Words On Wednesday

Long theorized by television and film, “Smell-O-Vision” is the idea that digital media could produce a scent to more thoroughly immerse the viewer. While there have been attempts and partially successful examples in the past, I do not believe we will ever achieve true Smell-O-Vision. And I’m not just being a doubting naysayer, I have genuine reason behind this proposition. This theory began from a discussion with my wife about purchasing Bath & Body Works  items for Mother’s Day gifts. We both prefer shopping online instead of visiting brick and mortar stores, but scents are one thing that will always require a store front. Without physically smelling the products, you can never know exactly what you’re getting unless it is an item that you’ve purchased before. We mused about how it would be nice if they could use Smell-O-Vision on their website to let you smell the scents from the comfort of your home. Before long, we started musing about exactly how this would work. To re...

Some merchants allow customers to receive digital receipts via email. Why can’t everyone? The Benefits of Digital Receipts Toys R Us is a surprisingly tech-savvy store chain. They allow NFC tap and pay, and you can even have receipts sent to your inbox instead of getting a paper copy. For me, this is amazing. First and foremost, it gives me something that I’m far less likely to lose. If I get a paper receipt, I usually just throw it in the bag with my merchandise. For items that I may need to return, I’ll put the receipt in my wallet. Either way, it usually gets lost or thrown away within a day or two. By opting for an email, I have a semi-permanent record of my purchase that I can’t exactly lose, and I can even search my email for later. Unless I delete the email, which I rarely delete emails, I have records of basically any purchase I’ve made at Toys R Us within the past few years. In addition to giving me a digital record of my purchase that I can easily find later, email re...