I talked about the five minute rule last year, but here is one that deals with the cost of technology.
If there is a technology you need (USB flash drive, head phones, software upgrade) that costs about as much as dinner at a restaurant, buy it. That’s my rule. I can have a nice meal at my favorite sushi bar for $20. I can skip the sushi next time if I really need to purchase some technology now.
At UF, our students can buy Office 2007 or 2008 for $10. For that price, it makes no sense using anything else. Vista Ultimate is also $10, but some may argue it’s not usable even if it’s free. I’ll save that discussion for another day.
A great dinner eventually comes to an end and then it is over. A two gigabyte flash drive can last for years.