Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Compressed Consumption

The countdown to our trip has begun, sorta. We're still really busy sorting out things - from selling possessions to wrapping up work engagements to finding serfs for our kingdom – therefore we're not really counting down yet.

One of the things we've done in preparation is exercising our credit cards. We've basically compressed 9 months to a year of shopping for durable goods into a month. If it fits into our luggage, we're considering buying it here, even though prices may be lower overseas. There is something to be said for the peace of mind knowing you'll have (mostly) what you want, instead of hoping that we can find it in Vietnam.

Yes, one can find practically anything in Vietnam, but (a) will it fit, (b) how's the quality and (c) how convenient is it for us to hunt it down? Consider these purchases our last little participations in the US economy for a while.

One thing I would like to buy is this Apple iPhone, just announced at MacWorld today. This morning I’m reading live blogging of the conference and this thing sounds promising, though I’m not fully versed on smartphone user requirements.

Very recently, we’ve become “switchers” in the Apple parlance, and I must admit that Apple’s solutions are very elegant. Maybe in the upcoming months, we’ll move more towards the hipster side of the technology divide.

1 comment:

Pao said...

The iPhone's official entry into the market was also announced over Bloomberg and I heard it's going out within the price range of 499-599USD. My question is -- whether that price mark makes sense for a phone that does not necessarily have the features that other phones within the same price range have. It must just be about all jazz for now; I've yet to see the real tech meat of the iPhone for me to even consider exchanging my waiting for the 5Mpx Sony Ericsson phone for that.

BTW - happy new year / chuc mung nam moi! Hope to see you soon, well, when you get here in Nam. Cheers.

-azngamerboi