Delicious Nothings

3G Lust

Apple.  I hate thee with a loving passion.  Oi.

So like many other gadgetphiles and technogeeks I drank the Steve Jobs iPhone Kool-Aid last year.  And truth be told, I’m so glad I did.  The iPhone is truly the best phone I have EVER owned.  Now, that’s not to say that it doesn’t have it’s flaws and that somebody could not make a better phone as some Apple fanboys/girls will lead you to believe.  However, it is a damn good piece of gadget.

One year later…I drank it again.  I WANT a 3G iPhone.  Period.  Yes, I have a perfectly functional iPhone.  No, I do not need a new phone.  However, my biggest gripe with the first iPhone is the data speed.  The iPhone truly shines with its connectivity and data applications and Edge is just to damn frustratingly slow.  So now I’m faced with one question…come July 11th, will I plunk down my hard earned money for an iPhone 3G?  Today, I would say “yes.”  Yesterday, I said “no.”  Tomorrow?  Who knows.  Wait…what’s in that pitcher over there?  Kool-Aid you say?  Why sure, I’d love some.

Alas poor Rounding, I knew thee well

Back in the day, everyone used to even out their gas pump totals to make paying easier.  $24.34.  Round that puppy up to an even $24.50.   $39.92.  Yep, move that on up to a cool $40.00. In fact, you always hoped for that “perfect pump.”  You know, the one where the pump stops exactly on an even number.  Ahhh.  Such joy!

And then credit cards and pay at the pump became ubiquitous.  No longer was it necessary to round of the totals to make it easier to pay.  $30.00 was just as convenient as $28.37.  However, maybe out of force of habit or a cool touch of OCD, I would still round my totals up to the nearest .5 or .10 mark.

Enter the era of $4.00/gallon gas.  And poof!  Gone are my Utopian visions of round numbers and “perfect pumps.”  I find myself so disgusted with the overall total of gas that the thought of paying even .4 more causes me to dry heave.  So now when the pump stops, it stays stopped.

So it’s with fond memories that I say goodbye to you: round numbered gas totals.  Sure, you’ll stop by and visit once or twice a year.  But it will be a bitter sweet meeting.  As I’ve moved on, put my OCD in check, and now just weep silently as the pump total creeps ever higher with the inevitable end at an uneven gas pump total.

Breaking Down a Generation

In my day to day travels across the internet I often run into articles that truly hilight the stupidity of the big media companies: the RIAA is suing another grandmother, MediaDefender cripples Revision3’s network, the MPAA wants to charge you more for the “privelage” of excercising your fair use rights, etc…, etc….

Personally, I’m sick and tired of being treated like a criminal and feeling like I am fighting a losing battle.  I grew up in the heyday of Napster.  I get the allure of piracy.  However, I also understand that a band or the creators of a movie should be compensated for their work.  As such, I have absolutely NO PROBLEM PAYING for my music, my movies, and my entertainment.  However, most of the time I can’t even if I want to.

Why?  Well, I’m sure there are 1000 different reasons why.  But a major contributing factor seems to be that the giant media conglomerates, the gatekeepers, have absolutely no clue what to do with the internet.  It seems as if those in power, either don’t understand the internet - the people who have their secretaries print off their emails daily - or they are so invested in the old business model that they’ve forgotten why they are there or what they should be doing.

So what’s to be done?  More and more I’m beginning to realize, that until the current regime is supplanted by a more technology aware crowd, not a whole lot can be done.  And that’s where my thoughts have been for the last few days.  It’s a strange feeling to want an entire generation to move on so that a new generation can take over.  Are thoughts like these typical for a burgeoning twenty-something who’s raring to make an impact on this Earth?  Does this happen with every generation or is this the product of the new technological age?  I don’t have any answers yet, but I know that something’s got to change.  It has to.

I feel like were at the cusp of a major cultural shift.  I can feel it coming.  But until it does, I’ll keep fighting to make the best of the situation and quietly - or not - wait until it’s our time, my time, to take over and the current generation to take a step back and maybe, just maybe, learn a thing or two.