I just heard a news flash that beer prices were going up significantly because of the cost of hops. In some cases hops have increased five fold. Tell me it isn't true! We are probably burning the barley (of which hops are derivatives) in our cars as an alternate fuel. So I guess the question is "do we smash our cars or get smashed drinking beer". We've decided. Cars win. Isn't it interesting that prices of beer are being raised just before the Super Bowl. I'm devestated.
The value of things depends on market conditions (as with my beer senerio). I bought a DVD player (not including recording capabilities) about 1 year ago. I think I paid $79 for a Best Buy recommended brand (called Insignia). It is a piece of sh--. Last night it wouldn't load our DVD disc content again and I actually got a shock as I checked the hook-up. No I didn't have the expensive warranty service contract. The DVD unit is history. Because I'm short on patience, I decided to get a better unit (again just player) but this time I was going to take Grasshopper No.3's recommendation. I bought a Sony for $59. Imagine that. It was $20 less than one year ago and I had a higher quality unit. It turns out that sales of old DVD technology are falling and most attention is being paid to the "sizzling" new High Definition products. If I wait another year, I might get the Sony for nothing. As I'm checking out of Best Buy, they asked it I wanted to buy the service contract. Come on. I paid just over the price of a nice dinner for two (maybe three) for my Sony. When it craps out, I'll throw it away.
Now comes the interesting comparison. Mom was using our hp printer to print out picture quality photos. She had taken several color cartridges for "refill" and apparently the colors do not reproduce well in our hp. So at Best Buy I bought the hp recommended cartridge and paid $26. Now you have to think about this! If I'd bought two hp color cartridges, I'd have paid $53 which is almost equivalent to the cost of my new Sony DVD player. It doesn't seem right. $59 for a high tech Sony DVD player or $53 for 2 color cartridges for our printer. Clearly the Sony is the better value. Come to think of it, hp is screwing us with their "captive" cartridge usage.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that the marketplace is a "minefield". Careful purchase habits can yield big rewards. eBay looks better all the time.
Love,
Dad