The first time I heard about e-books, I was in journalism school back in the early 1990s. I remember lively debates about whether newspapers, magazine and books would be rendered obsolete by the turn of the century, replaced by electronic versions you could hold in the palm of your hand. At the time, these predictions seemed both blasphemous and futuristic.

Last year, when I read about Kindle, Amazon.com's e-book reader, I still didn't believe wireless reading devices would catch on. Kindle sold out in hours after it was released in November, 2007, and remained out of stock for months.

Now Kindle is back, and I read in paidcontent.org that Amazon has lowered the price by $40, which is surprising, given its success when it was launched. It's now going for for $359, still more expensive than Sony's competing digital book, which sells for about $300. Apparently, as production of the Kindle reader increased, manufacturing costs decreased, in turn lowering the retail price.

I never went to my senior prom. I didn't really need to. I had a decent job, a cool ride, all the prerequisite distractions of the day and a raven haired girl who was mad about me with my shoulder length, blow dried, sandy blond hair. I had no time for dancing with the crowd.

Prom time is coming however, and pre-divas all over the country are looking to purchase the perfect prom dresses to emblazon their dawning feminine images upon the minds of the young men in their lives. They'll be seeking those strapless dresses of taffeta and chiffon or spaghetti strapped creations of satin which wrap tight from bust to hips leaving little room for stashing even the smallest of cell phones.

So where does the next pop star's mother find the perfect prom dress for her princess without spending an entire weekly paycheck to get it? After doing a little research, I have come to the conclusion that one excellent source is Amazon.com. I was absolutely amazed at the selection I found over there and the prices are perhaps just as pleasing to the eye as the dresses are. I found strapless and backless and v-neck creations which all met my approval. I saw satin and chiffon and lacy cocktail style dresses with ruffled hems and cinched waists. I found dresses which would flatter a girl who has not yet encountered her bust line. I even located selections which would appear to slim a girl who rides a little heavy in the saddle.

So, if prom time is bringing an extra expense to your household in the coming months, you may wish to consider checking out Amazon.com. Even if you don't make your purchase there, you are bound to come across some pleasing ideas.

And, just in case the fella who is taking my niece to the prom happens to run across this blog post, I feel it is my obligation to make him aware; Dude, if you don't mind your manners and bring the girl home at the proper time and in the same condition you found her, life can become real interesting for a boy in such a small town as this.

I admit it. I love iTunes. How can you argue with 99 cents per song? Especially if you're like me and you only like one or two songs per album. You can pay a small price for just the songs you want, rather than purchasing the whole album.

But there are other players in the music download market who may be poised to snatch some market share from Apple.

One up-and-coming competitor for music downloads is Amazon. Its MP3 store was launched in September, and single songs are selling for only 89 cents.

An extra benefit from Amazon? The songs are in basic MP3 format without any of the "digital rights management" controls on them like on Apple's downloads. This means that consumers can download the songs and put them on any MP3 player (not just an iPod).