ArticleMaestro.com

Wait til computers really take over! Forget blank envelopes! They’ll be history. Never mind the standard sci-fic trope about computers controlling everything; real life is at once more imaginative and less exciting (up to now!). Well, actually, it’s exactly that kind of a nightmare for those whose livelihoods have been lost on account of computer automation!

Technology displacing workers and whole sectors of the economy is nothing new, of course, and blank envelopes are often made overseas these days anyway – and even then, it will be machines that do the making. Whereas making paper was once a craft in its own right, it’s all done automatically by machines now. But even these overseas workers will be thrown out of work soon enough thanks to all the wireless communications that’s revolutionized just about every facet to how people interact.

Why write a letter and stick it in an envelope when e-mail and the like can transmit your message so much faster? No printing required, no postage to deal with, no trip to the corner mailbox, and absolutely no waiting whatsoever for an answer! Well, at least not unless one’s correspondent isn’t interested in communications anyway!

The need for blank envelopes is at an all-time low these days. It’s now hard to find them, even, and one must resort to dedicated stationary stores oftentimes. All thanks to the computer revolution that’s upended whole industries worldwide. It’s nothing like the first envelopes ever discovered, which by our modern reckoning resemble pottery in practically every which way, made as they are of clay and requiring drying and even baking to be “sealed” – never mind the breaking necessary to be opened!

So technological change is nothing new, nothing new at all. It is, moreover, dramatic in impact but not necessarily in that immediate, visceral way of fiction. Therefore, the actual year of 2001 gives us unmanned drones and the worldwide web while the film 2001 envisioned moon bases, space travel, and artificial intelligence.

Ergo, no more blank envelopes. You can bet the family jewels that that will be the most dramatic impact of our advancing technology. People won’t know what an envelope is in just another three or four generations!

Buying GSM cell phones is easy these days thanks to the worldwide web. It’s amazing what this little thing called the internet – of which the WWW comprises one of the most important parts, no matter that colloquially the two terms are treated as synonyms – can accomplish for so many people. While primarily used by scientists and educators at first (well, in truth the very first intention was for a means of communications that would survive a nuclear strike), one of its most popular uses everyday is to conduct business over great distances – namely, sales.

A multitude of GSM cell phones can thus be purchased easily, quickly. Because of the web, shopping is faster, easier, and sometimes even safer than ever. Word-of-mouth is viral online and a whole lot more powerful. These reviews are necessary since marketers can even manage to fool Google every so often. This means that a lot of what purport to be reviews of GSM cell phones (or anything else, really) are just plants – planted reviews, planted material, stuff that’s been planted to mislead at best and totally misinform more often than not! That’s right, it’s an eternal war between consumers that just want to make informed purchasing decisions and the online marketers whose job is to simply create more publicity and sales for a company.

Even the most reputable consumer review sites are not immune to such manipulation. Something like GSM cell phones are particularly vulnerable as there is a lot of money to be made all-around. So what’s a consumer to do?

Indeed, many – many things. The most important thing to do is to talk to the retailer. It can be helpful to talk on the phone. Do you notice the same person always picking up? Does anyone pick up at all? Is there even a telephone contact listed on their site? An address? A real one, or just one of those mail-forwarding places?

For all the plants, however, the most reputable consumer review sites are trustworthy and should be consulted. Most scammers and bad businesses do not have the money to spend on the kind of online marketing efforts necessary to clear their names – for if they had the money, they wouldn’t be in such dire financial straits that they would need to resort to shafting so many of their own customers! So reviews sites are still important; just make sure that those are reputable, too!

Whenever trying to find GSM cell phones, be sure to find those you really need. Okay, so that’s not earth-shattering advice, but it bears repeating for all too many folks wind up with stuff that don’t fit their needs all that well. Strange enough, the wide proliferation of GSM cell phones available on the market today seems to exacerbate the situation: called embarass de riches by Francophones. That is, the cornucopia of choices out there seem to confuse people more than anything else.

People who research consumer behavior know all about this situation. From GSM cell phones to just about anything else, folks simply have a tough time dealing with too many options, feeling anxious and ever more confused. Even though such a finding might sound crazy, there are quite a few good reasons for it. After all, about half the population — those typically called “guys” — don’t like shopping. Now why should this be? Generally, it has to do with instant gratification. Guys usually want to “get it over with.” Not even a quick and simple purchase will ameliorate this feeling of annoyance, no matter if it’s as innocuous as getting toiletries or running out for sundry supplies. Imagine how much more annoying it could be when it comes to technology products!

Yes, guys like their toys and so they will love electronic ones, too. Guys like objects; they like controlling things. Yet today’s technology has lead to an incredible variety of features, with feature-sets that no one but true geeks and nerds would really like to spend time studying…guys or gals.

And let’s not forget the ladies, yes. Ladies who typically enjoy shopping — except for when it comes to electronics and the like.

The existence of so many people who do not care about cell phones is an important fact. Small wonder, no, that they resort to marketing hype to simplify the decision-making process? Thus, not knowing the latest from the greatest, they sometimes wind up with gear they not only don’t need, but which may actually hamper their daily mobile communications!

This means that a bit of self-awareness is important when looking to buy a cell phone. What exactly do you need to do with a handset anyway? Do you need to send audio-visual material? Must you have an on-board radio? Are games that important? Will you need WiFi capabilities as well, or would the data stream of your carrier’s cellular network suffice?