Monopsony Monday

monopsony ~ case of only one buyer for products of several sellers

Well, would you look at that. It’s Monday already. There I was last night, congratulating myself on having made it through another week and weekend, watching the first episode of Jessica Jones on Netflix, and completely forgetting the fact that I hadn’t written my Monday post.

Of course I could barely keep my eyes open to watch TV, it’s no wonder I didn’t have enough brain power to write anything. :-D

A friend and I were having a discussion on the weekend about how much the price of technology has come down over the last few years. I’d mentioned to her about how thrilled I’d been about 10 years ago when I found a 2 Gigabyte USB stick to back my files up onto for a mere $80.00.

This weekend I was using a 16 Gigabyte USB stick to back my files up onto and it only cost me $8.00. The lap top I’m using right now cost half of what my first desktop computer cost me and there’s just no comparison as far as speed, performance, and storage capacity. Anyone remember floppy disks? :-)

All this affordable technology can be a little addictive. I’m only on my second lap top, but the desktop computer in my office is about my fifth one, each one progressively more advanced, easier to use (anyone else have fun with DOS?), more powerful, and cheaper.

There’s no escaping technology. Like tablets. At first glance tablets seem really cool - you can do so many things on a tablet and everybody has one. So I got myself one, and yeah, they’re pretty cool ... if you know how to use one, which I don’t.

I’m sure it’s not as complicated as it looks - I can check my email or surf online, and I try to stay away from the many, many games you can access because I really hate using the touch screen for games. But all those “aps” are a little intimidating.

I admit I don’t use it much. But I figure if nothing else it’ll come in handy when my Kindle inevitably dies on me and I need a new electronic reader. One of these days I’ll sit down with the on-line manual (why do these things all have to be online now?) and figure out what else I can do. One of these days ....

My glucometer for testing my blood sugar will connect wirelessly to the internet to allow me to download my results and keep track online. Yeah, sure. Most of the time I’d rather not know.

The hubby came home from a bowling tournament this weekend with an electronic prize which he passed on to me. It’s a Garmin Vivofit - a fitness tracker, same idea as a FitBit. It’s a device you wear to keep track of your fitness level - the number of steps you take, the calories you burn, your sleep patterns. It’s waterproof so you can wear it 24/7. I’m sure it will be really cool ... once I figure out how to use it.

I finally got my first cell phone last year, but I have yet to turn into one of those people. You know, the ones who might as well just have the phone surgically implanted. It amazes me how few of these phones are actually used to make calls. They’re used to text, shop, check Facebook, take pictures, do banking ... the list goes on and on. I have one friend who tells me her whole life is on her phone.

Seriously? What happens if you lose that phone?

I use my phone to take pictures, check my email, text my daughter, and to *gasp* make calls. I got it because as my granddaughter gets bigger and more active (and listens less and less) it’s kind of worrisome that there’s no land line at my daughter’s in case of emergency. I refuse to do banking on my phone, or even Facebook.

The phone is just a device, not my life.