The big holiday shopping season is just about to start - officially it begins Friday November 28, the day after Thanksgiving.

As always, you can expect retailers to offer deep discounts on many items in hopes of attracting shoppers. But this year, you can expect even bigger discounts on computer and related items.

For product developers, this can be good news - if you take advantage of these price cuts to invest in new technology for your office.

For example, without looking too hard, you can find new color inkjet printers for under $40, 2 meg digital cameras for under $70 , 80 gig hard drives for under $50, and 4X DVD writers for under $ 100. And these prices could go lower if you use available manufacturers discount coupons and store rebates.

So if you've been holding off on updating the equipment in your office or development studio, the next 30 days could be a good time to upgrade.

To get the best deals, check online for discounts and rebates from the major retailers (find a list of my favorite discount deal sites at http://www.bmyers.com/public/735.cfm?sd=30, and then buy locally (when possible).

Taking advantage of these rare deep discounts on technology now means not only will you have a few presents under the Christmas tree, but so will your business.