Let me tell you my black friday story, a precursor to my rant.
Very earlier this morning, before I went to bed, I shopped – for myself. Turns out Amazon had some great deals today, so I bought two things. One, will be claimed as a gift to myself, Left 4 Dead for the 360 (can’t wait to play it, I’ve been really into gaming lately). The second was a great find, since Sara needed an iPod dock/speaker system for a secret santa gift, an awesome deal since those types of systems are always over our SS budget.
…stay with me you anti-consumerists…
In the evening, we conformed the traditional way and went to a brick and mortar store. Turns out we found Avery something we’ve been looking for for a while and some long overdue cloths for my wardrobe – all for rock bottom prices.
So for all of those condescending people that think everyone should resist from purchasing something after Thanksgiving through the end of December, what the @#$%?
Why can’t I buy something, for a discount? Regardless if I were to buy it any other day of the year, especially on sale. Shouldn’t the point be: don’t buy anything at anytime, ridiculous but would make sense.
If you’re not familiar with the commandments of the BNC, here we go:
Session 1: Take a risk, don’t conform to those in the spending spree. Mary, the unwed mother of Jesus, went against the grain. Think about it.
Out of all the things the bible teaches, you’re clinging to “consumerism”, labeling me and practically everyone else as a conformist. Really? Mary? She’s the one you choose to be the the example of non-conformity in the bible, really?
Session 2: The best gifts come in no packages. The Christmas story is all about flipping the system on its lid.
So punk rock but true. The best gift is love and showing affection, however, the better gift is a package given with love to show affection. Oh man, did I just flip the lid that was just flipped?
Wonder how the packaged foods for starving children around the world fit in.
Session 3: Image is everything? Well, don’t get pegged as a mindless consumer, be a rebel this Christmas.
This is the part that pisses me off the most, it’s pretty obvious why. How patronizing can you be?
Then there’s the quote in the image, I think it should read: “where did I say that you should make ridicules rhetorical questions in my name?”. Better yet, “where did I say that you should judge others actions instead of saving the world?”.
Let me say, I do believe our consumerist society is a cancer to our well being, lthe “financial crisis” is proof. And I’m not a capitalist, but I will spend money and whether it’s for the betterment of God’s people or myself is my decision.
Lastly – give me a break, IMO these “movements” are a lost cause help – their points are lost in the condescending message for the sender to feel righteous*.
The solution: bless one another and give the “right” gift, love one-another and don’t be condescending and judging, and in doing so celebrate His gift this Christmas the most.
*these types of things remind me of schoolyard name-calling, where you bring down another to feel better about oneself and actions.
Purchased the ATH-ANC7s a couple weeks back and they’re the first pair of “real” headphones I’ve ever purchased over $40. At first I was looking at the Bose QC headphones but I couldn’t rationalize a $300 purchase. Instead I bought some Sony headphones a year ago and they’ve suited me enough to not really care too much. Now, work has been a little loud and it’s only going to get more chatery around my office so I started looking again only to be convinced that $300 is just too much for headphones–again–, even if I’m going to have them on for 6 hours a day x 5 days a week.
Then I read an article in Wired magazine reviewing noise canceling headphones and they rated the Bose QC 2s at 8/10 and their pick for best noise canceling headphones was these Audio-Techincas at $240 list. Soon after reading I went straight to Amazon and noticed the $130 tag, then eBay and found Amazon’s deal was huge so I ordered them through Prime.
After 2 weeks of using them I’m loving them. The sound is crisp and powerful, they sound so good that every other stereo that before sounded okay now sounds like crap.
The set is very comfortable. The design makes you want to put the headset on backwards but after putting them on I had to think the unique design contributed to comfortableness. The cups fit perfectly over my ears and the padding never irritates, they do make a suction after a long time of wear (if you have very short hair on the sides).
The quality of the headphones are notable. It comes with a great soft/hard case, especially if you’re planning to using them for travel. My one complaint, the cord it comes with is too short, at only 6 feet (standard) I’m in the need of buying a longer one. But with the set having a jack it allows for getting a male-male cord for use and let’s you use the noise canceling without any cord.
