Have You Noticed . . .

Have you noticed the subtle, well maybe not so subtle Internet changes.  Once you used to type a word, description or whatever and get several hits on the definition and meaning.  Not any more, all you get is "How can I sell you this item."  It gets harder and harder to find out the information you want or need.

The service/research element seems to be dying.  The sales element is on the ascendancy.  All the hits except for Wikepedia are for selling something, eBay, Amazon or some outfit like that.  If you look up Loews or Home Depot, they want to sell it to you on the Internet or at the store but no information about the product, at least not enough data to make a real decision.

I noticed a while back you could look up Briggs and Stratton engines, get part numbers etc. even exploded diagrams of how the engine is put together.  Not no more; you can buy the manual.  You ask a question and up pops three people that will answer your question - for a fee with no guarantee it will be the correct answer.  They no longer want to share information, they only want to sell information.  Sometimes a forum will be of help, but I note that even on the manufacturer's forums, they tend to clean out the old data or answers.

I was looking up oil filters for cross reference.  That used to be common data - uhuh not no more, just not there.  Go to Walmart and look in their catalogs by the oil filters, once again, cross references are gone.  They want you to buy mine and only mine, not anybody else's product.  They don't want you to know that a Briggs and Stratton oil filter at $13.95 can be had in the auto parts area by a different brand name for $2.95.  Takes a while of searching, got to go the brand's specifications and cross check thread size and relief valve (the by pass valve) rating.  Its all there but you gotta be creative in your search or they will hide the pertinent data from you.

It is sort of a kind of greediness.  Basically, I am not going to tell you anything anymore kind a of thing.  You gotta pay for it some kind of way.  No more free service.  No more assistance.  Gimme, gimme, gimme is mantra now.

I recall years ago I had Triumph Spitfire sportscar.  It had universal joints all over the place.  The main joint from the drive shaft broke down and I had to replace it.  I went to the Triumph dealer and he want $29.95 plus tax for the joint.  So I went looking in the junkyards.  Found a place that sold both new and used parts, a fancy junkyard but could convert part numbers and they did it for you.  Well what do ya know, I found the universal joint for $3.95 plus tax new.  It was a common General Motors product.  But Triumph would not tell you that.  Now days it is not so easy to find such information.

But if you are smart, you will search for the answer.  Takes some digging but it usually is out there for free if you work at it long enough.  Just got to be creative.  Sometimes you have ask for the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) when dealing with fluids.  They can not hide the data.  I once had a company say to me it was proprietary.  I said, I have to protect your data but the law says you have to give me the information.  I got too.