Thursday, March 30, 2006

I can lose myself in Chinese art and American girls...

Well it’s nice to be back and what a packed time we have all had in the intervening few weeks we have been off the web. Well actually not, it’s been remarkably quiet of late. Whether this is due to the natural “where is spring I am fed up with winter” or some other less obvious influence who knows. Anyway apart from the emotional rollercoaster of Neil in hospital all has continued much as before so for today’s little ditty I thought I might talk about the internet. It’s a big subject I know but someone has to and in any case I only want to talk about one small aspect and that is shopping on the web.

Ah shopping we all love getting new stuff, and what could be better than sitting at home and having the entire contence of the world’s shops at your fingertips. You can order a Pizza in New York even if you live in London, find old and discontinued bits for your thirty year old Vauxhall, or get music and films before the release date so you can sit at home in your own personal cinema eating popcorn and drinking cola delivered to your door of course. And it’s this last bit that I have a problem with. It’s all very well being in a position to buy the latest and greatest things from all over the world but what happens then? Ill tell you what happens, people happen that’s what. Let’s say I want to buy a new machine that goes ping. I sit in front of my computer and search the web. I can’t go into my local town because I am used in this consumer led age to expect a choice larger that the number of donations Tony received in exchange for knight hoods. And that also assumes that I can find a shop in my local town that sells things I actually want as apposed to the biggest selection of bits I have no use for. If I am looking for plastic crap under £1 the world is my oyster, or I want to look at all the banks and building society’s that I do not have an account with fantastic choice. And the one I do have an account with I do everything on line anyway. Unless of course I need a drink then I have a world class selection of pubs on my door step well on my high street anyway.

So back to the point I find the machine that goes ping in lots of virtual shops and I can even choose pre owned if I wish to save some money. I love that phrase pre owned it is as Ben Elton once said “Verbal garnish” created by add men who are selling an image. What they really mean is second hand tat, i.e. someone has thrown it out because A it’s broken, or B never really worked in the first place. I place an order with the company I like, perhaps it’s the price or I have used them before or it might just be that I liked the look of there web site but I tick boxes and move the mouse to fill my virtual shopping basket.

All at this point is going well I think I have a bargain and I feel great who needs shops, who needs to trudge to the town in the pouring rain only to find your favourite shop has closed and reopened as a self tanning parlour. Well sometimes me actually I like to shop, sure online is convenient but there is nothing to match touching your intended purchase before the event, feeling the quality etc. And then there is the delivery, its all very well making the best shopping system fool proof but most courier companies employ the fools that the rest of us cross the street to avoid. I have to date had problems with a good percentage of purchases on line, and I know friends who have the same kind of story. Remember your computer purchase Dr Sensual, or Neil how long did your pool take to turn up. All from reputable companies but the middle man the delivery man lets the whole game down. I have no doubt that the internet will grow as a place to shop but sometime it is better to walk into town and pay a little bit more to take it home there and then.
Matt

PS. Extra points for the song that the blog title comes from...blogmaster

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

can lose myself in chinese art and american girls
all the time
lose me in the dark
please do it right
run into the night
i will lose myself tomorrow
crimson pain
my heart explodes
my memory in a fire
and someone will listen
at least for a short while...
The Cure - Figurehead

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