I Wish The Guy Well...But I'm Not Buying It

 That's a lot to pay for a Sony Walkman. 

I saw this ad on Facebook Marketplace yesterday. Those of us who lived through the era where a Sony Walkman was the pinnacle of high tec, think iPhone 16 of its day, know just how awesome these things were. Before the Walkmans came out, if you wanted mobile sounds, you had to carry around a boom box, or a transistor radio...both had their limitations.

Then Sony invented the Walkman, as good a sound as you could get from a cassette tape. The version in the ad also has AM/FM capability, so if you got good radio reception, it sounded decent, too. Millions of these (and knock-offs...) were sold. I had one, almost everyone I knew had one. They were great.

Now, they're paperweights.

Yes, having a pristine Walkman would be cool. If I saw this at a yard sale for $5 or even $10, I might consider it, except for the fact I think I have a couple of them myself in storage. $200...I'm going to pass.

I do hope the guy--I'm assuming it's a guy--gets the money. Maybe in ten or fifteen years it would be easier to get that kind of money for a Walkman. Of course, in that time it might cost that much for a McDonalds Happy Meal.

What something is worth is whatever someone will pay. There might be someone out there who, to them, it's worth two-hundred bucks.

Just not me.

Dear Facebook Marketplace...Just Let Me Find What I'm Looking For

 I came across a local yard sale on Facebook Marketplace last weekend. I showed my wife some of the photos posted with the listing, and I made note of the address.

A few hours later I was asked about that particular post, so I thought I'd check Marketplace to pull up the post and provide the information. Problem...

There's no way I could find it.

Darn algorithm. 

You'd think it would be easy to find. I first checked the posts that were listed for the day. It wasn't there. I then tried several searches...nope. I even put in the exact headline of the post as best I could remember and I got nada. Even if I didn't remember the post headline exactly, it should pull up the post. It is so frustrating, mostly because I had forgotten the address (that's on me...). You'd think they would want me to find what I'm looking for. I guess not.

Maybe it's not the algorithm's fault. Maybe it's something else. All I know is that if I don't "Save" it, it'll be gone forever. Today, I did another internet search for yard sales in Tremonton. It pulled up a sale we went to last month. Another question--why is that even on there? I'm guessing the person who posted it did not take it down, and I don't believe if I showed up this Saturday, it would be a "fun" Saturday for the people who listed the sale in the first place.

I don't think I'm asking for much...a simple search engine that will allow me to find something I saw only hours earlier on a particular phone app.

Then again, maybe that is asking too much.

You Can Hear The "I Told You So's" From Here...

For the past couple of weeks, I've been perusing the twenty-first version of the Classifieds. They're no longer listed in the newspaper; they're online. Locally, we had a website hosted by a TV and radio station. They were huge, as far as classifieds go. They might still be, but I find myself checking the Facebook Marketplace for deals. In the past month or so, I've bought several things--nothing big like cars or snowmobiles (I could buy them from the Marketplace if I wanted--they have so many things for sale...).

And because I peruse, I come across things I don't need or will ever buy, but that I find interesting. Case in point: 

For Sale: One AirPod.

Now, if someone gave me a pair of AirPods, I would not turn them down, but I don't plan on spending more than one-hundred dollar + price on a pair. I remember--as I'm sure many of you do--hearing all the comments from nay sayers when details of the AirPod's designs were released. Everyone was sure these little suckers would get lost almost immediately. I've never worn a pair so I can't testify just how good or bad they adhere to the ear. Many swore they worked just fine in their ears. They were either telling the truth, or were trying to convince themselves that spending that much money on a pair of earphones was worth it, and that they had not made a terrible mistake.

I came across a right-side AirPod for sale locally. It's not the first time I've seen posts just like this. Personally, I would take a left-side AirPod, but I haven't seen one for sale. And even at half the price, it's still a lot.

I don't know the exact sales of Apple's AirPods, or if they've exceeded their expectations or underperformed. But, I'm sure this particular post won't be the last one if its kind. You can almost hear the "I told you so's" from here.