ABOUT FACTS NET Else

There seem to be much being promoted that people really don't need. One of the first things that comes to mind is High Definition TV. For years we have been told that this is the greatest thing since french fries. Buy this tv, it's hdtv ready, get this box to make your tv HDTV capable, and on and on. So what is wrong with this, you might ask? Actually there is nothing wrong with the concept of HDTV, what is wrong is that there are hardly any stations out there broadcasting it, and have you noticed how much more expensive an HDTV is? Every year the deadline to create more HDTV broadcasts is put off a year. There is really not much sense in getting a HDTV right now unless you just need it for bragging rights.

The next thing that I think is fairly useless is the electric car. I am not talking about the new hybrids, but as they age I am interested to see how they fare. I am talking about all electric cars. Most of them only have a limited range and require frequent charges. Even reaching highway speeds is a chore for some of them. When those battery packs need to be replaced they will cost a pretty penny. Electric cars have been around for a lot longer than people realize. The first crude electric car was invented by Robert Anderson in Scotland somewhere between 1832 and 1839, the exact date is lost in history. That is somewhere around 175 years ago and we still don't have a practical electric vehicle.

Here is something that many of you won't agree with but I can't help how I feel about this. The rewriteable DVD. With the cheap prices for blank dvds, especially if purchased in bulk, I just can't see the reason for rewriteable dvds except in extremely special cases and even those are in doubt. Hey you get 4.5 gigs on a regular dvd, and some of that stuff you want to save anyway. I paid about 34 cents each for the last batch of 8X dvds I purchased. Why would I want to pay way more just to be able to rewrite, if I need media that can rewrite I will install another hard drive, it's faster and the smallest one is still a lot bigger than a DVD and I can get it for about $35.00.

Sneakers with springs in them anyone? Yeah I know the kids like to keep up with new trends, but spending $100.00 or more to get sneakers with springs in them is a bit much. Are they going to allow you to jump as high as Michael Jordan, I don't think so?. Will they make a professional basketball player out of you? Not unless you already have the talent. So what is their real purpose? It is to separate you from you hard earned cash.

How about all that junk that they advertise on tv that looks so great and when you get it, its just cheesy plastic that doesn't perform like it did on tv or it breaks right away. I would like to give you an example of an item I purchased from tv. It was a small potable clothes steamer. On tv they just put water into it, plugged it into a socket and ran it over a sport jacket hanging on a hanger and instantly, all the wrinkles were gone. Well I received my steamer, took it to work, hung up my sport jacket, took out my steamer, filled it with water and ran it over my jacket. Were the wrinkles gone? I guess so, but the jacket was soaking wet. That is when I learned never to buy from tv.

School courses for adults on things like being a cashier just strike me as silly. What can anyone gain by taking a six week course on being a cashier. This is just a total waste of money. In with this, I would like to add those offers that state ..why waste your time going to university when we can give you a doctorate in one week. This doctorate is no better than the certificate that states you attended cashier school.

Ads in the back of magazines can really take you for a ride. I remember many years ago a farmer was complaining, he purchased a kit from the back of a popular magazine that guaranteed that he could use it to kill any type of insect. It was true it did work on any type of insect, however it was not exactly what the farmer was looking for. The kit consisted of two blocks of wood with instructions which stated, 'put insect between the blocks and push down on top block'. The good part is he only paid $10.00.

I would like to finish my rant with car warranty extensions from unknown insurance companies. I have talked about this before. The offers arrive either in the mail or in email. They look inviting because they supposedly extend your car's warranty for at least three more years after it expires. So you get it and you pay every month, as I did, and just when my last payment was due, I got a letter saying that I had never made one of the much earlier payments, but I had. I dug out the check and made copies and sent it to the company but they were out of state and just ignored my correspondence. After three letters I gave up and chalked it up to experience. Lucky thing for me I was driving a good car because it never required a repair. This happened to me over 20 years ago.

So beware of frauds and great bargains. Make sure you buy from reputable places and if you are buying from a place for the first time, read the reviews on it and use a credit card. Credit cards are great because if you don't get satisfaction from the merchant you can put a claim in with the credit card company. Sometimes a credit card has a guarantee against breakage for one year. Usually the merchants don't want any trouble with them so they honor their requests.

As far as some of the technology I put down, believe me, I am certainly not against innovation, as a matter of fact, I miss some of it that they don't use much anymore. I used to love those 3D movies where you would put on the glasses, remember one lens was green and the other was red? When the indians attacked the arrows would seem to be flying right by you. As a matter of fact an Englishman invented a glassless system for the tv several years ago but nothing came about from it. Oh well maybe a holograph will replace it. And as far as taking courses, I am all for that also, just beware of what you are taking. Check out the school first and make sure the type of course you select will give you credit toward a degree, help you get ahead at work or gives you a talent that will be useful in finding a job or improving your position on your present one.