If you can imagine it , you can buy it....

Although the idea to write this blog-post came from eBay's blogging contest (bit.ly/eBayCheck_Extention) on Indiblogger, I must confess the appeal was strong enough for me to drag myself away from my now-often-taken sabbatical from blogging. The idea was to imagine how the future of shopping would look like. Below are a  few events that I believe are the future.

All in one
This I believe is the next obvious step and is going to happen everywhere soon. I believe all the online shops are going to eventually get together under one big umbrella company. The major headache for all of us customers now a days is that there are too many options available. It is a matter of too many riches. Although more choices are always useful but too many options sometime can also lead to more confusion and and added to that is the ever-present insecurity that some other online shopping portal may be selling the same stuff at a cheaper rate. So all online (at least the major ones) should and will get together into one big entity. Already progress has started in this field with for example companies like eBay, Amazon have already started bringing lots of small retail suppliers together.

Smarter and more interactive web portals
With the boom in online shopping, the role of the salesman has now merged with the Site/Web designers. This is an area where a lot of changes will occur. The sites of the shops will become more and more smarter and interactive. Irrespective of a person's prior knowledge one will have lots of reviews and ratings from past users immediately at his/her disposal to assist inn purchases. We will be able to exactly customize the purchase according to our needs. The zenith of this will be when the artificial intelligence enters into the picture or we reach a stage when we just have to think what we want and we get it!!

Renewal and Recycling guarantee
This concept is going to take a lot of thinking but will be implemented in the future. This is especially true for the always evolving electronics industry. The idea here is to give a guarantee of immediate renewal to the latest model at a cheaper price or smaller but fixed annual fees. Although this may look a very costly venture in the beginning; one must understand that in electronics the older models which are  many generations earlier are literally rubbish. However if there is a guarantee of immediate renewal and renovation. Then the customers will have always the latest set-ups and the companies will have lot of slightly older version components that can be hopefully put to some use and be recycled. The renewal guarantee will the next smarter version of the current exchange-on-destruction guarantee that are now available.

Improved banking process
With Internet banking this process has already begun. Now a days many companies in Europe have started selling stuff which you may pay for by monthly installments. This would be especially great for salaried people as psychologically shelling out 30 € a month is much more easier for 10 months than paying 300 € at one go. Also many times when before accumulating those 300 € one usually buys a cheaper or different version. So this idea is going to pick up in the future.

Things are changing so fast that it is very difficult to exactly predict what will happen. But whatever happens the future will be extremely exciting..

An idealistic though it is, but I still believe that the best shopping is done when both the customer and the seller are happy in the end!!!

Evolution in the Age of Internet

So dependent have we become on internet that if for some reason the internet is switched off for even a second then we start becoming restless.Watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e books, emails, working on Google docs are just to name a few but we also have some really awesome apps now a days on mobiles which are gradually becoming a must have on a handsets. I am tabulating some changes that have happened compared to past  maybe you too will realize how much internet is changing us,

Importance of Computer/Internet Speed - I remember the days of Pentium series processors and added to it the costly and slow internet. I sometimes think how  survived them but the truth is I didn't feel any different then than I am now. It was he same excitement of exploring something new. Having said that I have to add that please don't try using a older/slower computer and internet now. It would then become very harmful for all those around you because you'll be so frustrated that you would like throw away the computer somewhere far or break something nearby. It has happened to me many time so I must warn you.

The Lost Age of Internet Cafes & Gaming Parlors - There was a time when internet was a new thing in market and a whole generation of internet cafe mushroomed into existence. For a few years internet cafes and gaming parlors became the favorite hangout place for us friends. We used to spend all our pocket money into them and had some of the most legendary Tekken 3 and Mortal Kombat wars not be known by the world. Yes, friends you survived because I fought for you day and knight to keep out the internet freaks. (..lol.. :P..) . Many of the younger generation who were born after this time when computer was a natural part of a home's interior decoration just won't get why we wasted so much money but still the whole uniqueness of the experience will be always remain with us who were there when internet first arrived ..:)

The New Jeweleries & Status Symbols - Earlier there were jewels which signified the social status of a person or Cars or Bungalows, those are still there but a new generation has joined them. The prestige of being a P4/Dual Core/I series Bearer, iPod/iPad/iPhone bearer - is so hyped up now that one is not even considered human if he doesn't have a iSomething sticking out somewhere on his being. Most times these tech-gadgets are used just as a social symbol than for their various useful applications hence I call them as new jeweleries of the current times.

The Boom of Social Networking - With the explosive growth of internet the social networking sites have gone viral. One can meet thousands of people just while sitting in front of a console. Gone are the days when us poor guys had to work hard just to frame a few words to the girl we liked now a days entire relationships are getting formed and broken on internet. If you are not fast enough in today's world your loved ones would already have about a million other loved ones. SO buckle up people and start spamming. I think everyone knows more about this so no need saying more ;)

Advent of the Age of Misinformation -  Earlier only a few News Papers and News Channels used to give correct information but now in the age of internet we see whole public opinion changed by a single chain-mail. Useless pieces of rubbish and absolute garbage is being fed to impressionable young ones who still have not the maturity to filter through the truth. We must in all forms stop this. Everyone has the right to express themselves but only until their expressions starts becoming a problem to others. This age of misinformation is one the negative impacts

The Age of Impermanence - We are all addicted by the bug called 'change'. It is the same bug from whom all are afraid of when it comes to one's outlook, thinking, nature, habits and narrow mindedness. We will stay entrenched in age old superstitions and stupid senseless practices since we don't have the guts to stand up to the society but when it comes to electronic gadgets we need 'change' after every few months. The ever decreasing prices of electronics reflect our various whims and fancies one minute the gadget is selling as holy cakes and immediately after a newer version is released the old ones can't even be sold to a scrap dealer. The same with the movies to no movies stay for month on like before if a movie stays more than 1-2 week then it is a super-hit. What I want to ask is whom are we all fooling by promoting and advocating change like this. Change is not a commodity which is only to be used when it serves to our personal goals. Accept it in all forms of life head-on and maybe we can finally break through the various bigoted shackled holding us back.