyers into stores with large flat-screen TVs and consumers have responded in turn by snapping them up.

The big items this year so far have been the Kindle, an electronic book from Amazon.com, and the new version of the Sony Reader. Both are beautiful products. Unfortunately, both are books. Don't you people read the news? Reading books for pleasure is way down, according to the National Endowment for the Arts. Only 31 percent of adults with bachelor's degrees are actually proficient in reading.

And you can bet that the ones who do read are a bit more circumspect than the average bear. They might "accidentally" nudge someone in the Brookstone outlet or mutter something clever behind your back. But, no, they won't likely try to shiv you because you got the last Sony Reader and they really, really want to give their wife a device that will let her read David Sedaris essays in the PDF format.

And I blame Americans, too. The obesity epidemic is clearly out of hand. Are we so fat and lazy that we can't raise a fist in anger against a complete stranger who happened to grab the last Barbie Jam with Me Pretend Karaoke Guitar?

Weirdly, the only company (and consumer niche) that's kept up its part of the bargain is Apple. Earlier this year, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company whipped up an orgy of conspicuous consumption with the iPhone. People paid $599 to get one. Then many howled when the price dropped to $399, thereby marking perhaps the first protest in history against a price cut.

I've always viewed Apple somewhat skeptically, but this fairly calm holiday shopping season has given me a new appreciation of its talents. The company has convinced individuals that the way to become independent and original is to stand in line and buy something. Other companies need to understand that, too.

The lack of violent outbursts might be a reflection of current economic fears. But, to me, it seems like the holiday spirit is slipping through our fingers.

Biography
Michael Kanellos is editor at large at CNET News.com, where he covers hardware, research and development, start-ups and the tech industry overseas. He has worked as an attorney, travel writer and sidewalk hawker for a time share resort, among other occupations.

More Perspectives

[bobdonohoo]

So misleading...

ShopperTrak is reporting through Yahoo Finance that sales are up 7.4% over the weekend and yet the author of this article suggests otherwise through the title. Instead of giving any kind of numbers to support a decline the author speaks of the ?manners? of shoppers. Sir, what is your point in writing this article?

[Neo Con]

One theory

His point is to be snarky, condescending and elitist. And to mislead the reader into thinking the economy is doing poorly. Sound about right?

[J_Satch]

re: So misleading...

"Sir, what is your point in writing this article?"

Uhh, humor maybe?

[WJeansonne]

Keen observations, Michael!

I just love the way you write, man. And I laughed out loud at this particular passage:

"Weirdly, the only company (and consumer niche) that's kept up its part of the bargain is Apple. Earlier this year, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company whipped up an orgy of conspicuous consumption with the iPhone. People paid $599 to get one. Then many howled when the price dropped to $399, thereby marking perhaps the first protest in history against a price cut."

How true!

[M C]

How was the Kindle "one of the big items"? How many did they sell?

CNet still hasn't told us - they simply base their stories and posts on the product page "Unavailable" notice.

Until someone actually does their job and REPORTS on this, all you're doing is spreading a myth.

[J_Satch]

Jeez, people...

Lighten up! You could see his tongue bulging in his cheek from a mile away!

Funny article. :)

[M C]

The problem with "humor"...

...is that unless it's actually FUNNY, people kind of take it seriously. ;)

[TV James]

Did they change it?

I thought CNET had a policy of noting when they made revisions to their articles... by the time I read it, the humor had been apparently edited out.

[Xtoo]

What a waste...

of words and my time until I realize this article sucked!!!

[TV James]

It's pretty easy to tell.

As soon as you see his smug face and byline, you know you needn't read any further.

Every time I do, I'm disappointed. This guy is a moron and a jerk and I'm offended by his use of little-g "God" in this article. It's uncalled for.

And for what, to express his extreme disappointment that people aren't shooting each other over great deals on plasma TVs?

It's frustrating that this jerk gets paid for writing this and CNET makes money off the ads next to his articles. (Though they probably make more off all the ads next to these posts critical of the original article and author.)

[thedreaming]

Slow news week...

This was a worthless and inaccurate article focusing on the lack of violent behaviour of early christmas shoppers.

[skellener]

Lame article....

Why do YOU think there isn't as much craziness during Black Friday? Could it be maybe people just shop online and avoid the whole crowd scene all together? Or maybe there just isn't that many good deals on good stuff? You'd think less craziness would be looked at as a good thing.

[sethwr]

DOWN WITH CONSUMERISM!!!

Americans NEED to stop buying so much **** that they don't need...
It's disgusting...

[carrier9]

Here's one reason...

The "bargains" were not -- very few to none freebies or 75-90%
off. We've been spoiled for too long. Businesses too are tightening
their belts and guarding their bottom lines.