It's time again...

...for my annual Cyber Monday rant, where I ask "How is this even a thing anymore?"

See, twenty years ago, when everybody was on dialup, nobody bought anything online on Black Friday, The Biggest Retail Shopping Day of the Year, because they were all out shopping in meatspace. Even if they'd been at home, they would have had to fight to use the lone dialup connection since the kids were out of school and playing Ultima Online and dad was home from work and patiently waiting to download some porn.

The reasoning behind "Cyber Monday" was already waning in relevance when this was the new hotness.

But when you went back to work on Monday, you could screw off at your desk for a couple hours and use that big ol' T1 fat pipe internet connection to get some quality shopping in at boo.com and Pets.com and all the other .coms that are no longer with us except for Amazon.com.

Nowadays you have a broadband internet connection in your pocket and could theoretically be using it to shop while you're standing in line out front of Mart-Mart on Thanksgiving afternoon waiting for those Black Friday door-busters. So why is "Cyber Monday" even still a thing?

That said, here are some of the ads clogging my inbox this morning:

• Sig Sauer has 25% off...well, almost everything, it looks like.


• VZ Grips has 20% off today.


• KEH Camera Brokers has $50 off if you spend $300+, $100 off if you spend $600+, and $200 off if you spend $1000+. Discount code is "CYBER17E".


• Maxpedition has a BOGO sale on all Legacy Series backpacks, bags, and accessories. (I have been using the Fliegerduffel suitcase Shootin' Buddy gave me for years now. Recommend.)