Policy Updates
Disney Replaces Free FastPass With a Paid Line-Skipping System
Skipping the line at Disney World used to be free. Now it's a per-person, per-day, per-ride line item.
Latest
Discontinued
Blockbuster's 'No Late Fees' Promise (2005)
The ads said no late fees. The fine print said Blockbuster would just charge your card for the whole movie instead.
Under Review
Retailers Start Pulling the Plug on Self-Checkout
Retailers built self-checkout to cut labor costs. It turned out to also cut out the part where someone's watching.
Banned For Everyone
New York Apartment Buildings Ban E-Bikes After a Record Year for Battery Fires
New York's delivery workers charge their batteries at home because there's nowhere else to do it. Now their buildings say they can't.
Obituaries
Baltimore's Docked Bike-Share Program (2016–2018)
It lasted under two years. Some cities lost half their fleets to theft and vandalism before the first winter was over.
Corporate Memo
Airport Lounges Restrict Guest Access After Visits Jump 31% in a Year
Everyone got a lounge access card. Nobody built more lounges. Do the math, then read the new rules.
Corporate Memo
'Unlimited' Data Plans Get an Asterisk for the Heaviest Users
Carriers still call it unlimited. They've just quietly agreed on how much unlimited actually means.
Investigations
218 Bags of Stolen Potatoes and the Slow Death of the Honesty Box
A Lincolnshire farmer just wanted people to pay £2 a bag and trust each other. Then 218 bags disappeared.
Policy Updates
All-You-Can-Eat Doesn't Mean All-You-Can-Waste
A buffet in Switzerland now charges by the plate for what you don't finish. A London restaurant will fine you 32 cents. Somewhere, a tray is being loaded like a dare.
Community Bulletin
Paris Bans Rental E-Scooters After Residents Vote 89% to Remove Them
The scooters arrived in 2018 promising a micromobility revolution. By 2023, Parisians voted them out by a margin most elections only dream of.
Obituaries
Panera Cares, the Pay-What-You-Want Cafe Experiment (2010–2019)
Founder Ron Shaich called it a "test of humanity." After nine years and five locations, the results came back.
Policy Updates
Costco Ends Unlimited Returns on Electronics After Decades of Super Bowl TVs
For years, you could buy a TV, watch the game, and return it. In 2007, Costco decided that wasn't really a rental program.