Shopping the net

摘要

Drive to the store? Wait by the mailbox for a catalog? Why bother? The Internet's World Wide Web is the modern marketplace. You can sit down at your computer and quickly find what you want, when you want. Or so the cyberspace sales pitch goes. Can this shopper's paradise be real? I decided to find out. My mission is simple (and enviable): Spend money. I draw up a list of life's basics, ranging from life-changing purchases to pocket-change niceties. My shopping list includes a house, a car, a vacation, a computer, a compact disc, groceries, a bottle of wine, and a birthday gift.