I was just taking a bath, before dinner, and I started to think about how few gadgets have entered my life in this age that seems increasingly gadget-centric. And, also, I tend to hang onto any given electronic device pretty much as long as it has a spark of life.
I've had the same television since 1995. We haven't had cable since we came to Providence in 2008.
My iPod died back in early October, and I haven't yet replaced it. It dated back to early 2005.
My current computer is an iMac, which I got in April 2007, when I thought the screen on my iBook (purchased in 2001), was about to blow. Four years later, the iBook is still going strong; I use it to play DVDs while I sleep. Before the iBook, I had a Macintosh Color Classic that I bought in July 1993. The Color Classic worked until it was dropped by a mover in December 2004, after which it grew fritzy. So, over the course of eighteen years, I've had only three computers (a testimony to the durability of the Mac).
I don't have an iPhone, or Blackberry, or anything of the sort. My cellphone was purchased in January 2003, and it still works for the only thing we use it for, making phone calls (no landline). I've never sent a text message via any sort of phone. I've never used Skype, etc.
I use Twitter and Facebook, but only from the iMac.
I don't have a Kindle or any other sort of ebook reader (and have no desire to own one).
I don't have an iPad. I might like to own an iPad, if there wasn't the monthly fee.* Though, I suspect the iPads produced a couple of years from now will be far more impressive than these earliest models.
We have two digital cameras, a Canon PowerShot A75 we got in 2004, and it still works fine. We also have a Canon PowerShot A1100IS that Spooky was given as a birthday present in June 2009. No, our cellphone doesn't take photos.
Our car lacks GPS and it doesn't talk to you, unless you count the radio.
We use the PlayStation 3 as a DVD player, and to stream movies via Netflix. We had an XBox (from 2004), but it croaked a couple of years ago. My old PlayStation 2 still works fine.
I have a perfectly functional VHS player I got in 2000, when the one I'd had since 1990 died.
Oh, and there's the Hello Kitty boombox we've had since 2005. And my big-ass Sony stereo, which I got way the hell back in 1988 (Sony and Mac have the best track record, so far as me and electronics are concerned).
And I think that's about it. I don't believe I'm a Luddite, exactly. I'm not even immune to gadget lust. Mostly, there just always seems to be something I'd rather spend the money on, or something I need more than I need another gadget. I think I'm most impressed by my 1941 Royal typewriter, that still works like a charm. I want to see a Blackberry that's still chugging along in 2081...
*
scarletboi has informed me that iPads do not require a monthly fee...which shows how gadget savy I am. So, what kind soul wants to give me one?
I've had the same television since 1995. We haven't had cable since we came to Providence in 2008.
My iPod died back in early October, and I haven't yet replaced it. It dated back to early 2005.
My current computer is an iMac, which I got in April 2007, when I thought the screen on my iBook (purchased in 2001), was about to blow. Four years later, the iBook is still going strong; I use it to play DVDs while I sleep. Before the iBook, I had a Macintosh Color Classic that I bought in July 1993. The Color Classic worked until it was dropped by a mover in December 2004, after which it grew fritzy. So, over the course of eighteen years, I've had only three computers (a testimony to the durability of the Mac).
I don't have an iPhone, or Blackberry, or anything of the sort. My cellphone was purchased in January 2003, and it still works for the only thing we use it for, making phone calls (no landline). I've never sent a text message via any sort of phone. I've never used Skype, etc.
I use Twitter and Facebook, but only from the iMac.
I don't have a Kindle or any other sort of ebook reader (and have no desire to own one).
I don't have an iPad. I might like to own an iPad, if there wasn't the monthly fee.* Though, I suspect the iPads produced a couple of years from now will be far more impressive than these earliest models.
We have two digital cameras, a Canon PowerShot A75 we got in 2004, and it still works fine. We also have a Canon PowerShot A1100IS that Spooky was given as a birthday present in June 2009. No, our cellphone doesn't take photos.
Our car lacks GPS and it doesn't talk to you, unless you count the radio.
We use the PlayStation 3 as a DVD player, and to stream movies via Netflix. We had an XBox (from 2004), but it croaked a couple of years ago. My old PlayStation 2 still works fine.
I have a perfectly functional VHS player I got in 2000, when the one I'd had since 1990 died.
Oh, and there's the Hello Kitty boombox we've had since 2005. And my big-ass Sony stereo, which I got way the hell back in 1988 (Sony and Mac have the best track record, so far as me and electronics are concerned).
And I think that's about it. I don't believe I'm a Luddite, exactly. I'm not even immune to gadget lust. Mostly, there just always seems to be something I'd rather spend the money on, or something I need more than I need another gadget. I think I'm most impressed by my 1941 Royal typewriter, that still works like a charm. I want to see a Blackberry that's still chugging along in 2081...
*
scarletboi has informed me that iPads do not require a monthly fee...which shows how gadget savy I am. So, what kind soul wants to give me one?- Current Location:Allegheny Vallis
- Current Mood:
contemplative - Current Music:Lost Signal, "Drowning"
Comments
There's no monthly fee for the iPad. If you get the wifi version, there's not even a cell antenna. I have the 3G version, and I've only actually turned on the cell part of it for one month, when we travelled to Atlanta. The death star has a plan that has no contract, so you can turn it on and off when you need it.
Okay...I didn't know that (being somewhat ill-informed regarding gadgets). Wow.
You need to be able to proof the electronic versions of your books.
To date, no publisher of an ebook version of one of my books has allowed me that opportunity. Virtually no publisher does. It would cut down on the quick and easy profit. For the most part, texts aren't even reset (and I keep hearing about how this leads to all sorts of problems on the Kindle).
Also, the Mac you're synching it to has to be OS X v10.5.8 or later.
They're neat devices, don't get me wrong. But they occupy a space I think is perilously close to obsolescence pre-senescence. It's too new a usability field. Plus, if you waited a year you could get one with a camera, and use it for augmented reality applications. Now THAT will be interesting!
Have you not seen The Book of Eli, wherein Denzel Washington is still rocking a first-gen iPod far into a post-apocalyptic future?
'I don't have a Kindle or any other sort of ebook reader (and have no desire to own one).'
I was with you here until I got an iPad. I have a Kindle app for it, and the appeal of having the complete works of Cormac McCarthy (not to mention Shakespeare, Lovecraft, Infinite Jest, etc.) on this thin thing is probably indefensible but no less fun. I still love 'analog' books — I already have the complete Cormac McCarthy on my shelves — but having them all at the touch of a fingertip is, for me, kind of nifty.
Pretty much...
I simply can't reduce "book" to "artifact" or "data." The information inside a book and the book containing the information are, to me, one and the same. I have no desire to have huge libraries in digital format. If I did,' they'd just sit there. I hate reading off electronic screens.
About the only plus I find in a etext is the ability to search.
About the newest piece of tech I own is my cell, and that's 2 years old; I upgraded from an ancient palm to a newer one when mine died. And the reason I have a palm is that my job required internet connectivity, and my phone works as a high-speed modem; now that I'm not doing that job anymore I doubt I'll replace the phone unless it dies. Although I do use text and google maps on my phone - it's awesome when you can't remember where you live or how to get to the doctor's office down the street.