Depression… May 26, 2008

I live in a constant vortex of despair and misery, where my life is a complex labyrinth of eternal pain and sorrow, intertwining into a universal, space time continuum of sadness, due to the ever-changing pendulum of intellectual thought focused on the betterment of human society, by creating certain machines and devices to revolutionize how people live their square lives of similarity, all because it is programmed into our human psyche, buried deep in the depths and folds of our minds, that controls our everyday behavior, forcing us so to conform to the rest, ridding us of our stupid and erratic behavior and all of this is because we feel that it is our purpose in life to improve our quality of life…I will never be truly happy with technology.

As I have stated before, I am a passionate gadget aficionado. As I sat in the car the other day, I began to think and came to a conclusion. I will never truly be happy with my technology. I will never be happy with the gadgets I have or the computer I use. I don’t have the money to own the pick of the crop, so I want the better version of the device I own. Even if, for some reason, I amassed a large fortune, I would only be happy until a new device came out.

The ever-changing technological world keeps me always wanting more or better. A phone with Bluetooth and WiFi could always use a GPS, or that phone could use a projector or THAT phone could always use a TV, or a teleporter, or some other new technology invented. I will never get to see the perfect wonder-device, because perfect is an unattainable idea, and it will probably just remain a theory. Not that I really need any of those extra features, but isn’t that what technology’s business platform is centered off of? Do we really need a phone that takes email, and pictures, and tells the time (OoOo Ahhhhh?) It seems as if the goal is to cram as many purposes into one device as possible and I love it. Seemingly, so does everybody else who buys the newest HTC TyTn II or the Iphone.

I have come to terms with my endless pain and suffering, all geeks have. That’s just part of the game. We are happy for a little while, until the newest device comes out. Maybe that’s why I’m so addicted, always searching for that one perfect device. That’s how many of us either end up wasting our money, living in a family member’s basement (no offense poor, defenseless geek, but you need to get a life or come to terms with yourself and expect insults), or creating the wonder-devices themselves. It’s an uneasy balance of desire and creation, where the winners are rich and successful, and the losers come out on the bottom, literally (I hear that basements can get moldy or sometimes they even flood.)

Oooo Shiny O_o May 4, 2008

I am obsessed with shiny new things. I own many gadgets. I just love them. Darn! I have to stop loving inanimate objects. I am constantly on the Internet looking up new gadgets, playing with the ones I own or buying new ones. I save up my money to buy either new musical instruments or new gadgets *drools*. I think about it a lot. Why am I so engulfed by this gadget world of wonders? There is no wonder gadget out there, and the gadgets of today are far from perfect, but for some reason I don’t give up.

After much thought about why in the world I am so obsessed with these small pieces of technology, I have narrowed it down to three different things.

Somehow I believe that gadgets will somehow give me superpowers, magic. Who needs infinite knowledge when you have the Internet at your fingertips? Who needs a photographic memory (why wasn’t I born cool) when you have a camera on you at all times? Who needs the ability to tell whomever, whenever, what you are thinking when you have a phone? Technology must in some way fill the void that I have due to the absence of magic. Yes, there is some magic in this world, but I’m talking invisibility cloak, Harry Potter magic here. It reminds of the gadgets that Q makes James Bond in the movies. They seem to give James Bond super-human ability. James Bond was saved a number of times due to his AMAZING cell phone or REALLY COOL watch.

Another possibility as to why I might be so obsessed with shiny new gadgets, is that they somehow fill a void. Not to sound very cliché and emo, but I am in constant search for something that is just mine. Something that I can carry with me everywhere, keep my thoughts, and will be, somehow, special. That sounds all pretty creepy and, well, I don’t know, but it’s true. None of them have worked. I guess I do like my phone a lot, and I do keep a few thoughts, songs and things on it, but it just doesn’t do the job. I expect too much from my gadgets. I want them to be perfect and even though I realize that we, as a human race, will never achieve that perfection, I still buy these gadgets hoping that they will lead me there.

I still go to look on websites such as engadget.com and cnet.com to search for the next big thing. I will probably buy it, it will be mad kick’n, but it probably won’t do both of the purposes I dreamt it will (magic and that other thing) and yet I still buy it. I’ll then probably buy another device after it and so on. It’s an endless cycle that I choose to participate in. Why? I have no idea. I even acknowledge it and yet I can’t get myself to morf into a non-gadget lover. Oh well, I’m going to continue to want, and probably buy, gadgets. I can’t stop. They’re too cool. Quick! I need an intervention!

Apple Will Rule the World April 18, 2008

        Apple will eventually rule the world…really, whether it is through the Macs that litter the home and workspace of many or through the Ipods that occupy the pockets of thousands. They are constantly coming out with new products that take the technology world, turn it upside down and completely revolutionizing it. The apple Ipod was the device that started the entire MP3 craze. It was the device that put an MP3 player into technophiles and noobs alike. Recently they have introduced another technology that has skyrocketed in popularity…the Apple Iphone/Ipod touch.

