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June 4, 2008
GearBits' First Hot/Not List
I've been remiss on posting, so I thought I'd assemble a whole mess of opinions in one place. Over the past several weeks or so, I've come to appreciate some things/companies and have come to be disappointed in others. So, here's a quick run-down:
HOT
- Shutterfly - always gets me great-looking prints/books in a timely manner at low prices.
- Google - just keeps rolling out the innovative, useful, and well-designed web apps
- Subaru - they just make terrific cars...durable, high-performing, and affordable
- Amazon.com - with reasonably good, if not great, prices, excellent customer service, and a stellar website, what's not to like?
- Subnotes - The sudden rash of low-power, low-weight, cheap laptops coming out (which I predicted would happen back at the beginning of the year) is a joy to behold...portable computing for everyone!
- NPR - Always informative, enjoyable, and worth supporting.
- Logitech Cordless Presenter - Have had it for two years now, am still on the first set of AAA batteries, it has taken tons of abuse, and it still works perfectly. Amazing!
- Private Electric Car Companies - It's as if we're on the cusp of another time like the 1920's, when every town seemed to have a local car manufacturer, except now they're all electric, hybrid, or alterna-fuel vehicles (a very good thing).
NOT
- Archos - if my 605 Wi-Fi completely hangs on me one more time, I swear I'm going to chuck it off an overpass (I'll post more about this later)
- Palm - if my Treo 700p resets on me one more time, I swear I'm going to chuck...aw, who am I kidding? It'll probably reset before I finish this post. C'mon Android...fill this void in my gadget-hoarding soul, will you?
- Megalomaniacal Corporate IT Departments - I hope the day comes soon when we can definitively show that the TCO actually improves when you let corporate tech users select their own personal devices.
- Flash memory format proliferation - I mean, seriously, do we really need SD, MiniSD, and MicroSD? It's getting as bad as the dang Memory Stick (and that's saying something).
- Download-only music stores - I may be in the minority, but I just don't like the DRM associated with most online music stores. And even without the DRM, the cost seems too much if I'm not getting permanent physical media, liner notes/art, etc. Call me old school if you like...go ahead, it only hurts a little.
- Intel's Marketing department - Seriously, guys, could you make keeping track of your product lines any more difficult and confusing?
- Getting older - I am no longer the kid I still think of myself as being.
So what are your Hot and Not?
Posted by Craig in Cars
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