Personally, there are only a few gadgets that I rely on using on a day to day basis. My iPod, my Blackberry, and of course, my laptop. Aside from that, everything else is really just extra clutter, especially if its one of those ‘I can do it all, but I can’t do any of it really well’ gadgets.

So, what gadgets are a must have for you? And do you agree that some of the gadgets hitting the market are just ridiculous pieces of electronics that are more or less useless for the average Joe?

Comments are welcomed.

The 40 percent rate increase is quite unbelievable, but this rate hike was inevitable being that Blockbuster lost $37.8 million in the third quarter of 2007. Blockbuster’s CEO James Keyes has blamed the loss on Total Access to what he likes to call “freeloaders” those that swap out as many DVD’S as they possibly could at their local Blockbuster. Blockbuster has already raised the monthly Total Access fees by $7 to recoup some of their loss’s.

Blockbuster’s Total Access will jump from $24.99 to $34.99 a month. Blockbuster’s two DVD unlimited plan will jump from $21.99 to $29.99 a month. Blockbuster has sent out an e-mail to their subscribers that state that these rate hikes will take effect on or after December 27th, depending on their billing cycle.

With this rate hike, I am quite sure that many of us will be canceling our subscriptions.

A group of bloggers over at Zatz Not Funny have obtained a patent application from the folks over at IBM that allows for non-skippable ads at any point on a DVD. Sweet Huh?

So what does the patent filing actually allow? It means that here in the near future they could embed a DVD with a certificate that determines whether the disc should be played with advertisements, and if the DVD is flagged for ads, the non-skippable ads or commercials could run at any point during the video. The commercials could be grabbed directly from the net (if the DVD Player is connected to the net) such as a pc with a built in DVD Player, or the commercials could come pre-loaded with the content on the disc.

Before we start ranting and raving, this patent with IBM was filed over a year ago. So lets hope that this hair-brained idea will never see its way onto our DVD’s. Who knows maybe this will only be implemented on the budget DVD’s and the free DVD’s; you know the cheap DVD’s at your local retailer, instead of the $29.99 versions.

If that is the case that is fine with me. But what if downloading these new ads from the net becomes a reality, this could possibly entice advertisers that have been lax-ed to purchase commercial time on the DVD’s in the past, to start peddling their ads on to you. Presently most DVD players are not connected to the net, currently there are those Ethernet ready HD DVD players on the market and lets not forget that Blu-Ray players could connect to the net here in the very near future. With that being said, it is very possible that we may see DVD movies with pre-loaded content here in the near future. Also if these commercial filled DVD’s hit the market, will the prices drop?? “I would think not”!

What are your thoughts on these preloaded commercials? Is it fair that we could pay $29.99 for our next DVD and be bombarded with commercials?

Sure I can get a 4GB or 8GB at my local retailer or web retailer, yet I can’t seem to find the 80GB at Best Buy, Amazon or Circuit City’s web site. “Sorry little Timmy, no 80GB Zune in your stocking this year for you”.

Rumors have surfaced that Microsoft has prioritized the manufacturing of the 4GB and 8GB players. I have spoken to a couple of local retailers, and they expect them to arrive within the next week. Through my online study however, I can expect them to arrive on virtual and retail shelves within 10 to 14 days. Target has stated that they will now put your name on a waiting list and they will notify you as soon as they are available.

How is it that a manufacturer is able to create a demand for their products when before there was none? And knowing this, they purposely keep the supply lower during the holidays then they would during the rest of the year. You would think that a manufacturer would supply enough for the demand, that they have created in the first place, in order to increase their profits. In the end aren’t they only hurting themselves? A lot of people get their hopes up only to be disappointed, thus creating a disgruntled customer that will most likely shop elsewhere.

Have we really become a society of sheep? We can’t make up our own minds, we are dependant on what others tell us we need in order to function in today’s world?

So lets get on with it; my latest gripe about Best Buy!

I’ve spent tons of money at this place, and almost every time I go in to one of their stores I am left with a sinking feeling in my stomach, a feeling that humanity would be doomed if we had to rely on these sales associates for anything more than ‘its in the next isle.’ I’m not sure what Best Buy pays their employees, but judging by the service, or lack of service to be more accurate, it isn’t a whole lot to write home about.

I was so annoyed by the poor customer service within the stores that I decided to order a new PC on-line, this way I didn’t have to deal with the ignorance that we know as sales associates. As expected, the order process went very smoothly, I found everything I was looking for, and checkout was literally a breeze. I was quite happy. The PC was listed as available to ship from their warehouse within one business day, and a confirmation email reiterated this to me shortly after my credit card was charged for the order.

Now, if I could stop the story right here you’d be left with the impression that ordering from Best Buy on-line is a great experience. Sadly, the story is not over. I placed my order almost two weeks ago; two days post-purchase I received an email telling me that the PC was back-ordered. Back-ordered? But the web site said ships in a day. In fact, even after I got the back-ordered message, the web site was still telling me the product was available and will ship within a day.

The worst part of this whole thing is this - the on-line customer service associates use the same system to give you information when you call in to check on the status of an order. I can understand that the web site may not be updated in real time, and that there are indeed going to be sales spikes, and product that is not available, but why can’t we get this information in a timely manner?

Two weeks?

Why does a phone call from me to Best Buy nearly two weeks after I placed my order produce no better results than looking at the site? In both cases the information was inaccurate.

I like being able to order on-line, its convenient, but my latest experience tells me that even if you can eliminate the need to deal with unqualified associates in the store, you still have to deal with them on the phone. In the end I cancelled my order with Best Buy and went elsewhere for my purchase.

Have a gripe about a retailer? Post a comment, they’re free.