E-Impulse: I Regret Nothing

by Kathy Waller

My mum says, “Go with your first instinct,” but this can lead to impulse buying! ~ Lindsay Lohan

Recently, we’ve heard a lot about how the Internet is changing how Americans shop. E-commerce is causing a radical shift in how we buy and sell.

I’m more concerned, however, with how e-commerce affects me personally. In only a month, online shopping changed me from a (relatively) sane, sober citizen into a jumble of impulses. My experience shows that, where e-tail is, impulse lurks close behind; and where impulse lurks, one thing leads to another. And you never know where you’ll end up. For example—

In October I learned that my favorite blogger, Kate Shrewsday, and her friends had published an e-book of ghost stories, Echoes in Darkness. Impulse #1: I wanted it.

Thanks to a quirky laptop, I could download e-books but couldn’t open them. The…