The Noise Canceling is good. I had wanted it to work perfect, not allowing anything in but as expected only the consistent ambient noise was canceled out. Something I didn’t expect was, voices actually sound crisper. At first I thought these were a waste because of the noises and voices I still heard but I found myself trying to listen for noise rather then just using them. So after a few hours I was comfortable enough to the point that I couldn’t even hear the phone sitting next to me with just some light music playing.
Overall, the phones are great. Wired rated them at 9/10 and I’d have to agree although I’m completely biased. And at such a large price discount they’re definitely worth it. I’ve already purchased a set for a fellow employee and I’d suggest anyone thinking of noise canceling headphones to get these now while you can.
I’ve been a loyal shopper of Amazon for years and I just noticed this last Friday that the problem to my unsaid grief for the last year or two have been the result of two accounts. It was a real pain to not have any order history online except my email archive. And I don’t know how it happened either because the puzzling thing, both accounts had the same email address and password. So there was no way to tell, except when I went to change my e-mail Friday I noticed my history showed up and I could log in with my other email perfectly fine.
Other then having a limited experience with amazon everything is fine now. Even my Prime memberships have been straightened out. And yes I actually had two paid for memberships; one I bought 6 months before the second without realizing it had only been 6 months. What a strange incident.
Amazon’s Amapedia is a wiki for products. Pretty cool but I wonder if it’ll take off since like all wikis it’s highly dependent on user input. … Read More »
January 26
I’m not really there but I intend to post what I find as fast as I can here.
- AND ONE MORE THING…
You’ll be able to buy TV shows from the iTunes Music Store – Desperate Housewives, Lost and more shows from ABC and Disney. Five shows will be available to watch on iPod or computer: Lost, Desperate Housewives, Nightstalker, The Suite Life and some other Disney thang. $1.99 an episode.- iTunes iTunes has an 84% market share in the US. Five weeks after the launch of iTunes 5, here’s iTunes 6. Surely video downloads are the order of the day?
- here are the big changes: firstly, ‘gifting’ – you can buy music for other people, who get an email telling them to download. Next: customer reviews – Amazon-style peer reviews of music.
iTunes iTunes has an 84% market share in the US. Five weeks after the launch of iTunes 5, here’s iTunes 6. Surely video downloads are the order of the day? Hell yes.
- here are the big changes: firstly, ‘gifting’ – you can buy music for other people, who get an email telling them to download. Next: customer reviews – Amazon-style peer reviews of music. Third: Just For You (beta) – a recommendation service, again similar to what Amazon offers.
- and finally… music videos. Currently there are 2000 available to buy. But they’re gonna cost $1.99. And Pixar are offering 6 short films, also for $1.99. The price seems a bit high, and didn’t get a cheer from the audience. The videos take the space of six songs (so about 20MB) and have the same rights management as music tracks.
- – iPod. Apple has shipped over a million Nanos in less than five weeks. Now, it’s the NEW white iPod – and yes it does video! The format is similar to the old pod – 2.5in TFT display with 320×240 pixels with realtime decoding of MPEG 4 and H.264. It’s only 260,000 colours but it does have video output to connect to TV.
- - The video iPod is available in 30 and 60 GB capacities – and both are thinner than the current 20GB Pod. 30GB will be $299, 60GB will be $399. UK prices will be confirmed later. And did we mention it was available in black? Oh yes, and it comes with a case, so don’t worry about scratches!
- - Front Row – which comes with all new iMacs – gives people a new way to enjoy your music, video and pictures from the sofa – with an iPod style remote control. It still uses the iMac’s screen, but text is big and control is simple, so you don’t have to be hunched up in front of the screen. He’s comparing the simple, small remote for Front Row with the bloated remotes from Microsoft Media Center – Apple’s 6 buttons compared to Media Center’s 40-plus.
