Search for DVD RAM and other Arthurian tales of conquest!

Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I still find shopping at a store convenient. Check that. I found shopping at stores convenient. Due to my own ignorance it took me about a week to purchase a medium called 'DVD RAM'. My trips to OfficeMax and back, and Best Buy and back were met with the increasing frustration of not being able to find this apparent grail of data storage.

What is the benefit of having a big box store like a Best Buy or OfficeMax? Initially, I thought the stores would have the lowest prices based off of their ability to squeeze wholesalers via the 'Wal-Mart effect'. No, webfronts are cheaper. Well, certainly, the customer service would be better. No and no. I had to flag down a woman in OfficeMax after she looked at me twice and passed me by. Best Buy consisted of three separate clerks passing me as I was the only person waiting in line at... Customer Service. Flexibility with inventory? Also a no. The DVD RAM that were waiting to be purchased at the Lee's Summit and Independence Mall locations were not able to be moved to any of the Kansas locations. So they remained unpurchased by me. What if I had wanted a $10,000 plasma television? Would I had encountered the same problems? Wouldn't that be considered a flaw in the business plan?

With increased internet security for credit use, shopping on the web will become even more prominent than it already is, and will relegate the retail industry into two types: apparel and customer service. People's time has become more valuable than ever and the idea of driving 25 miles to pick up data storage that should be accessible within a mile will become heretical in the very near future.