I completely agree. The last CPU I bought, a quad core Intel Q6600, I understood what it's core count, frequency, and cache were. Nowadays, there have been so many architecture redesigns, cache redesigns, DRAM redesigns, and in some cases frequency downclocks that I can't tell how much money I need to spend to achieve the same performance. I *think* the CPU is fast enough, so I'm not going to buy one until my applications are too slow, and I'll chalk up any slowness I experience in games to my 8800GT card instead.

If I knew what I could get with current-day CPUs, maybe I'd be willing to pay more. It seems like Intel should be focusing more on measuring and selling performance instead of selling numbers.

There are ATMs EVERYWHERE! Banks, convenience stores, gas stations. Plus, you can withdraw from those ATMs even if you're not a Chase Bank customer. And many banks will refund any fees charged by the ATM network.

Local electric is a better example, but there's no such thing as a local monopoly for banks anymore. I have nearly all of my banking assets in non-bricks-and-mortar banks.

So then you don't use credit cards with major retailers (or scammy, smaller ones)? Don't pay bills online? Don't access your bank account online? Don't send e-mails with private information?

Of all of the things I do, I have to say that what lives in my Google Docs account is the least I'm worried about. and I put nearly everything in Google Docs. I'd be much more concerned about my Gmail account being hacked.