Here it comes! So-called “Black Friday”. That’s the first Friday after Thanksgiving and traditionally the largest shopping day of the year.

So are you going to pile in the car and go get yourself some deals?

Nuh-uh. Not me. Keep me far away from the crazy crowds, thank you. There just aren’t deals good enough. I’ve become more of a “order online or go at off-hours” kind of shopper.

Which brings me to two seemingly unrelated topics: parking lots and mac computers. The first you’ll probably be searching for in vain. The second you’ll probably have on your holiday list, in some sort of Apple form (ipod, mini, laptop, or iMac, non-naughty listmakers?)

Salon posted an interesting article about…. parking lots. Specifically, that many parking lots are built to hold the huge traffic days like Black Friday. What are the economic and environmental costs of free parking? More interesting than you’d think. Makes me think twice now on the rare occasions I pay for parking.

And macs? You don’t have to look far to find Apple fanatics. While Geezeo here is an equal-opp tech shop, I’d say there are more hardcore Mac fans. And why not? Macs are awesome! But have you ever considered the economic trade-offs of buying a mac? Sure, they cost more at the onset. But: they hold their value longer, too. In this brilliant article the issue is solved once and for all… Macs are cheaper.

Which brings us to an interesting phenom happening right now. Yes, right now as we digest those big heavy holiday meals: the development of an economy where almost all goods are liquid and as a whole we move toward “auction culture”. An article and book review of “Future Shop” not to miss right here.

Happy Thanksgiving!
(Now, go set up a Geezeo account, check your budgets…its holiday shoppin’ time!)