If you know me, you know of my fondness for consumer electronics. That's why shopping at factorydirect.ca has started to seem a bit like I've developed a mild gambling habit. They sell refurbs, closeouts, overstocks, liquidations, etc. and all kinds of other junk cheap-cheap-cheap. It's all great, as long as the stuff works and doesn't fall apart five minutes after you get it out the door, but... well,  remember that old adage, "It's cheap for a reason."

If they accepted returns, or exchanges on non-defective products, they'd have to charge more and then they'd just be another store. And I really try to not take it personally when they oh-so-respectfully ask me to leave my backpack behind the front counter. But... Maybe I should gamble a stamp and risk an addiction to exercise instead? Isometrics don't cost any money to perform, do they?

A haiku:

I am self-obsessed
My white earphones scream "douchebag!"
I own an iPhone

So the iPad overheats in sunlight and has spotty and unreliable WiFi. I'm told I can't tether it to the 3G coverage I'm already paying for on the iPhone - I have to *COUGH*jailbreak*COUGH* pay all over again. (In fairness, I don't know yet if this applies to Rogers/Fido.) And, there seems to be no such thing as a legitimate movie-, TV- or music-streaming app that can be used in Canada: Hulu, NetFlix, Pandora and the rest remain but tantalizing pipe dreams. So what am I expected to pay good money for when it releases in Canada later this month? This thing is a wait-for-version-2.0 product, at best.