Today’s Trend: Lookout, Consumers!

Wonderful. Can either of these two stories result in anything good for your average Joe Sixpack technology consumer?
Gamestop to buy Electronics Boutique for $1.44B. I guess I’ll be buying all of my video games online from now on, since there’s very little chance that the result of the GS-EB deal will be lower prices in mall superstores.
Adobe buys Macromedia for $3.4B. As if Flash Player didn’t suck enough already. Now it’ll chime in with “Do you want to download a Photoshop Elements trial?” every stinkin’ time you hit Homestar Runner. Anyone who thinks I’m kidding should download and install Acrobat Reader 6.0 and witness the wanton destruction it wreaks upon their system. Actually, don’t do that – I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemies.