I think the key to the article can be found in this passage:
> [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research.
When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove (or whatever) in the world for you. Even in the largest stores, you understand that their shelf space is limited, and therefore you set your expectations not to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove in the world for you, but to find a glove that's good enough for your needs. As long as you can find something that meets your requirements at an acceptable cost, you come away satisfied. Maybe not thrilled, but satisfied.
The infinite variety of online shopping tells us to set our expectations higher than that. Suddenly every thing we buy has to be the perfect version of that thing for us -- because if it isn't, that means we are lazy dullards who lacked the research skills and/or wherewithal to go out and find the perfect version. Instead of it being the fault of the shop that we had to settle for good enough, suddenly it's our fault.
The only way out of this trap is to realize that there is no such thing as the perfect product, that even the works of the finest craftspeople are going to have flaws and blemishes on them, and that good enough really is, you know, good enough.
Or, in other words, that happiness is not a glove that you can buy.
There was one other difference. Most physical stores outside the poundshops and end of line discounters really cared about their reputation. It was hard work to supply gloves (or anything) to many of the better department stores as first you would have to prove they were well made, consistent etc. If they were crap you would also hurt the reputation of the store... End result is most of the choices were good enough and which you bought came down to fit, design or materials.
Meanwhile on the internet, and Amazon especially, no one cares about quality any more. 9 out of 10 results are bottom tier unknown brands selling gloves that photograph well. They may be barely 1mm thick, appear to be sewn by someone wearing boxing gloves, and won't last two washes, but look at all that "choice". That's really crap masquerading as choice. Amazon seem to foolishly believe their reputation is immune to the shite on the marketplace and in every Amazon search.
On the internet good enough is increasingly rare. Even a "trusted" brand races to the bottom. For most physical things, clothes and shoes especially, I'm back to the shops and sad that so many of them have closed lately.
I think your comment makes really excellent points. This line:
> The infinite variety of online shopping tells us to set our expectations higher than that.
made me think a bit -- that used to be true for me, but the effect is trending in the opposite direction now. I have learned that it's very nearly impossible to tell if a product being shown is actually any good or not unless I'm already familiar with that company's products, regardless of what the product listing or product reviews say.
It’s the overwhelming choice yes, but it’s also the fact that companies sell junk online that looks good in a photo and then of course you receive it and it’s useless. The reviews are all rigged and the brands are unknown to you, so there’s no way of knowing until you’ve purchased it, and then in many cases there’s no way or it’s very difficult to return the dud.
> Being overwhelmed with choice is known as analysis paralysis.
Yes, but my point is that the inability to tell whether or not a product is any good reduces analysis paralysis because it reduces the trustworthiness of the analysis.
You see the same thing with travel lodging. In the past, you'd maybe have a few hotel/B&B names. Maybe some recommendations from friends or Lonely Planet. (Or, maybe going back a little further, just tell your travel agent to just book something.)
Today, it's really easy to go down a rabbit hole finding the best/best value/etc. place complete with lots of squinting at reviews to see if they're for real and/or have the same criteria you do.
I mostly don't sweat it too much but it's easy to do so.
The flip side of infinite variety is also that there are some truly terrible products for sale online that would never make it past the selection process to get brick-and-mortar shelf space. So while going to a physical store results in just choosing the best of the available options, online shopping requires at least some research or else you end up wasting money on things that are utterly worthless or, worse yet, put your health and/or other property at risk.
It's one reason I like sites like Wirecutter and related. It doesn't necessarily work for categories where I have very specific opinions about what I like and don't like. But if I want a trowel, a USB hub, or whatever utilitarian object, I'll probably just order one of their recommendations and be done with it--and it will probably be just fine.
One of the reasons I have a membership to CostCo is that I've come to trust their product choices. If they only carry one variation of a product, it's almost certainly perfectly adequate and probably better than I could have selected on my own.
Bear in mind that financials in the form of exclusive corporate deals factor in, too.
I used to buy a lot of videotape at Price Club. I really liked the Maxell Hi-Fi tapes; they carried multiple grades of the Maxell line. After Costco took over, only Sony was sold.
Another example: the credit card partnerships. First Discover only, then Amex only, now Citi-branded Visa.
It's a case of "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good".
Some time ago I read about a paper on HN. It was explaining what can you do to maximize happiness in life. IIRC, one piece of advice therein was to avoid comparison shopping. You elaborated very clearly why.
> > [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research.
> When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove
Tinder for gloves problem sort of? The misleading impression of infinite possibilities on the Internet. In real life you optimize for local maximum only
> [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research.
When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove (or whatever) in the world for you. Even in the largest stores, you understand that their shelf space is limited, and therefore you set your expectations not to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove in the world for you, but to find a glove that's good enough for your needs. As long as you can find something that meets your requirements at an acceptable cost, you come away satisfied. Maybe not thrilled, but satisfied.
The infinite variety of online shopping tells us to set our expectations higher than that. Suddenly every thing we buy has to be the perfect version of that thing for us -- because if it isn't, that means we are lazy dullards who lacked the research skills and/or wherewithal to go out and find the perfect version. Instead of it being the fault of the shop that we had to settle for good enough, suddenly it's our fault.
The only way out of this trap is to realize that there is no such thing as the perfect product, that even the works of the finest craftspeople are going to have flaws and blemishes on them, and that good enough really is, you know, good enough.
Or, in other words, that happiness is not a glove that you can buy.