- - Photobooth uses the iMac’s screen as a flash and it’s got cool little animation where the photo pops out. It’s got wacky photoshop-style effects built in. Fun, but hardly groundbreaking. ‘The funnest app we’ve ever written.’
Engadget
Act I: The iMac G5. We sold over a million of them in its first year. What better place to put the computer than right behind the display? Today we’re introducing and all new iMac. [It looks extremely similar] Three great new features.
(1) It’s even thinner. The 20-inch is now thinner than the 17 used to be.
(2) iSight videocam. The new mac has an iSight built in. The camera has even better specs. Right out of the box videoconferencing without any extra stuff. We wrote a new app called PhotoBooth. [Demo: It has a built in flash - the entire display flashes. There are special effects including “Warhol� and effects that morph your face goofily.]
(3) Front Row. It s a new way to experience the media on your computer. It’s an incredible way to enjoy your music, your videos, and your photos … from your sofa. We’ve done a remote control, Apple style. It’s got six buttons. [Demo: He presses remote and a menu for Music / Photo / DVD / Video zooms in. There's a giant iPod-style interface for music. “I can enjoy my music from across the room and see the artwork.â€? Photos navigates through everything in iPhoto with slide show effects for albums. “Now, a lot of people watch DVDs in their iMac, and it would be nice to control them from across the room. Now you can.â€? [Loads DVD of The Incredibles with menu that blurs out the typically unusuable menu on the DVD with an iPod-style menu. Movie posters and trailers in HD format streamed from apple.com] This remote control, I just wanted to point something that to me captures what Apple is all about. [Shot of huge button-congested remotes next to the tiny 6-button Apple remote]
Specs: Bluetooth, Superdrive, Mighty Mouse standard. 17-inch $1299. 20-inch $1699. Available today.
New iPod announced! The new iPod, as speculated, features video capabilities and the wider display, but it’s still a music-first device.
The device will feature a 2.5-inch display, QVGA resolution (320 x 240), and will MPEG-4 h.264 (natch), and presumably Quicktime.
The new iPod will be 30% thinner than the current 20GB iPod (making it 0.44-inches thickâ€â€say wha?), and will feature a 60GB version (which should be thinner than the current 0.63-inch thick 20GB iPod), and editions of both in black.
The 20GB should go for $299, and the 60GB for $399. They’ll be shipping next week.
What’s the device named, you ask? The iPod. That’s it, just The iPod. Well spare you the Prince jokes. The iPod will have TV out.
Stevie has iTunes 6.0 up thereâ€â€only about a month after introducing iTunes 5.0.
iTunes 6.0 will also feature video and the iTunes Music Store will feature Fairplay DRMed video downloads (big surprise, right?).
At launch over 2,000 music videos will be made available at a cost of $1.99 apiece. You can download iTunes 6.0 starting today.
Oh, and one more thing…
It’s not only music videos you can buy. No, Apple’s set up to allow you to purchase TV shows for $1.99 apiece. Get Desperate Housewives or four other ABC shows premiering on iTunes at two bucks an ep. Videos are native QVGA resolution.
I installed the beta release of Google’s toolbar today and after reading so many hate posts about the autolink feature I went to work. Maybe not to work but I checked it out. What a big misunderstanding, I thought it autolinked everything, and you may know already, that isn’t the case; only maps, books, license plates, and tracking numbers. What a waste, I really thought the toolbar inserted links that were relivent to the site like a google ad or something, not even close. The only problem I see is the autolink takes bussiness, say I have an online bookstore, the autolink feature would link out all my isbn numbers to Amazon, now that sucks for them. And for those online retailers, there isn’t an opt out for autolink, just a javascript hack.
(more…)
Taken from Slashdot today,
“Eric Hellweg wonders if everyone’s favorite want-ad site will join the ranks of eBay, Amazon, Yahoo, and, yes, Google. Hellweg guesses it makes $25 million a year by charging for only 12 percent of its ads. If it ramped up payments on more ads throughout its many-city network, it could hit $100 million. That’s a monster margin for a 14-person staff! And they may even consider going public.”
