One of the best experiences I ever had with a computer was the day I first watched a dvd on the laptop. At last I had the power to really have a personal viewing experience! Customized to me! A screen in my lap, in bed, with my needlework on the keyboard and the picture just a half-glance away from where my eyes needed to be. It was incredible. This is why high on my priority list is to get me a new laptop. Sometime. Maybe next year, late, after the Robbie-expenses are shaken out of the budget and incorporated into regular rotation instead of the "emergency, unexpected" category.

It's hard to know exactly what your AV needs are going to be for a personal use. If, like me, you spend most of your life on the Net, you know that your every day habits can be easily influenced if you've come across the right motivation. If your favorite website adds a new feature that uses new audio visual equipment and installations, you're so much more likely to rush to pick it up. Learn the bells and whistles. Before you know it that new feature is familiar and you seek out other places to use those applications. It doesn't have to mean spending tons of money in the workplace, if you're primarily using these things at home. On the flip side, if you do use a lot of this sort of stuff in the workplace, you need to stay competitive. Advertising uses a ton. IT needs to know how to make it work and fix it when idiots like me mess around with it and "break" the application. Eventually as the program becomes more mainstream most of us will learn how to use it and either need training on such things or be sought out to train others. There's no way quite like having to teach someone else how to use a product to make you very familiar with it in record time.