How The Bots Stole Christmas (and all the PS5s & Xboxes)

If you missed out on your chance to purchase a PS5 or Xbox Series X, you are not alone. In fact, you might find it a lot harder to find any hot ticket item this holiday season, and potentially every major shopping event in the future, all thanks to bots. Jordan and Joshua explore the world of online shopping bots, programs that cut the line of any major sale to purchase highly anticipated products, such as gaming consoles, major and small appliances and sneakers, with the sole purpose of profit. They speak with VICE writer Patrick Klepek whose article shone light on these insidious tools being used to snag all the stock of your favorite items. This new form of online shopping is giving the unfair advantage to those who use these programs, and take items out of the hands of brick-and-mortar shoppers. So are these bots cheating or is it all fair in the world of capitalism?

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