Posts by jennyg

New 'plasma lamps' to replace fluorescent bulbs, LEDs

At last! Hopefully, we will actually see this on our shelves sooner or later.

Here in Australia, we seem to have missed most of the LED revolution in lighting.

And I have not had much luck with the fluorescents. Some have died within minutes of being plugged in.

So much for trying to save energy (because we are certainly not saving money)!

Parallel import argument turns toxic in Oz

I am disgusted about being taken for a ride on so many items.

CDs, DVDs and books are so over-priced here it is no longer a joke.

I buy many of my CDs and DVDs and books second-hand now (same quality, more reasonable price and same returns policy).

We should be paying comparable prices to the US and UK, not this joke of freight costs adding to the cost.

Even the cost of fuel here is excessive when you look at what many near neighbours in South east Asia are paying.

The Australian government sought public discussion on parallel imports a couple of years ago for books.

Whilst, many seem to think we are paying fair prices, I want all of you to think of the effect on literacy with the high prices of books (especially with the addition of GST) when a novel in the US may cost $10 and in France 5 euros and we are paying $20-$30 for the same here and sometimes have the release delayed as well. Many school style non-fiction books may cost $35 or $40 to purchase and for small schools, so not many can be bought on a limited budget.

This affects everyone with a school age child and is only the tip of the iceberg.