Monday, August 18, 2008

No Seriously, It's Actually That Cool

Somehow, the stars have aligned, the gods have smiled down on me, and the result is a beautiful rain of technology. As you may or may not recall, last week at this time I was brimming with glee over the acquisition of a shiny new PSP, complete with shiny new games. For me, this was the equivalent of a pony, and in the last week I've managed to work in more game time that the month proceeding it.

Well, we were slated to get new cell phones, mostly because mine is getting pretty old. Actually, it's the first cell phone I ever had, and I was using it as the result of putting my newer one in my jeans pocket, and then laundering the set. Oops. Anyway, my phone gets lousy reception, which means it doesn't always ring. When you have cell phones pretty much for emergencies, that's kind of a problem. So, we went Friday night and I wrestled with kids while my lovely wife looked at various phones so we could figure out where we wanted to sign a contract.

Now, my lovely wife is an interface designer. This means a lot of things, specifically with regards to shopping for gear. For example, I looked at one phone, and though to myself, "Hmm, that's interesting. Not really useful, since all I need is a phone, but whatever". When she looked at the same phone, her comment about it, to no one in particular, and I quote, was, "If I have to use this, I'll kill myself". This caught the attention of one of the employees in the store, who was not used to having an interface designer in the store. I was exempt from such a nonplussed state, as I'm used to such commentary.

Anyway, after going to a couple of shops for cell phones, I would say that the expedition could safely be called a miserable failure. We went home, and I declared that I wanted to stay with our service, I didn't need a new phone, I didn't want to talk or think about it anymore. (I was in a bit of a mood - biting toddlers do that to me.) I figured that I would go out and buy a phone used or something, and just have our carrier activate it. Problem solved.

Well, Sunday morning my lovely wife comes up from the basement and declares that we're getting iPhones. I wasn't sure how to react, because I had given up entirely on that pipe dream. I made it very clear that I was simply following instructions and that this decision was hers (a little CYA never hurts), and then we went and bought iPhones.

So there you go. I can watch YouTube on my phone. I can browse the internet on my phone. I can read my email and look at my calendar on my phone. I'm pretty sure I can even make phone call, although I'm not sure that I've actually tried. It's hard to explain how wierd this makes me feel, this constant connectivity, this ability to grab data wherever I am. This morning, I silenced two arguing kids by reaching down to my belt and firing off a music video, and they stood next to each other, dead quiet, just staring at it.

Dude, I'm like a superhero now.

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