IKEA Becomes First Retailer To Let Customers Pay Using Time

While restricted at this moment in time to IKEA Dubai, this promotion opens the door to a significant and profound change in how consumers purchase goods, and in how they relate to brands. Timed to coincide with the opening of a new store in Jebel Ali, this new campaign encourages potential customers to visit IKEA more frequently, so that they can notch up more time spent travelling to IKEA’s outlets. By extension, it encourages them to spend more time in IKEA’s stores, which in turn will ultimately encourage them to buy more goods.

Dubbed “Buy With Your Time,” the idea behind the new promotion is that customers usually spend an inordinate amount of time travelling to IKEA outlets, usually because said outlets reside on the outskirts of towns. In view of this, IKEA has added “time currency” prices for every item in its Dubai stores, which are based on the average Dubai salary. As such, customers are now able to buy products using all the time they’ve spent travelling to IKEA over the years (in addition to the usual dirhams).

“Before the birth of this campaign, we realised two things: time is precious today, and many loyal IKEA customers spend a significant chunk of it visiting our locations, which are sometimes away from the city centre,” said an IKEA spokesperson. “We think it’s only right to reward our customers’ efforts by repaying them for the time spent reaching us. It’s our way of helping the Dubai community make the most of every minute.”

Of course, the really significant aspect of this story isn’t the fact that you can now spend time as a currency in IKEA. Rather, the involvement of Google Maps in the promotion entails that people who want to spend their time as currency have to not only download Google Maps, but also have to let it track them wherever they travel. In other words, the promotion is another step towards normalizing the idea that it’s okay to be watched wherever we go so long as we receive ‘free stuff’ in exchange. Given that Google recently became a trillion-dollar company, it’s not entirely clear if the trade is a fair one.

On top of this, the promotion is an obvious attempt to entice people into spending even more time travelling to IKEA. Yes, we may receive some rewards for spending half an hour or more at a time travelling to IKEA. But the long-term effect will be to seduce us into giving away even more time than we would otherwise have done. So instead of, say, learning a new language, a new musical instrument, or working out how to collectively organise a political challenge to the growing authoritarianism of our era, our time will be increasingly devoted to becoming increasingly materialist. We’ll be ‘compensated’ for the time we’ve lost by losing even more of it.

That’s why IKEA’s latest innovation could potentially become very significant. In letting us pay for goods with time, it could encourage more companies to follow its example. And eventually, this novel ability could induce us to devote as much time as possible to the world’s brands and corporations, as if they don’t already take enough of our time as it is.

You know a sunburn is not actually a burn, right? Not a burn such as you would get from acute exposure to a hot stove or an open flame. Sunburns are actually radiation damage caused by ultraviolet light. In the short term, this UV exposure causes redness, pain and peeling; in the long term, too much unprotected exposure to sunlight can lead to skin cancer.

There’s a silver lining here, though: the same UV light (in particular UV-C light, which has a wavelength between 200 and 280 nanometers, while visible lights smallest wavelength measures 380 nm) that damages the very DNA of human skin over time can be harnessed and used to kill off germs in a matter of minutes.

With a good UV light sanitizing device, you can clean surfaces like desktops and door handles, sinks and toilets, or those items that are always with you, like your phone. And by the way? You should really clean your phone from time to time. According to multiple studies, our phones are about the dirtiest objects in our lives, harboring on average nearly 20,000 distinct types of bacteria.

And while wiping down a smartphone with soap and water or isopropyl alcohol might not be the best idea, UV phone sanitizing cases won’t damage the device but will eradicate bacteria and viruses, so long as you use the sanitizing hardware properly and regularly. Here are some of the best UV sanitizers for phones and more.

PhoneSoap Wireless UV Smartphone Cleaning Case

This on-the-go case can kill off that plethora of bacteria and viruses likely covering your phone in a matter of minutes, and assuming you have a rather recent model of smartphone that allows for wireless charging, it will even power up your device while killing off your invisible adversaries. The interior of the case is equipped with Qi wireless charging technology, while the overall case is small enough to tuck into a purse, backpack or briefcase, so you can always have it with you. PhoneSoap Wireless uses four powerful UV bulbs and a mirrored interior that sends the deadly (to germs) light all over the exterior of your phone. 10 minutes is all you need for reliable viral eradication.

OLEY UV Sanitizer Travel Wand

This compact, folding UV sanitizing wand is just five by 1.3-inches when folded shut, so you can bring it with you to the office, on planes, in taxis, on trains and anywhere else you have to go. It can be powered by a USB cable or by four AAA batteries, further enhancing its true portability. The wand is ideal for use on doorknobs, keyboards and other surfaces you just can’t avoid touching at times. And at all times you’ll appreciate its built-in safety shutoff feature: of the wand detects that its light is shining upward, potentially toward your eyes, it turns off automatically.

ZAMAT UV Disinfection Lamp

Like many viruses, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can live for many hours or even days on certain surfaces, such as cardboard or metals. But perhaps more disturbing is the fact that viable viral agents (viruses are not technically calls, remember) can be found in the air hours after an infected person coughs or sneezes. Thus an ultraviolet light disinfection lamp like this one from ZAMAT is a wise choice for anyone who may have to share air with potentially sick people. It can effectively kill off germs in an area up to 150 cubic feet, so it’s perfect for people who work in cubicles or smaller offices, or for anyone who can simply set the device up nearby, preferably right there on his or her desk.

CASETiFY UV Sanitizer

While the CASETiFY UV Sanitizer was designed for use sanitizing and sterilizing smartphones, this large UV-C cleaning case is big enough for much more than your Samsung Galaxy Mega or iPhone 11 Pro Max. It can be used to sanitize jewelry, glasses, wallets, watches and full-sized pieces of silverware, something you might think twice about using without being certain that they’re clean in these COVID-19 days and beyond. The case uses six UV lights and eradicates up to 99.9 percent of germs in just three minutes.

This seriously powerful handheld UV sanitization wand is perfect for use in areas of high concern about viral infection or bacterial colonization. It might be overkill for use in the home or small office, but if your work or travels take you to high traffic private or public places, it is well worth its price tag. It casts out a light wavelength at 253.4 nanometers, right in the sweet spot for UV-C light, and the lamp should be able to fully sterilize the exposed surfaces of spaces like larger bathrooms or smaller offices or kitchens with about 30 minutes of diligent use.

XBOCMY Germicidal UV Light Bulb

Unlike with most UV sanitizing products that are a completely new piece of hardware, this UV bulb can be screwed into any standard light socket in your home or office. It can help kill off viral agents and bacteria in an area of about 400 square feet, so it’s a great addition to large bathrooms, bedrooms or other areas where you spend a good amount of time daily. Letting the bulb shone for just 15 or 20 minutes can help clean out a smaller space, like a closet, while using it for an hour or more can render larger spaces much safer thanks to greatly reduced germ presence.

CrazyCap UV Water Bottle Purifier Cap

The water you get from the tap at your home is almost assuredly free of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and is, in fact, likely free of any harmful bacteria or viruses. But if you are out camping, compelled to travel abroad or for any other reason left with a water source you don’t fully trust, this UV water sanitizing system is a great way to be sure you sip safely. The cap features a UV-C light that can kill off some 99.99 percent of germs in the water, making it safe for you to drink in just two short minutes.

Source :Forbes