I love online shopping. There’s so much choice.
I hate online shopping. There’s too much choice.
Case in point: I’m going to be frolicking around the world for a month starting mid-August, and I’ve been trying to buy a nice camera to record all the gloriousness. With a nice camera must come decent lenses, and in an effort to buy the most versatile, best quality, least expensive, and just-pompous-enough piece of hardware, I come across something like this on Amazon:
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
$202.70
55-200 mm is apparently pretty versatile, Nikon sounds like a high-quality Japanese brand, $200 dollars isn’t too steep, and it’s got a few pompously unintelligible letters at the end to scare off those unsavory plebeians. My needs and ego satisfied, I’m just about to add this to my cart, until I scroll down further and see the “What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?” section and see something like this:
22% buy the item featured on this page:
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
$202.70
16% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor Lens
$166.20
At this point, I’m already changing my mind because the second listing is almost forty dollars cheaper. But then it’s missing the “VR” at the end! I have no idea what “VR” stands for, but I want to keep all my letters! Worried, I read on:
10% buy
Sigma 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 DC Telephoto Zoom Lens
$159.99
Holy sweet and sour soup! A Greek letter comes into play!
10% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor Lens + UV Haze Filter
$164.95
You can even do combinations? Amazon.com moonlights as a Mongolian BBQ!
10% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX AB CD EF GH ZX THE PWN Zoom Nikkor Lens
$179.95
10% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 BMW M5 VIPER ZR1 Zoom Nikkor Lens
$190.55
10% buy
Alpha 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
$201.00
10% buy
Beta 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
$200.99
10% buy
Delta 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
$200.98
…
And before I could finish reading the whole list, my brain proceeds to explode in a graphic illustration of the Paradox of Choice:
I hate online shopping. There’s too much choice.
Case in point: I’m going to be frolicking around the world for a month starting mid-August, and I’ve been trying to buy a nice camera to record all the gloriousness. With a nice camera must come decent lenses, and in an effort to buy the most versatile, best quality, least expensive, and just-pompous-enough piece of hardware, I come across something like this on Amazon:
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
$202.70
55-200 mm is apparently pretty versatile, Nikon sounds like a high-quality Japanese brand, $200 dollars isn’t too steep, and it’s got a few pompously unintelligible letters at the end to scare off those unsavory plebeians. My needs and ego satisfied, I’m just about to add this to my cart, until I scroll down further and see the “What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?” section and see something like this:
22% buy the item featured on this page:
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
$202.70
16% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor Lens
$166.20
At this point, I’m already changing my mind because the second listing is almost forty dollars cheaper. But then it’s missing the “VR” at the end! I have no idea what “VR” stands for, but I want to keep all my letters! Worried, I read on:
10% buy
Sigma 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 DC Telephoto Zoom Lens
$159.99
Holy sweet and sour soup! A Greek letter comes into play!
10% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor Lens + UV Haze Filter
$164.95
You can even do combinations? Amazon.com moonlights as a Mongolian BBQ!
10% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX AB CD EF GH ZX THE PWN Zoom Nikkor Lens
$179.95
10% buy
Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 BMW M5 VIPER ZR1 Zoom Nikkor Lens
$190.55
10% buy
Alpha 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
$201.00
10% buy
Beta 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
$200.99
10% buy
Delta 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
$200.98
…
And before I could finish reading the whole list, my brain proceeds to explode in a graphic illustration of the Paradox of Choice:
Spencer Pratt, the universal result of brain malfunctions.
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