Venturing into the 21st century, one step at a time

You know, even after ten years online and having tried all kinds of weird and wonderful software as a beta tester, visited websites in which one might easily forget which planet one inhabited and marvelled at the avalanche of information that can be unleashed from a little piece of plastic with a USB plug stuck on one end of it, I never cease to be amazed at virtual reality.

Actually, that is the whole point of this post - so much of what is online is not virtual reality at all, it's total unreality - ranging from weird fantasy animation game sites to weird fantasy get-rich-quick-with-this-turnkey-website sites, of which there are all too many and the number is rising exponentially as wave after wave of greedy suckers are able to suspend rational thought for just long enough to part with their credit card details...

Virtual reality is what I had in mind when I created the LWA shopping malls and, since one of the things that happens all over linnetwoods.com and no less in the US Mall is that we review sites we visit, mainly in the course of normal life and occasionally with the specific intention of writing a review, it seemed a great idea to review sites that are there to replace a physical experience with a virtual one...

You may be an ardent fan of grocery shopping but I have to tell you that I am not and I have always considered having to throw myself into the fray, with an uncontrollable shopping cart as my sole companion, a particularly poor way to spend my time, so the idea of having a go at experiencing the virtual alternative was far from my mind.

When I was putting together the new Food Halls at LWA US Shopping Mall, a couple of months back, a friend suggested that I make sure an online grocery store was included amongst the other merchants there or, as she actually put it: "It's all very well offering caviar and cookies but people like to eat real food as well, you know!"

When I asked her who on earth would be offering 'real food' online in the USA she said "Don't you know anything?!" which I thought was a little harsh, even if justified!

Well, long story short, a grocery store has been part of LWA Food Halls for a few weeks now and I was finally persuaded to join my friend on a foray into virtual grocery shopping this afternoon. What a revelation! Believe me, you should try it - in fact, if you live in North America why not grocery shop today at Peapod and get $10 in FREE groceries ?!

Still not convinced you'd enjoy it? Live vicariously then - try clicking the link in the title of this blog and read about a shopping trip online for a great dinner, not to mention all the usual groceries - it was a blast and anyone one who hasn't tried it is definitely missing out!
Well, I suppose I had better go and get on with ploughing through the 997 e-mails in my inbox... aaargh!