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Great site..
do you / have you ever posted information on technology that's not leading edge, but "good enough"? I've tried at http://goodenov.blogspot.com but I can't tell if anyone is reading it (and I'm not able to post daily/hourly like many bloggers). Anyway - the gist of it is: for many people, an organizer is good enough and tons cheaper than a PDA, a VCR is 'good enough' unless you need Tivo features, etcetera.

# posted by Tim 5:35 PM

Tim,
That's a really good question. I always thought it was easy to write about cutting edge products when a company loans you a $50K flat panel display or a three-CPU system packed with RAM. You can yell about bugs and chastize the designers, or even love it more than life itself - but it isn't involving *your own* wallet. One part of what I have alwyats tried to do as a reviewer is rank products by things other than bleeding edge. Meaning, in the "lesser class" there is always one winner that has an ugley box and bad manual but is a good value or is worth a little extra TLC.

We are actually experimenting with our mew Alice and Bill favorites section to do something like that. Just launched yesterday. The idea is to cover products we actually went out and bought and use and love and PAID FOR with our own money. Some may be a bit pricey since we like to spend our money on hardware over golf or beach vacations, but I'm hoping you can find some value there.

Let me know if you saw this post and tell us if you think our favorites section is worth it - Skype for example is free and you can use a $30 Logitech USB headset (not the ($150 Plantronics they suggest) and make free calls. The Plantronics rocks, but the Logitech is a great value.

http://www.aliceandbill.com/favorites or
email us: alice@aliceandbill.com

# posted by Alice 8:05 PM

There you are Alice! I watched you disappear from Cnet and Gamespot and wondered where you ended up! I almost forgot about you until the /. article appeared! I am sorry Computer Shopper became myopic, but am glad you and Bill and doing well! Just signed up and looking forward to reading your words again!

Kudos dear!

Kimmie

# posted by svzurich 10:55 PM

I'm still here! Bill and I were pretty much in Shopper and that was my tech outlet when I left CNET. Nice to have a place we can call out own. Thanks for finding us --A

# posted by Alice 11:36 PM

My friend the Hulk is not a "Super-Friend" ... but he's a bit angry at Computer Shopper for dropping you guys and might have to do some SMASHING! ;-)

Keep up the good work and enjoying your blog ...

# posted by alekkomar 1:20 PM

I saw the post Alice, and yes the "Favorites" section is definitely worth it. I always trust a review or recommendation more when someone actually has paid for the thing and uses it day-in, day-out.

It's the same reason, when I buy a piece of software, that I want to know that the developer uses it (Long ago, I supported some office software, written by IBM, on an IBM mainframe; the IBM guys working on it used a different piece of IBM software. The software I used had all sorts of usability problems and things that could work a lot better. We forced IBM management to promise to make the developers use the software that they were developing. Within one year, the software not only was fixed, but many convenient enhancements had been developed).

In the same vein, I hope Tivo gives free machines to all of their hardware and software guys to take home. But I have digressed! Keep up the work on the site, and the Favorites column too - by the way, how about posting the digital camera(s) you use?

# posted by Tim 8:59 PM

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