            Who knows if its popularity is do to Apples repeated process of putting out wonderful products? It has set given itself a good reputation. With the Ipod Touch/Iphone it is no different. Not many people can say that they aren’t pretty damn cool. They are shiny, and with their multi-touch screens they are pretty slick. But all things considered Apple made a mistake not letting people jailbreak their new toys. What did Apple have against people using their products for more than was allowed? Don’t people have freedom?

            If I ever got an Ipod Touch the very first thing that I would do would be to free it of it’s Apple blocked shell, allowing to put the amazing software circulating the web on it. There is software out there such as a music-making application, games, and even an IM client. It takes your 7 application Ipod and makes it 15 applications. I look at what they allow the Ipod to do and my shiny new gadget trigger in my head goes off. As if the Ipod touch and Iphone aren’t cool enough, jail breaking them, sends them over the edge.

Apple made a big mistake not allowing 3^rd party software from the get-go.

            That is one of the main reasons why I chose the very buggy windows mobile phone over the Iphone. That, the $400 dollar price tag, absence of any substantial amount of memory and the bugginess. Online forums were littered and still are with loads of Iphone and Ipod touch help questions. That is expected with any new first-generation product, but that doesn’t mean I want it any more. The Iphone doesn’t allow for much freedom when it comes to what you want to put on it…unless it’s jail broken. I do not think that the Ipod touch or Iphone at the moment is worth owning unless you jail break it. It turns it into a Windows Mobile device of sorts…but a lot cooler.

All in all…I like the new Ipods that Apple has introduced. They are slick and cool and exactly what I expect from Apple. Am I disappointed Apple doesn’t allow completely open-source, third party-software, freedom…yes…I am…but who wouldn’t be. Apple is a company, just like all of the others in some respects. They are a company that wants to make money and sell their products to make money. Would I buy an Ipod touch? Yes, I probably will join the rest of America in its Apple Ipod craze (I own a 30 GB Ipod), but I’m waiting for generation two.

 

Argh! Phone Companies! April 16, 2008

Phone companies drive my nutty(er than I already am). They find little ways of sucking you into their vortex. Recently I was on the search for a new phone. I used to have a Cingular 8125 (goes by many other names too) that I was completely happy with…until I dropped it. Whoops. To replace my phone I was hoping my new phone to have windows mobile and a few other goodies that my old phone had such as wifi. I am on AT&T’s cell phone network and my phone was up for their upgrade program, meaning I could buy a phone from them with their “2-year commitment pricing.” Ya, it does say two year. This is just one way the company wraps you around their finger. I didn’t have the money to pay for a new phone unlocked (upwards of $400) and AT&T’s no commitment pricing is just as high. Which means if I wanted to buy the phone I wanted I would be trapped into their 2-year contract.

The two-year contract is another thing they do to control your cell phone lives. My friend Chris’s cell phone recently broke, but since he is in a two-year agreement, he can’t buy a new phone from AT&T, without spending a lot of money. Do they have a heart? I guess that’s a bit drastic of me. Dare I say it, but it IS just a cell phone. Then again, society has created a world where cell phones have almost become a necessity. I hate to find myself so materialistic. But in my life it has come to a point where I almost need a cell phone, going to and from school, and staying after school. In this world of money and power it’s slightly understandable, but that doesn’t make it acceptable.

In the end I ended up buying the HTC TyTN (which also goes by many other name). I bought it on ebay, trying to avoid AT&T altogether and it worked. Then two months later I saw the phone I had originally wanted go on sale refurbished for the same price I bought my phone that was older and had less features. Sigh…that is the story of my phone troubles and how AT&T is corrupt. I could have gone more in depth of what happened. Said every single thing that I did and they did, but that’s not the point.

The phone companies are only looking out for themselves and I guess that’s the world we live in. Life is based on money. I can’t give you hat I have sewed in return for a new cell phone. What bothers me the most about this is how I have been desensitized to materialism. I found myself getting really mad, about a cell phone. Yes, I wanted it and there are always going to be wants in my life that have material base, but I got overly exasperated over one little thing. Society has created a world where I care too much over technology, but this is where I get confused. I am in constant struggle between my geeky side and for lack of better words, my other side. How I would love to be one of the few to not have a cell phone, to be out of the circle of connection, to send letters over the mail. If I were to do that I would have to give up my precious cell phone.

All of this also leads back to the theory that everything today is not built to last. We are almost witnessing the absence of antiques. What, are you going to go to an antique store to buy an old Ipod? I don’t think so. It is pretty much the same thought as steam punk.

I guess I’m stuck with my phone, but if there were a perfect medium…it would be wonderful.