Bored with Technology
I’m getting bored with technology. There is no piece of hardware or software out there that I simply must have, even just to tinker with. Sure I have my eye on a Pentium D 805 which I want to overclock to 3.9 gigahertz, but so what? What will I do with all that raw power? Run Photoshop REALLY fast, create Excel files that calculate in an instant? I’m more interested in just building the thing and making it work than I am in actually using it. Of course, that’s not enough to justify the cost so it doesn’t even get built – it just exists as a half-hearted wish as I view the bargains at Newegg.
The problem isn’t limited to PCs either. I have a PDA that I bought for the Wife two years ago that sits gathering dust. I’d have sold it on Ebay if she hadn’t felt guilty for asking me to buy it. Still, I don’t feel like using it myself because I got tired of carrying around my own around the time I bought hers.
I don’t listen to music when I’m walking, so that rules out the Ipod. I like to be aware of my environment when I walk around a city. One never knows when a City Ninja will leap out and attack – or more likely, you’ll fail to hear the screech of a taxi’s tires and get runover. Besides, I like to listen to music the old fashioned way: in my car and embarrassingly loud for a man my age.
I’m even getting sick of video games for the first time in, well, my life. I’m down to playing Robotron on the PS2 (and am considering building a fullsize board with dual joysticks – hell, I’ll just build the whole standalone machine maybe…) and Far Cry on the PC (nothing relaxes me more than shooting bad guys with a sniper rifle from 600 meters).
Technology has been in the doldrums of late. Lots of incremental improvement but no killer apps or paradigm changing hardware.
We need something new. Something that will change the way we look at the world. Something that we cannot imagine living without after we have it.
But what?
ligneus:
Being older I’ve never got into electronic gadgets and such. However I’ve always been a photography nut so I love the digital photography stuff. All my film cameras are honourably retired and I have a Nikon D70s and zoom lenses [I want a D200!] and an Epson RX 700 printer, with my computer it’s like a darkroom on my desk. I do miss spending an evening in a real darkroom but truth is I wouldn’t have time for it these days.
10 July 2006, 8:35 pmAdministrator:
Ligneus
There is nothing quite like the darkroom experience. In black & white it’s when you lay your print into the developer and suddenly see it appear like magic. In color it’s when you pop open the pvc tube and see the deep hues. These are all moments that digital photographers miss, but it’s as it should be.
Nothing beats shooting and seeing the immediate results – and manipulation of photos in Photoshop is a Zen-type experience.
Yes, I’m board with the digital revolution. But I’ll always love the smell of stop bath.
11 July 2006, 5:59 amChad:
I got a new toy about 2 weeks ago. And then it rained ever since. In fact, this rain period happened to coincide with a visit by a Jim Binkley of Delaware. Brought all the rain with him.
Even better.. this new toy is educational… and kids love it.
It’s my new telescope!
12 July 2006, 11:25 amAdministrator:
Coolbeans!
12 July 2006, 12:01 pmAt least you live where you can see the stars. Too many carcinogens in the atmosphere here block the starlight.