En Passant

The iPad

is an iTouch on steroids.  I love it. 
Update: I like it very much.

Hype is hype. Reality differs.

The Apple stores may have been packed today, but Best Buy was a different story.  At about 1 pm, my local, Manhattan Best Buy was almost empty.  I went to the computer department and, without a reservation, was able to buy an iPad in less than 10 minutes.  A friend had the same experience in Northern New Jersey.

With Google trading at about 550,

the media are ooh-ing and ah-ing a buy recommendation this morning, with a target of 700.
Yet if Google were trading at 55, with the same market capitalization, no one would marvel at a target of 70.

Better (and less expensive) than an iPhone

is the combination of an iTouch, a Verizon Mi-Fi, and a Sprint cellphone.

"Bing" is a great name for Microsoft's search engine.

And a major improvement over "Live Search."  So why so many critics?

I miss the competition

between Best Buy and the late Circuit City.

Dollar for dollar, the best computer I've ever bought

is my new Acer Aspire One "netbook."

Is there a worse VoIP service

than Verizon's VoiceWing?

My new Linksys VoIP phone adapter states on the box:

"Free Tech Support, Toll-Free US Calls, 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week."  One minor problem. 
Nowhere on the box, or inside the box, does Linksys list its phone number.

'Vonage the Dog'

A year and a half ago, I canceled one of my two Vonage VoIP lines and switched back to a Verizon land line.  Yet, every month, despite my regular calls to Vonage, Vonage bills me for its non-existent service.  And, every month, I call American Express, and American Express credits my account for the Vonage absurdity.  I now understand why 'Vonage the Dog' (as per the 'Mad Money' man) has plummeted to two dollars and change from its offering price of 17.