> the customer is supposed to select the supplier, not the other way around
Which isn't entirely right. Companies routinely chase after specific demographic groups. Porsche isn't exactly selling huge numbers of low-cost commuter boxes. Where you live is just as much a demographic category as anything else.
It doesn't mean it's not a crappy deal, but the article doesn't get how things work from the company side.
Extending the metaphor is off-topic, but Lamborghini (or Ferrari -- can't remember which) picks it's customers. In order to get on the waiting list for their small run cars, you have to have purchased one of their cars before and not done anything to piss them off.
When the supply is that low and the demand that high, the costs move beyond monetary.
Which isn't entirely right. Companies routinely chase after specific demographic groups. Porsche isn't exactly selling huge numbers of low-cost commuter boxes. Where you live is just as much a demographic category as anything else.
It doesn't mean it's not a crappy deal, but the article doesn't get how things work from the company side.