Just when you feel at peace with the world something comes along to disrupt and discommode.
Not for the first time Sony have discomforted me. I have managed, in the past, to frustrate the insidious attempts by Amazon to get me to indulge one of my weaknesses. I have put out of my mind the ‘spurious’ advantages of something which seems more and more obvious as an essential part of civilized life.
But now Sony with the completely unfair utilization of a bookshop, Waterstone’s, have combined to bring a new and altogether sleeker version of the e-book reader to a pathetically weak target audience – me! A chance reference on the front page of The Guardian forced me to buy the paper (€3) and read more. Up to 160 books contained in a slim electronic package with god knows how many extra books being able to be loaded onto SD cards and the like. It didn’t take long to convince me that this was a must-have gadget.
It is not available in Spain.
Sony UK only delivers to the mainland.
Waterstone’s web site seems to find it difficult to cope with someone from outside the UK.
Not for the first time Sony have discomforted me. I have managed, in the past, to frustrate the insidious attempts by Amazon to get me to indulge one of my weaknesses. I have put out of my mind the ‘spurious’ advantages of something which seems more and more obvious as an essential part of civilized life.
But now Sony with the completely unfair utilization of a bookshop, Waterstone’s, have combined to bring a new and altogether sleeker version of the e-book reader to a pathetically weak target audience – me! A chance reference on the front page of The Guardian forced me to buy the paper (€3) and read more. Up to 160 books contained in a slim electronic package with god knows how many extra books being able to be loaded onto SD cards and the like. It didn’t take long to convince me that this was a must-have gadget.
It is not available in Spain.
Sony UK only delivers to the mainland.
Waterstone’s web site seems to find it difficult to cope with someone from outside the UK.
Frustrated at every turn! I could of course, ask the boys to bring one over with them, but that would mean waiting until United Nations Day some forty days away.
Intolerable. Insupportable. Impossible to endure.
There must be another way. Short of not having one, I mean. My life is hard, beset with hard problems and constant frustrations!
Since Emma visited and we had a ‘friendly’ contest to see who could take better photographs (I wish to draw a discrete veil over my attempts at capturing fireworks!) I have been envious about the fact that her digital compact had a number of manual options which my camera (wonderful though it undoubtedly is) does not have. I have therefore been looking around for a camera which answers to more of my new demands.
The Canon powershot G9 seemed to be the ideal answer.
At this point I have to admit that technology and desire combined to give me what I wanted in spite of a real sense of denial that I was trying to cultivate. The camera was suggested by an advert sent to me sneakily by Amazon via email. I did my homework and looked up all the customer reviews of the camera and, in spite of some reservations I decided to look around this area before committing myself.
No one here had the model I wanted and the only shop that had heard of it offered it to me at a higher cost than the internet suggested. I returned to gaze at the image of the camera on the internet.
At this point I should mention ‘one click buying.’ My downfall.
As my information is firmly lodged on the Amazon website all I have to do to purchase something is ‘one click’ on a tempting little button and behold! money is drained from my account in Britain.
I did but flirt with pressing the button. I swear, Your Honour, and suddenly the thing was bought. Hardly my fault, I merely fell into an electronic trap.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
No one here had the model I wanted and the only shop that had heard of it offered it to me at a higher cost than the internet suggested. I returned to gaze at the image of the camera on the internet.
At this point I should mention ‘one click buying.’ My downfall.
As my information is firmly lodged on the Amazon website all I have to do to purchase something is ‘one click’ on a tempting little button and behold! money is drained from my account in Britain.
I did but flirt with pressing the button. I swear, Your Honour, and suddenly the thing was bought. Hardly my fault, I merely fell into an electronic trap.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
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