reader redux

Whew! Turns out I'm not the only one who's guilty of not reading instructions when opening a new gadget. After I confessed I hate reading instructions, a few of you responded in kind. Here's what you had to say:

• "I almost never read the instructions. I think part of the excitement is figuring out how something works, on my own. I must however admit that that approach has not always proven to me successful . . . I broke my Internet router this weekend and have an unused camera laying around . . . simply because I don't really know how they work. Kinda stupid, if you think about it." — marycherry
• "I'm like that! I tend to skip the instructions and just dive in. My husband is the complete opposite. He will read everything!" — Zaianne

Find out more of what you had to say after the break.

When it comes to a budding relationship influenced by technology, reader chelsea25 poses an interesting question:

How about BlackBerry chat etiquette? I met this guy through a friend a few years [ago], we were all out at a bar, we had a chat and a dance. I've had a bit of a crush on him ever since. Recently (about a month ago) I was having lunch with this same friend, and the guy stopped by to say hello. Now I can't stop thinking about him. My friend suggested I add him onto my BlackBerry chat as I am not on Facebook, and she'd say she was talking about him to me and gave me his pin! Bad idea??

Actually, writing this out actually makes me think yeah, bad idea. The only thing is our mutual friend has moved away. I don't think we will bump into each other again unless on purpose. What are the rules for Blackberry messenger?

Find out what I have to say and share your own advice after the break.

Last week, one reader asked if you would want to receive a Facebook Credit gift card, and your response was a resounding "no way"! Below, some of what you had to say on the matter. The gift cards are being stocked at Target stores nationwide. . . would anyone out there want to receive one?

• "Facebook credit? what can you even do with Facebook credit?" — imLissy
• "If I can only use them to buy stuff for Facebook then NO!" — Snookyx
• "God no, there is no point of using real money for virtual items, on a social board that is. Of course, I paid 25 for my celestial steed in WoW, But that seems different." — AlisonMcg67
• "What do you buy with them? Imaginary gifts for your friends? I can't even guess why anyone would want that..." — weffie

For a few hours last week we couldn't log onto our Facebook accounts, so I wondered what you were doing instead, and here are the results. Turns out most readers were determined to find other ways to while away the hours; 38 percent of you said that you found other ways to waste time online. But not all productivity was lost: 27 percent of you actually did some work because of the outage. But the big congratulations goes to those of you who opted for some real-life fun — 20 percent of you took the time to go offline.

Fifteen percent of you had another answer to give, and I loved what you had to say in comments. Turns out some of you didn't even know that Facebook was down! Maybe some of the 700 billion collective minutes we spend on Facebook each month happen when we're not on company time? Check out some of your reactions after the break.

Yesterday, I mourned the loss of Bloglines, a once-popular RSS reader that will shut down on Oct. 1. Company execs partially blamed the shutter on the popularity of social networking site like Facebook and other sharing sites like Digg, which, according to them, make RSS readers obsolete.

I don't agree — I couldn't get along without them! An overwhelming majority of you sided with me; here's more of what you had to say:

• "Frankly, I'd be very bummed if all RSS readers went away. I don't like using social networks for use. Twitter's good for some things, but it's not a complete resource, and I much prefer RSS readers." — Matdredalia
• "How can you get by without an RSS reader??? I use Google." — imLissy
• "I used to use Google, but I stopped. I only log onto maybe 10 different websites that update per day, and they are all in my bookmarks toolbar, so I don't feel the need to use an RSS reader." — PrincessOats
• "I use it and love it, because I'm the kind of person who wastes a ton of time going to every single blog several times a day, only to find no new posts." — RoaringSilence
• "I use Google Reader on my cell phone when I'm on the go. Other than that, I just go to actual website." — pinkmystic

Do you have any comments to add? Leave them below!

This week was a big one for the iPod, which was completely revamped across the board. Lusting after the new Nano made me realize that I've owned seven iPods (which after reading your comments makes me feel like an iPod hog)! While most of you have owned two or three, there were some responses that surprised me. Here's what you had to say:

• "Just one, the iPod classic. Won't be getting another unless this one breaks." — altona
• "I've had two but about two years ago I switched to a Zune." — Snookyx
• "Many! I had the iPod mini, 2nd gen Shuffle, 5th gen Nano and 3rd gen Shuffle. Now I have an iPad. People keep thinking I need an iPod and giving them to me. It's quite ridiculous. I only use my 5th gen Nano and the iPad. I'm going to Best Buy trade the others." — lekatvt
• "Three..1st gen Nano, 3rd gen Nano and now I have a 32GB iPod Touch." — Candy2007

Hear more after the jump.

This week's Apple announcements yielded lots of new developments, and afterward, I was curious to find out what you thought about the exciting event. It seems iPods were all the rage with 55 percent of the vote — I'm not surprised, are you? Here's what else you had to say:

• "I love that the iPod Nano has a clip. "He" has been wanting one for so long, one that just clips so he can go on his runs. Already ordered one for my hubby with an engraving. Can't wait for him to get it." — Honeylicious
• "Really underwhelmed. It's getting worse and worse. " — thecolor
• "New iPod Touch with cameras, YAY! The rest of the stuff, meh. Definitely NOT interested in iTunes becoming yet another social networking tool." — Elfyn

See the rest of the community's reactions, and add your own after the break.

Last week's news that the number of cable TV subscriptions is going down — maybe for the first time ever — got me thinking. Could I ever ditch cable for good? I was surprised to find out that over half of you have already canceled your subscriptions! Here's more of what you had to say — I must admit, I'm now giving it some serious consideration!

Could you ditch cable completely?

• "Yes, I would and I have before. If I weren't living with my boyfriend, I wouldn't have cable." — a1stbornunicorn
• "I have cable, but with all the content we can get online these days, and Netflix disks plus Netflix streaming through my Wii... I'm feeling more and more like maybe I don't need cable." — suziryder

Check out more of your thoughts after the break.

Last week, one reader asked the community to share their favorite PS3 games to help her stock up her supply of games. Here's what you had to say:

• "Uncharted and Uncharted 2, 3D Dot Game Heroes and a game I imported from Japan called Hakuna Matata, now available here as Afrika. It is a great non-violent game that you take photos of African wildlife." — AlisonMcg67
• "Red Dead Redemption. SO MUCH FUN!!!" — lilegwene
• "Valkyria Chronicles is a definite should-not-miss for the PS3." — Sasseefrass
• "Modnation Racers is a really good game. If you like Mario Kart then you'll definitely love this game. If Mario Kart and Little Big Planet had a baby, it would be exactly this game." — Kat Maribao
• "Final Fantasy XIII and Heavenly Sword." — smeeker

Is your favorite game missing from the list? Add it in comments below!

Last week's announcement of Facebook Places added another dimension to Facebook's functionality. Not only can you check out your friends and acquaintances by the info they provide on profile pages, you can use Places to see where they are. Add this to an already full Wall containing all sorts of information — photos, events, "liked" pages — and it could be a fair statement that Facebook profile pages aren't as important as they once were.

Here's what some of you had to say about the topic:

• "I realized this was the case when Facebook first changed "interests" and "activities" to "pages" you "like". At that point, I realized that I hadn't really changed my profile much since I signed up in early 2004. I think people mostly interact via news feeds. The only time people actually look at profiles is when they're meeting someone new." — graduatedsqueaks

Check out more readers' thoughts (and share your own) after the break.