-Ryan-'s Profile

I've had several SSDs over the past few years. For the benefit gained from the silent, lightning fast and reliable drive, I see little problem paying the money they cost. Sure, they're more expensive than a HDD, but some of us remember when even a small hard disk cost much more than even a high capacity SSD today.

@Rckmnr - I know it's anecdotal (as obviously is this article), but I don't know anyone still using a physical alarm clock.

@bemymonkey - On an Apple Time Capsule the guest network is completely separate to the main network - the whole point being to restrict access from the private network. It has it's own SSID and it's own password.

Here in Belfast I have two connections. At work we've got 100Mbps/100Mbps, which is great. At home I've got 80Mbps/20Mbps. I'm not sure who the provider of the home connection is - it's included in the rates for my building, and isn't shared. However, it seems the norm outside Belfast City Centre here in Northern Ireland is more around 20Mbps/8Mbps max.

I would consider myself somewhat of an 'early adopter', and so for the past several years I have already been using the Internet for almost all my shopping. As such, I feel much like my early adoption of iPhone, HDTV or WiFi, online shopping will become equally ubiquitous. While shopping online has been making steady progress since the late 90s, it has only in the past couple of years become mature enough for ordinary purchases such as groceries, rather than mail-order luxuries such as electronics. More and more I am seeing family and friends order their groceries for delivery, which in itself is very pleasing. I am a very sociable person by nature, but I have always found supermarkets to be very tedious indeed, for many of the same reasons as listed.

For me, some things (at least in the UK) that need structural development are;

- more real-time tracking
- better delivery time slots
- faster delivery network and turnaround
- greater order security online
- better preparation for delivery in exceptional weather
- more traditional customer service

The last point is one I feel particularly strongly about. Certainly I never expect to be able to chat with an online site representative face-to-face, but some companies cut costs to such an extent they don't even have a phone number to call. That is just shoddy, and a trend that should be reversed.

In summation though, I think in 5-10 years we'll see a heavy reliance on delivery shopping, but not so much for items we traditionally want to see before we buy such as clothing, cars, jewellery etc.

If my girlfriend is going to sleep before me I would tend to bring my laptop to bed and browse the internet briefly. Usually I would read a book though.

That window is beautiful. The natural light is what makes this desk.

I would tend to disagree about the mousemat. With a modern mouse there is often no need for one (surface dependant), and they end up looking like clutter.

As I spend so much time on my computer, the setup is very important to me, and I have no issue splashing out for expensive hardware and furniture. For the occasional computer user budget is an issue, but for those of us who spend much of their lives in front of the computer screen, power, ease of use and a refined experience are worth paying for. So there is nowhere I 'save' in my setup; it is all expensive, but I have quality furniture that will last me decades, and my Apple hardware has a high resale value.