I'm convinced those reports from the energy companies are a lie. I'm in the same boat, with it saying that I'm 33%-50% MORE for my house than the average home in my 'hood. However, when I talk to my neighbors (yeah I'm kind of weird and will actually do that ;-) ) I find that my bills are significantly LESS than theirs (which makes sense as we don't have kids, don't use much lighting, keep the heat real low, run only the bare minimum computer equipment, etc). Therefore I consider those reports more as a lie designed to get people to improve usage rather than an actual case of gamification.

I hit the end of the yearly upgrade cycle back in 2003. That's the year I put together a P4 based (screaming fast at the time) machine. That'd be the one I'm still using today! There just isn't any *need* for more power driving me forward. Sure, I added more RAM, updated a video card, and replaced (with larger faster) failed hard drives. However, the core system *still* is plenty fast enough for all my work and play needs. No problem using it as a coding platform and even does flight sims with plenty of FPS! So, upgrades to my PC are basically dead (at least until I can't get repair parts). However, the tablet/smartphone is not a replacement. I've tried them. I have a couple. They sit in a corner and collect dust, basically unused. They do not solve any of my problems as a software developer.