Want to buy a computer? (PC)

The other day I was walking through a Best Buy, and started to browse their computer section out of curiosity. Having worked there for almost three years, I suddenly noticed something strange. The price to buy a laptop or desktop computer was a lot lower than I remembered it being, so I began to think about the last computer purchase I had made.

In 2004, I bought a near top of the line 15-inch Toshiba laptop for roughly 1,300 dollars with the extended warranty. Now, the most comparable laptop to the one I bought, costs half the price, brand new. Also, the average price for when I was shopping 3 years ago has dropped by almost 3 to 400 dollars, for equivalent specs for that time. Never had I seen such a drastic shift in price, than in these 3 years.

It seems that the price of computers, especially laptops, are dropping to rates in which most people with lower incomes, can afford them. Eliminating them as a luxury item slowly over time, makes me start to think that they are coming closer to the status of a household appliance, like a dishwasher or a telephone. Will computers be something that every home will have (though they pretty much do already), I think yes. But, is this a good thing?

Are the manufacturers cutting costs, and building the same reliable product? Or have materials and costs for production been lowered over these years? Nowadays, most manufacturers strongly recommend buying a kind of extended warranty with a new machine; (I know because I was forced to sell them) Are they doing this to help the consumer, cover a shoddy product, or instill false belief that warranties are alway necessary?

Was there once a time when you got what you paid for? Were warranties unnecessary? I think that lowering prices to make computers more affordable is probably a good thing, because having a computer is better than not having one at all...

Disc Golf...If you don't already know what it is...

Disc golf is a sport very similar to standard golf, that started around the 70's and has since gained popularity. The game is played with a player or players that attempt to throw a disc into a large chain basket, trying to use the least number of throws possible. The basket is roughly 2 feet in diameter.

Each basket is placed far away from the "tee", and like golf, has a Par associated with it depending on the number of obstacles or distance from the "tee". Courses vary in structure, they can be anything from: forests, grassy fields, dry dirt paths. They sometimes contain man-made obstacles.

Generally your first throw will be your drive, second will be your approach or "upshot", and then however many approaches it takes you to get within putting distance.

The discs that are used are built for different purposes. Like golf clubs, each disc can be used for: high angle shots, distance drives, approaches, low angle shots, and putting. The leading manufacturer of these discs is currently the company Innova.



You can play on teams or by yourself, and most courses you play at are free. The game is simple to play, but surprisingly complex to master. Obstacles, wind patterns, and throw style are just some of the things you have to think about while playing disc golf.

Over the past few years my friends and I have played the game quite frequently and have been quickly improving.

We have played with veterans of the game, and you can tell that the experience they have is a huge advantage. They will use throws you have never seen before, that will seem to go exactly where they want them to. They are modern day Olympians.

Some consider the game is consider a "hippie" sport, I consider it the sport of kings.

The future of Disney's 2-D Animation?

Yesterday I was pondering about how there hasn't been good Disney cartoon in quite some time. I remember when I was young, in Disney's hayday they came out with classics like: Aladdin, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Since about the late 90's there hasn't been a Disney film that I have deemed worth seeing, and with the recent popularity of Pixar and 3-D animation, I'm now wondering if the genre is all but dead.

I think it would be quite ridiculous if it were, simply because of the fact that I think animation is art in all of its forms. I don't think one style of animation that "looks better" or is "more flashy" determines whether it needs to be seen or not. If I saw a trailer for a cartoon with stick figures that had a decent plot, characters, and dialogue I would go see it.

Though I do think that the new 3-D movies have transfered much of the essence of the 2-D ones, I just wish that they could coexist.

In the end, companies like Disney are just looking to make money, if something becomes less profitable then they will cut funding, or stop production all together.

I wonder if in the future my children will be able to experience movies like I did when I was younger, or if the Disney animated film is all but dead.

Why buying an IPOD is pointless...

Every holiday season everyone is looking to get the best Christmas present. From past experience working in retail, the Ipod was by for the most requested product during the holidays. Best Buy's phones rang off the hook every day after Thanksgiving for people checking stock on them. To the point where employees stopped answering the phones, in place of an automated message.

Apple is all about advertising. And with every year apple has some flashy new commercial, and some hip new song to go along with yet another cosmetic update to the Ipod, putting the older models to shame.

My question is, what is the point of buying an Ipod, if your flashy new toy is outdated every year?

I think it is because the idea of owning an Ipod is so gimmicky, and gives the consumer a feeling of "needing" to have it. My advice is: if you are going to buy an mp3 player at all, you should probably find something that is going to suit your needs in the long run (i.e. storage, size, compatibility).

Apple focuses too much on aesthetics, rather than functionality. If you have ever owned an Ipod you would know that the product requires everything to work around the ITunes program, which is a huge hassle. Not to mention the number one product our repair center serviced at Best Buy, was the Ipod.

To quickly summarize, don't waste your time buying an Ipod, they are: overpriced, too gimmicky, not very resilient, and outdated too quickly.