And Now, Amazon Has Everything
20 Oct 2008I am a big fan of Amazon. Be it free two-day shipping, solving my girlfriend's shoe shopping needs, or selling DRM-free music cheaper than iTunes' locked-down stuff.
About a week ago, I was discussing with my roommates one of the things I really enjoy with Amazon - wish lists. I realize I am notoriously hard to shop for, and so having a place where I can list things I like as I come across them, as well as little descriptions like "any olive oil sprayer will do" is fantastic. I can share the list with friends and family, and remove things as I receive them or buy them for myself. It also helps give people an idea of price, since on many things where you get it can be a huge difference. I mentioned recently how cool it would be to be able to add products from anywhere to my Amazon wish list.
Well, welcome to the future people. Amazon recently launched just such a feature: universal wishlists. I recall seeing sites that did ONLY this in the past. With Christmas coming fast upon us, the ability to send family to a single, non-threatening location like Amazon and say "Here's some ideas" is great. Also, since I'm a little distance from my family these days (between 500 and 10,000 miles away) they don't really know what I've got, and this helps with the awkward "this is wonderful, but I already have it" problem.
Anyhow, the thing is stupid-easy. It isn't even a browser plugin, just a bookmark. You add a shortcut up along the top of your browser and whenever you're on a site, just click "Add to wishlist". Stores price, image, description, and some notes. Fan-freakin-tastic.
Here, check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/wishlist/get-button/ref=cmwluwl
That's all for now.