How MP3s Could Prevent Music Theft
Buying a treat at Starbucks the other night, I offhandedly asked the young lady behind the counter how many of the music CDs on their counter they actually sold. She said she thought they had more of them shoplifted. A co-worker concurred. They said the store had lost some $200 to shoplifting the previous month.
But what if everyone had a digital device and for a fee Starbucks would load music into your iPod or laptop or celphone or whatever? Cuppa Joe, Jack in, pay for both. Then they’d make their money from the music sales and not have to worry about the lifted CDs — they could still use a nice display for the music, but there’d be no point in shoplifting a piece of cardboard. (There I go, thinking out loud again.)
I’m not sure how to translate this to sandwiches, which she said were also a big item for shoplifters.