MunkyMagikUK
Digiex Blogger
Living a Digital Existence Week 8
Some say I get too drunk on a weekend to write my blog in time.
Some say I actually do have magical powers.
All we know is, I write the Digiex blog...
Still Paying the price for being a next generation gamer...
First of all I’d just like to carry on from last week a bit. So, as you all know, I went out and bought my wireless controller last week. Great stuff. I was really impressed with it, much louder and clearer than the wired one, and was enjoying it. Then guess what happens. No, nothing wrong with the headset, but my 360 decides to show me the RRoD (Red ring of Death) for the second time since I’ve had it (About a year and a half!). You cannot begin to imagine how pissed off I was.
My problem is this. We’ve all paid quite a fair bit of money for our Xbox “Experience”. We first of all bought the console (£280 when I got one!) and then we have since bought games and accessories etc. in my case probably totalling around £300. So in total, I’ve spent around £600 on my Xbox. Now, having spent all that money, I would expect it not to break down after a year, and then again 6 months after that! I can kind of understand if it were to break down say 3 years after I got it, but certainly not as quickly as it has done. Fair enough, Microsoft have given everyone a 3 year guarantee, but this is the least they could do. It simply isn’t good enough.
Couple this with the fact that my old PS2 is still going after what, 8, 9 years, this just makes it even worse. I understand the 360 is more advanced technology, but this is no excuse for it breaking down so soon, as well as it sounding like a jumbo jet.
Ok, rant over.
The end is nigh for the high street...
Today I saw a news article that said we are going to have the busiest day for online shopping ever in the UK, with an expected £320m to be spent online. Britain’s online retailers are expected to rake in over £13bn this Christmas, which if we’re honest, is a staggering figure. And if I’m brutally honest, I can see why people use online shops more.
Certainly the high street has its benefits. After all, it is a social event. You meet up with some friends, go shopping and have a day out, which is all good fun. You may also tend to buy more when you’re on the high street. You go into a shop looking for something, see something else on the shelf and think “Oh I’ll have that as well.” But I just think the internet is so much more convenient. You don’t actually have to move anywhere (I know it sounds terribly lazy!) and it’s so easy to find what you want now, and more often than not, there is more choice online. I’m going to use the clothes retailer Next as my example.
I can go onto Next’s website, look at everything they have to offer, and then with the click of a button it’s on its way. If I were to go to one of the two Next shops in Huddersfield, I can bet you they don’t have something I want.
Another point when it comes to online shopping is that now, delivery times are greatly reduced for most products. Again I shall use Next as an example. A few weeks back, I bought some clothes at around 5.30pm on a Sunday, and they were at my front door at 8am Monday morning. Now that’s service! And even with Play.com and Amazon, goods will usually be with you in two days, a small price to pay when you save £10 on an Xbox game!!
I don’t think the high street will ever disappear, but I do however, think the internet will continue to grow at this astonishing rate. So at the moment, we shouldn’t be saying “Don’t worry babe, I’m going to save the interwebs!” It should however be, “Don’t worry babe, I’m going to save the high street!”
Hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Living In A Digital Existence, and as always, your comments are appreciated.
Until next time...
David
(MunkyMagikUK)
Some say I get too drunk on a weekend to write my blog in time.
Some say I actually do have magical powers.
All we know is, I write the Digiex blog...
Still Paying the price for being a next generation gamer...
First of all I’d just like to carry on from last week a bit. So, as you all know, I went out and bought my wireless controller last week. Great stuff. I was really impressed with it, much louder and clearer than the wired one, and was enjoying it. Then guess what happens. No, nothing wrong with the headset, but my 360 decides to show me the RRoD (Red ring of Death) for the second time since I’ve had it (About a year and a half!). You cannot begin to imagine how pissed off I was.
My problem is this. We’ve all paid quite a fair bit of money for our Xbox “Experience”. We first of all bought the console (£280 when I got one!) and then we have since bought games and accessories etc. in my case probably totalling around £300. So in total, I’ve spent around £600 on my Xbox. Now, having spent all that money, I would expect it not to break down after a year, and then again 6 months after that! I can kind of understand if it were to break down say 3 years after I got it, but certainly not as quickly as it has done. Fair enough, Microsoft have given everyone a 3 year guarantee, but this is the least they could do. It simply isn’t good enough.
Couple this with the fact that my old PS2 is still going after what, 8, 9 years, this just makes it even worse. I understand the 360 is more advanced technology, but this is no excuse for it breaking down so soon, as well as it sounding like a jumbo jet.
Ok, rant over.
The end is nigh for the high street...
Today I saw a news article that said we are going to have the busiest day for online shopping ever in the UK, with an expected £320m to be spent online. Britain’s online retailers are expected to rake in over £13bn this Christmas, which if we’re honest, is a staggering figure. And if I’m brutally honest, I can see why people use online shops more.
Certainly the high street has its benefits. After all, it is a social event. You meet up with some friends, go shopping and have a day out, which is all good fun. You may also tend to buy more when you’re on the high street. You go into a shop looking for something, see something else on the shelf and think “Oh I’ll have that as well.” But I just think the internet is so much more convenient. You don’t actually have to move anywhere (I know it sounds terribly lazy!) and it’s so easy to find what you want now, and more often than not, there is more choice online. I’m going to use the clothes retailer Next as my example.
I can go onto Next’s website, look at everything they have to offer, and then with the click of a button it’s on its way. If I were to go to one of the two Next shops in Huddersfield, I can bet you they don’t have something I want.
Another point when it comes to online shopping is that now, delivery times are greatly reduced for most products. Again I shall use Next as an example. A few weeks back, I bought some clothes at around 5.30pm on a Sunday, and they were at my front door at 8am Monday morning. Now that’s service! And even with Play.com and Amazon, goods will usually be with you in two days, a small price to pay when you save £10 on an Xbox game!!
I don’t think the high street will ever disappear, but I do however, think the internet will continue to grow at this astonishing rate. So at the moment, we shouldn’t be saying “Don’t worry babe, I’m going to save the interwebs!” It should however be, “Don’t worry babe, I’m going to save the high street!”
Hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Living In A Digital Existence, and as always, your comments are appreciated.
Until next time...
David
(MunkyMagikUK)
Last edited:
it’s just not acceptable, the failure rate for 360 is probably higher than most other consoles released in the last decade combined.
Now its 3 year warranty has run out it will be £60+ a pop to get it fixed, it will be more worthwhile getting a new arcade with another 3 year warranty thrown in for free.
