Keeping in touch
I got a call today from my undergraduate university to update my details for their new alumni directory. They wanted all this stuff about the degrees I did, the year I graduated, my address (didn't give it to them), what I'm doing now, etc. Then they offered to sell me a lovely hardbound edition and a CD-rom for the low price of two payments of $44.95.
I declined, of course. I also declined the softcover edition and the abridged CD, which cost somewhere in the upper twenties. It led me to wonder: who would want these things, other than telemarketers? I keep up with the people I want to keep up with via Facebook. It's also helped me to catch up with people I haven't talked to in ten years, from high school and such.
I'm always impressed with how useful the Internet can be. Why bother digging through a phone book when you can Google someone's number or pop it into 411.com? Why bother paying for a premium edition of Classmates.com when you can be Facebook friends for free?
Really, there are so many better options out there.
1 comments:
I'm with ya'. Even in the 80s, when I would get something in the mail telling me I'd been "chosen" to be featured in "who's who in US high schools" + then I could buy one for $X, I knew it was a scam. Why did I need to look up random teenagers whom I'd never met?
Phone books are useful for when there is a power outage -- even with wireless, you still need electricity to get online. That said, we don't keep a current yellow pages around.
Post a Comment