I want a Cycle ! Not a PhD titled "Features of Bi-cycles and their application to meet 'marketing' created consumer needs"

I have a feeling that if a study of content being introduced into the internet is done, new blogs explaining the nuances of some commonly used product (ranging from a seeming trivial thing as an umbrella to the latest mobile communication device), would emerge as the most active and prolific source of new content on to the www today.I guess the throne was earlier adorned by porn and has been taken away by products and their features. It is highly likely all the young people who were frequenting porn sites for freebies have figured ways to deal with their 'those' particular needs without the help of the www and have now earned enough money and free time to specialize in analysing niche products like bottle openers, shoe tongues and whatever else you cannot think of.

Let me explain the woes I have had due to this take over.I have been planning to get myself a new TV and a cycle for the past few months and have almost given up as I type this, primarily due to these rampant information excesses I am exposed to.I thought a bicycle was a simple two wheeled device that would move solely on my mechanical efforts or at least I am sure that was what it was the last time I owned one. No not anymore !! Technology apparently wants to permeate its prowess into simple devices and make them complicated and obviously cool !!

What is your budget ? Do you want a hybrid or a model with LBQJ (whatever that is !!) ? Do you want to ride on the road or on the margins of the road or on the side walk ? Do you have hard buttocks or soft ?, were some of the questions the blog answered and not surprisingly what the blog fed sales man at the store asked. I like to be discreet about most of the questions listed above (and about all of the questions which I did not feel like typing down here) and looks like nobody worth their salt would sell me a cycle without the above data - after all they say it is not about a cycle purchase but something infinitely scarier -making me a cyclist for life !!

And with the TV ,as you can imagine, it gets even more complex as the components are invisible electronic wizardry which is all the more difficult to comprehend given the challenges I had with visible mechanical components of a two-wheeler.Do you watch your TV from 6 ft , less than 6ft or more ? Do you want a HD ready HD medium ready , HD almost ready or HD burnt ? I hold up my hands in despair by the time the budget question is on me and trudge out of the shop and vow to keep myself away fron the dreaded product blogs and hyper salesmen

I analyse little further and find sparkling and glaring similarities between some of these product analysis blogs and the requirement and technical design documents that IT folks churn out  to design/build medium to fairly complex software systems.Is it that the tech designer by day is applying his craft on to the product analysis blog he has at night ? Seems very likely..

So what is that I am bothered about ? I want to buy a simple , uncoomplicated bicycle and a simple uncomplicated TV without doing a PhD in aerodynamics or QED (I did not make this one up, it is Quantum Electro Dynamics - google it out if you like) and by not having to be an expert on complex sounding hollow abbreviations (HD is High Definition,that is all !!) and as Geoffrey would say "even my granny knows GCP stands for Great Cheap Products !! ). Impossible you say and I continue sulking and wishing that good and simple sense would prevail ..

Reclusive bloggers of the world unite !!
-- Manoj Chennamangalam