Amazon’s 3rd-generation Kindle e-reader, set to be released on August 27th, had me worried for a little while. My gadget-y friends and I often wonder aloud about upcoming features and technology advances, and many of them assumed Amazon would try to make it more like an iPad. As a happy owner of a 2nd-generation Kindle, I figured that would be a mistake.

Have you read “The Paradox of Choice” by Barry Schwartz? It’s a fascinating book in which Schwartz argues that we’re overwhelmed by the sheer volume of choices that we face on a daily basis and that, by eliminating consumer choices, we could greatly reduce shopper anxiety.

This year, many states throughout the nation will offer a sales tax holiday, a period of time during which merchants will not charge customers sales tax. For a few days each year, you can buy certain items without paying the state sales tax. This is a great way to find the purchases you would buy anyway for a discount.

Apple’s new iPhone hardware will be formally unveiled next Monday, and I’m already itching to be able to buy it. I bought the original iPhone within a few weeks of it being available, and I upgraded to the iPhone 3G just a couple months before the iPhone 3GS came out. My wife has had that newest model for a few months, and I have to resist borrowing it for any reason because the faster processor tickles my envy bone, and I know that I can rationalize just about any purchase.