Friday Four

1. Tech columnist Farhad Manjoo of Slate opines that Amazon may well make same-day delivery the norm.

Physical retailers have long argued that [if Amazon paid sales tax,], the company wouldn't look like such a great deal to most consumers. If prices were equal, you'd always go with the "instant gratification" of shopping in the real world. The trouble with that argument is that shopping offline isn't really "instant"--it takes time to get in the car, go to the store, find what you want, stand in line, and drive back home. Getting something shipped to your house offers gratification that's even more instant: Order something in the morning and get it later in the day, without doing anything else. Why would you ever shop anywhere else? [bold added]

There is nothing like living in a "pedestrian-friendly" city (i.e., one in which owning a car is much more trouble than it's worth) to make the huge advantage of not needing to go to a store every time I need something apparent, same day delivery or not. On top of that, even when I don't have to drive, shopping has a time overhead that I'd love to eliminate. With even faster delivery, all I'll need to do is plan most purchases in advance, which is something I do, anyway. This is great news.

2. A restaurant has raised a potential dilemma for me for my next trip to the Golden State: make a first visit to In-N-Out Burger -- or try an all-bacon hamburger?

3. Google's Nexus 7 tablet, which retails for $200.00, has received a rave review at Ars Technica, whose reviewer called it the "Holy Grail" of tablets. Should I ever find a compelling need to own a tablet, I'll consider it first.

4. Baby Humor: Baby Van Horn continues making small but noticeable daily strides in her cognitive and motor skills. She now frequently takes multiple steps between objects and has been picking things up and putting them down while remaining in a standing position. She's very close to walking, but I won't make that call until she's actually making practical use of her new skill.

Yesterday brought two amusing moments. First, while I had her in the Baby Bjorn for some errands, I suddenly heard her laugh as I approached an escalator. I could tell she had probably spotted an older gentleman, who sported a full, white, wispy beard and very dark sunglasses on. He looked back at her and smiled. Second, upon our return home, I was feeding her lunch. She's on solid foods now, and I was handing her small pieces of a wiener, which she was picking up and putting into her own mouth. Suddenly, she picked one up and reached over to me, as if she were going to feed me, and smiled. She has done the same thing with Mrs. Van Horn before, too.

-- CAV