Pockets full of geekery
Jan. 27th, 2005 06:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greatbearToday I came home and as I usually do when I walk in the door from work, I empty my pockets and otherwise relieve myself of the load of items that seem to accompany me everywhere. This time I looked at the resulting heap and started shaking my head:
One keyring (more like 'rings' tangled together) containing 22 keys for my cars, the truck, garage, work keys and tool chests and cabinets among others, plus a remote for one car, a LED flashlight, and a nailclipper
A small carabiner containing the Mini Cooper key (ironically too big to fit on the first set), two 1 gig thumb drives, a WiFi locator and a Fluke VoltLight
Wallet stuffed with all sorts of junk but not much cash
Cell phone
iPod with headphones and a 40 hour auxiliary battery
Sheesh. Seven of these items have batteries in them, a few more are still some sort of electronic device.
On occasions I add to this silicon menagerie a laptop and/or a digital camera. And this is just light travelling. Toss in much more if I end up going somewhere on a kind of technical housecall, install, or working at tuning a late model car.
I seem to carry more electronics on me than the Terminator ever did.
I guess implants arent far behind at this rate.
One keyring (more like 'rings' tangled together) containing 22 keys for my cars, the truck, garage, work keys and tool chests and cabinets among others, plus a remote for one car, a LED flashlight, and a nailclipper
A small carabiner containing the Mini Cooper key (ironically too big to fit on the first set), two 1 gig thumb drives, a WiFi locator and a Fluke VoltLight
Wallet stuffed with all sorts of junk but not much cash
Cell phone
iPod with headphones and a 40 hour auxiliary battery
Sheesh. Seven of these items have batteries in them, a few more are still some sort of electronic device.
On occasions I add to this silicon menagerie a laptop and/or a digital camera. And this is just light travelling. Toss in much more if I end up going somewhere on a kind of technical housecall, install, or working at tuning a late model car.
I seem to carry more electronics on me than the Terminator ever did.
I guess implants arent far behind at this rate.
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-28 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-28 01:08 am (UTC)Re: *scream*
Date: 2005-01-28 02:14 am (UTC)I have those nights as well. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-01-28 02:17 am (UTC)I AM BORG!
no subject
Date: 2005-01-28 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-28 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-28 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-28 06:11 pm (UTC)Superimpose an "L" over my forehead?
Date: 2005-01-28 08:18 pm (UTC)I don't have an iPod. Nor, for that matter, have I ever had a WalkMan, DiscMan, CassetteMan, 8-TrackMan or WHATEVER. I enjoy listening to music, I have my favorite artists, but I'd rather listen with someone else rather than sealing off the world around me with a pair of earphones.
I don't have any kind of electronic organizer like a PalmPilot. I don't even WANT to be that organized. I'm an AIDS educator, not a CEO.
I don't have a cell phone. I have a phone at home, and it uses the same land line as my computer. I find myself communicating with family and friends via email more than anything else. Whenever the phone rings at home, more often than not it's a call from a Gay organization (like HRC) hitting me up for a donation.
Thumb drives? WiFi locators? My God, do I have to take my computer everywhere I go? Isn't it OK to disconnect for at least part of the day?
Every year more and more gadget are created, and advertising firms go into overdrive to tell us how much we NEED to have them. I saw a commercial the other day on which the announcer said, "Don't have a cell cameraphone yet? Don't be left behind!"
What if I AM left behind? Does that make me a loser? Does it make me a bad person? Am I nothing more than a 45 year old fart? All I want in my life is a little love and a little stability, yet a lot of people seem to think that their happiness and success must be inextricably tied to all the GADGETS they have.
Eeek.
Re: Superimpose an "L" over my forehead?
Date: 2005-01-28 08:54 pm (UTC)I listen to my walkman on the bus cuz I don't want to be bothered by every crazy fuck on the train.. ;)
Lucky you that you can keep all your activities in your brain... my brain is not that good to keep up with all the daily things I have going on... the only way I remember to do a lot is by reminders...
I only have a cell phone... its a lot cheaper then a land line and I can call amywhere I want to.. now granted I run a businees off mine, i own a recording stuidio and music production company, and some of us need to be always accessable... and I just love ot talk on the phone....
now I don't carry thumb drives, but only cuz I can' afford the ones tha tcan hold music... if I could I would... its great to have info at the drop of the dime like that....
I honsetly don't believe that gadgets are made for ad firms to con us with, well maybe some of them...., but for the most part they are here to make life easier... yes you can become dependant on them, but everyone is dependant on gadgets... sinks, toilets etc.. all started as gadgets...
now that being said, it doens't make you a looser not to have them or a bad person... but eventually you will be behind the curve... technology stops for no one...
and you are super handsome by the way!
I dont' know many people that are looking for anbything different then you are, and I dont know many ppl that find happiness ONLY in their gadgets..... but for some, me included, gadgets make us happy... and having them is fun....
Re: Superimpose an "L" over my forehead?
Date: 2005-01-28 10:41 pm (UTC)First off, I am, and always have been very comfortable
around technology,
electronic/electric/mechanical/fluidic/etc, with what
some call an amazing feel and aptitude for it. I dont
think much of it, and I am just as comfortable with it
as I am without it. Most of the things I end up with
are there to make life a bit easier, more productive
and/or more fun.
