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Most of the time here on The Digital Home, I tell you about some of the trends, news stories, companies and products that annoy me. Other times, I'll tell you about something a company is doing right or something I applaud. This time, it's the latter.

Now, before I begin, I should probably mention that I don't own any Amazon stock because at least one cynical knucklehead reading this column for the sole purpose of finding fault in it will ask if I do own Amazon stock. Sadly, I'm not allowed to own any tech stocks because it's a departure from the ethical standards that I agreed to when I became a journalist. Does that satisfy you?

So why is Amazon the world's best tech retailer? Well, I guess I should first say that this title isn't exactly the most prestigious in the world. Who else would sit atop the list? Certainly Best Buy wouldn't with some of the questionable practices it employs and our friends over at Circuit City certainly don't have a clue about how to bring the right kind of experience to consumers.

But unlike all of its competitors, Amazon has been able to bring products to us in a timely manner without the need for frequent call backs and lengthy delays for no reason. Is it perfect? Not a chance -- some products sell out in a matter of seconds, there's no indication that anyone actually wants to buy groceries online and its customer service still leaves much to be desired. But beyond that, I have enjoyed my time using the service.

So what makes Amazon so great? The way I see it, there are three main components.… Read more

According to a recent report from Ina Fried, Circuit City is having quite a bit of trouble turning a profit and making something out of its business.

Fried reports that the big box retailer will post another loss for its fourth quarter (its busiest) after a staggering $208 million loss over the past quarter. Even worse, the company's stock price is floundering at just $4.75 and once it posts these losses, look for that to tank even further.

Of course, the story doesn't quite end there. Circuit City's major competitor -- Best Buy -- is enjoying a $52.48 stock price and a $228 million profit last quarter alone. Amazingly, Best Buy posted a $1.377 billion profit over the 2007 fiscal year, while Circuit City is poised to lose about $200 million during its own year.

And while Circuit City is still a major retailer with about $12 billion in revenue, it can't sustain these kind of losses if it wants to even have a fighting chance to stand up to the Best Buy juggernaut. After all, take a look at CompUSA and try to tell me Best Buy isn't capable of outright destruction of any and all opponents.

It may happen sometime down the road, but trust me, if Circuit City doesn't change its ways, look for it to be just another victim of Best Buy.… Read more

As CompUSA begins shuttering the last of its stores, it's also tying up loose ends.

The retailer, which was bought by a private equity firm December 7 and will shut down, put up a customer help Web site Friday where it gives details on how warranties, gifts cards, and more will be handled.

The closing sale will last approximately eight weeks and all sales will be final. Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at … Read more

Forget Black Friday. For the best deals on gadgets and PCs this holiday season, look no further than your neighborhood CompUSA.

The embattled electronics retail chain was dealt its final blow Friday when it was sold to Specialty Equity, an affiliate of private equity firm Gordon Brothers Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the immediate result is that Specialty Equity will close all 103 CompUSA stores in the United States, according to a press release issued late Friday.

Gordon Brothers will "initiate an orderly wind-down" of each of the stores, the company says. That's … Read more

Engadget recently posted a rumor claiming a Best Buy memo was being circulated within the company claiming it has on authority (but not "verified) that CompUSA's holiday revenue has been cut in half this year and liquidators are being called in to shutter the rest of the company's stores.

Now, it should be mentioned that CompUSA has already shut down about 128 stores with the help of those same liquidators and ironically, that shut down occurred in February of this year -- the same month current stores are expected to close next year.

But after reading the rumor, which has yet to be substantiated in any way, I thought I would dig a little deeper to find out exactly what's going on with CompUSA and whether or not there is any financial backing to this claim. And while everyone already knows the company is in dire financial straits, the truth may surprise you.

Simply put, CompUSA is on the way out and by the end of February, look for empty parking lots and gutted stores.… Read more

What's more open than open? Wide-open!

USA Today ran a story Thursday morning with the headline "AT&T flings cellphone network wide open." The story quoted AT&T Mobility President Ralph de la Vega as saying: "You can use any handset on our network you want. We don't prohibit it, or even police it."

Sounds like a dramatic change in policy, right? Perhaps in response to recent moves from Verizon and Google to promote open networks ahead of the bidding on the 700MHz spectrum auction? Well, actually, no. It's how AT&… Read more

Last week, the FBI announced the end of the second phase of Operation Bot Roast, an ongoing investigation into botnets, and the criminal activity associated with them. I recently asked Dr. Jose Nazario of Arbor Networks where in the world the bot herders, the people who control the botnets, might be. Here are some excerpts:

We see a few major groups. We see Americans and Western Europeans often interested in using the botnet to make money either directly or indirectly by selling services, or stealing information from those botnets to sell and use credit card information bank information, etc.

There … Read more

Information is the new currency. When it comes to social-networking sites and many other online enterprises, your attention is the product that is being sold. So it is not surprising that data mining, particularly efforts to link your online behavior to specific opportunities to market to you, is an exploding trend.

Data mining in itself is not inherently good or bad, but it raises many social issues whose implications we all need to understand and include in our ongoing dialogue. Data mining has benefits, including an opportunity to create a customized online experience that truly serves you better. Misuses can lead to serious breaches of privacy. I encountered several stories on data mining Tuesday that caught my attention.… Read more

USA Today is the subject of a lot of blogger commentary today due to its new Web site, which features community features like profiles and blog spaces for registered users, the capability for users to vote stories up (but not down), and open comment threads on every story. The paper's Web site also says it will be recruiting readers to send in their news: "We're going to be asking you to send us your photos... [so] you can be part of covering the story."

In addition, USAToday.com has been redesigned and modernized. It's a … Read more