Computer Shopper - UK (2020-10)

RANTS&RAVES

ISSUE392|COMPUTER SHOPPER|OCTOBER2020 11

IT’SPRETTYGRIMoutthereonthehighstreetatthemoment.

Manylargeandlong-standingbrandshavealreadydisappearedor

soon will, thanks to acombination of Covid-19 and increasing

competition from online stores. And those retailers remaining are

making wide-ranging store closures and job cuts. From John Lewis,

Debenhams and Oasis, to Warehouse,Eat and Frankie &Benny’s,

the high street has been decimated over the past fewmonths.

Oneof thegovernment’slatestschemesto tryto turnaround

thesemisfortunesandbreathenewlifeintothehighstreetisaplan

foranewonlinesalestax.Thiscouldtaketheformof a2%levyon

onlinesales,whichwouldraise£2bnayear, orachargeondeliveries,

aspartof acampaignto cutcongestionandemissions.

Theideacomeshotontheheelsof theChancellorof the

Exchequer,RishiSunak,highlightingconcernsthatbusinessrates

enalisehighstreetstoresandgiveinternetretailers

an unfairadvantage.

Thisiscertainlytrue,andifthesepotential

measureswerebeingdiscussed10yearsago,I’msure

heywouldhavehadapositiveimpact.Perhapssome

fthenamesthathavealreadybeenwipedoutfrom

highstreet–BHS,Mothercare, ToysRUs–might

tillbearoundnow.

I’mallinfavourof levellingtheplayingfieldbetweendigital

and physicalstores,andanonlinetaxcouldgosomewaytowards

this.Andanythingthatcanhelpeasecongestionandcutdown

emissionshasto beagoodthing.

ButIhaveafeelingthatthelargeonlineretailersthatwould

contributemostto thistaxpot–Amazon,to nametheobvious

one –wouldsimplyfindaloopholeto avoidpayingtheirfairdues.

Thustheschemecouldwellenduppenalisingthosesmall

businessesekingoutalivingby tradingonline, andtheweb

giants wouldcarryonrakingintheirmillions.

Retailersarealreadywarningthatthistypeof taxwouldjustlead

to ariseinpricesforconsumers.Sothegovernmentcollectsits

£2bnayear–win;theretailerspassonthecostto theircustomers

–win;andweallpaymoreforourpurchases–lose.

Anonlinesales taxmay boostgovernmentcoffers,but thetechgiantswillprobably

findawayaroundit,andsmallbusinesses andconsumerswillenduppayingthe price

SEVERALYEARSAGOIreported, at fartoo early in the morning,

to aWestfield shopping centre that Samsung had inexplicably

chosen as aproduct-reveal venue.That product was the Galaxy

View,ahilariously misjudged tablet: at 18.4in diagonally it was far

toobig, and its hinged rear stand –which lookedlike it had warped

in the rain -allowed it to perch in both horizontal and portrait

modes but made it impossible to layflat.

It flopped, obviously,and at the time Iremember being annoyed

at the use of my time.Since then, however,I’ve grown to hold a

certain affection forthe Galaxy View.It’s that kind of ambitious,

refreshingly earnest and uncynical failure that asmall part of you

hastoadmire;anAMOLEDequivalentofTommyWiseau’sTheRoom.

Idon’t get to indulge in such admirationveryoften,as it’smyjob

to warn people off wasting their moneyondafthardware even if it

does have adoomed charm. Luckily,Samsung itself has revealed

hatthespiritoftheGalaxyViewisaliveandwell,asit’s

startedsellinganotherbonkersdisplaydevice:TheSero.

First, there’s the name.No, production ed Steve

did not miss an erroneously capitalised Tthere: it is

enuinely called The Sero,ortogive its full title,the

amsung The Sero.That’s the worst name of any

mateobject since the Ferrari LaFerrari.

nd, there’s the device itself.It’s a43in OLED TV (fine)

that can, like the Galaxy View,switch between horizontal and

vertical modes (hmm, okay) and is designed specifically for

watching TikTok videos (oh, heavens, no). So that’s £1,599 fora

television which only exists to accommodatethe fact that a

data-harvesting operation disguised as acutesyvideo app can’t

shoot in landscape.That’s assuming it doesn’t instantly break –the

precarious, easel-style stand doesn’t remotely look like it would

withstand aclattering from adog, cat or sugared-up child.

Suffice to say, Idonot like this product. And yet... Ikind of do.

It’s ambitious and unique and totallyhonest about what it wants to

be,even if what it wants to be is clearly nonsense.

Perhaps creations like this are likeable because theymakeit

easier to appreciatereal, if relatively boring, successes. Personally,

and as long as no-one actually drops cash on them, Ithink they’re

just fun to have around.

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