My post was meant not as a boasting of the amount of
gadgets I own, but more of a standing beside it all
and taking it all in, as it were. I felt like Dennis
The Menace unloading his pockets in a seemingly
unending stream. Slingshot, comic books, cap pistol,
bubble gum, bullfrog, chocolate bars, etc, etc, etc. I
then had to stop for a moment and stare at the big
pile I had left on the counter in the same manner. WHY
do I have all this stuff. Is my life so susceptible to
'feature creep' that I dont even notice it? I actually
got a bit concerned. My post allowed me to find that I
am not alone in the amount of technotrinkets I am
carrying, but also that I am not alone in my
suspicions of it all.
I didnt elaborate on the reasons for the various crap
I carry, because I felt it would be obvious. Now that
I think of it, it exists on different levels for
different people. Hell, I know some who would brand
me as a comparitive Luddite for the small
amount of stuff I carry compared to them.
Let's break some of it down:
Cell Phone. Unlike most people you see with them, I
did not get it to be constantly in touch and gabbing
endlessly. I got my original cell phone in the early
90s as I found myself in more situations far from home
and needing a means to keep connected in the face of
emergencies and occasional use. Up until last year,
this original, bulky flip fone was my only phone, used
at most a handful of times during a year. Then mom
found out she had cancer, and I 'modernized' with a
pair of small phones so we could both keep in contact
for obvious reasons. The windfall to this was now I
had a phone that I could use far more often than my
original per minute-charged dinosaur. The phone became
a necessity, and the bonus was convenience and
useability.
The flashlights: Well, my eyes are not what they used
to be, besides, my work often has me with my face in
tight circuitry and dark underhood environments. These
are necessities that have been refined by
technological advances that a nice, rugged and bright
light can tag along on a keychain. The Fluke light is
a bonus where I can check household and industrial
electric wiring for live circuits. Two things in one,
disguised as a tiny flashlight.
Thumb Drives: Pure convenience here. The perfect
replacement for floppies and CDs. I can carry with me
important files, system updates and cool stuff and not
even think about it. I can grab files from work,
friends, etc and not have to deal with a separate disk
that is prone to damage. Here is a case where my work
and hobbies benefit from a cool gadget.
iPod: My refuge from the pathetic excuse of what
passes as music on the radio. I mainly use it at work
and in the car, occasionally when travelling. It's
plugged into speakers more than headphones, because I
dont necessarily want to shut out the world at all
times. It does make boring moments like waiting in
hospitals and on board long flights more bearable. I
go through phases where I have it with me and playing
all the time to where I leave it sit at home and enjoy
the silence. My love of all kinds of music made this
item perfect for me.
Palm Pilots/PDAs: Dont have one. My phone is used as a
notepad/address book occasionally, but as a rule, I
dont impose that level of connectedness and
'organization' on my life. I see people at work
walking down hallways with their Blackberries and PDAs
in their hands, totally oblivious to the world around
them, practically falling into people from their lack
of attention. The restrooms at work are often filled
with the sounds of people poking at their Crackberries
moreso than bodily functions. I draw the line here.
Except in the case where a PDA can be outfitted with
diagnostic software for cars or GPSs, I dont want one.
Which brings me to
(cont'd)
Re: Superimpose an "L" over my forehead?
Date: 2005-01-28 10:42 pm (UTC)Navigation Systems: I have one in my car, as well as a
setup for my laptop. Convenience here, as well as
safety. I'd rather pay attention to the road and enjoy
driving than futzing with a map. Nav and GPS here is a
gadget that I occasionally use to make life easier. I
have a good sense of direction though, and can read a
regular map and follow directions.
Laptop: Not used much, it's an extension of my home
computers. Nice to have, but more often than not, it's
used only for things like diagnostics and keeping in
touch. Recently though, with digital cameras, it's
become a way to share pictures with others and keep
connected with the world. I tend to disconnect more
often than anything though.
Digital Cameras: Love 'em. I was into photography for
a long time, and digitals make taking pictures so easy
and cheap, there is no reason NOT to have one IMO.
Made another hobby of mine that much more accessible
and worth doing, just for the hell of it. I dont want
a camera phone, nor do I care to converge so many
functions into one unit. This is not only asking for
trouble when that one unit eventually dies or gets
lost, but these days is a way of separating me from my
money more often. A camera phone often costs more to
use as a camera, and the pictures essentially look
like ass compared to even a cheap digital camera.
There is nothing wrong with 'disconnecting'. I do it a
lot. It's fun. In fact, some excursions are wonderful
in their isolation. Like camping, or my drives to
various places such as The Tail Of The Dragon in
NC/TN. Such things are an exercise not only of
isolation, but community building. People get together
and form their own little self-sufficient communities
and bask in their little corner of the world.
You arent left behind. Hell, you are here on LJ, and
that says something. I find LJ to be an amazing method
of interacting with others. It's technology being used
in a very personal way, and lets us learn more about
each other in ways that ordinary forms of interaction
cant. I am happy with my gadgets for the most part,
but I dont find myself dependent on most of them.
Mostly they make my life easier, and leave me more
time to do other things. That might involve more
gadgets, or lack thereof.
Cell Phones on Planes
Date: 2005-01-29 09:23 pm (UTC)Re: Cell Phones on Planes
Date: 2005-01-29 10:33 pm (UTC)If airliners want to allow this, then there should be a limited amount of seats in a certain part of the aircraft, and there should be a surcharge.