Comments on: When is enough tech really enough?

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:47:58 +0000

Hi Ethan,

You’re certainly in the thick of it aren’t you… I almost feel the (competitive) urge to reply with my own list but I’ll refrain if for no other reason than my wife might get a hold of it and then I’ll really be in trouble.

I guess in the end if the gadget, tool, or toy makes us happy or makes our lives better then it’s worth having it around.

Thanks for the comment!

By: Ethan Banks

Ethan Banks — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:46:19 +0000

My BlackBerry has Twitter, Gmail, Gtalk, Skype, BlackBerry Messenger, SMS, and corporate mail…and some sort of “voice” function reportedly, where you can talk in real-time to another person after punching a series of numbers (never use that part). I have 2 docking stations, one at home and at work, for my laptop. On the laptop, I’m usually connected to Twitter, Skype, Gmail, corp mail, etc. My home entertainment system has a Blu-ray player that plugs me into Netflix, Pandora, Picasa, and more, even playing these shiny round disc things. I have a 2x2TB NAS array in my own rack at home, attached to the gigabit network running over the hardwire I ran and terminated myself. My car has GPS navigation, Bluetooth, XM, AM, FM, seat heaters, a 6 disc CD changer, voice recognition, and 8 million buttons littering the interior, exactly all of which are understood and used by me, and exactly 3 of which have burnt out backlights. I hop on a Skype conference call weekly with friends across the ocean, where we digitally record our mostly aimless thoughts, and then notify the world via iTunes that the latest podcast is ready. I have a GPS-enabled watch with heart-rate monitor that I wear while running. It records all my data while I run, and then I can do a data analysis after a USB upload. My run will even be plotted in Google Earth if I want. I have another watch with an altimeter, barometer, and compass that I use while hiking in the mountains; it’s at the back of the class in that I can’t offload the data points after a backwoods adventure, but at the front with its solar rechargeable 20 year battery. I have an iPod that has a high-quality copy of every CD on my shelf, as well as several LPs I’ve digitized, plus podcast content that updates regularly.

When is it enough? I seriously have no idea.

Some days I fantasize about a life as a subsistence farmer. People lived 25, 50, and 100 years ago happy, socialable, and functional without all of these gadgets. Couldn’t we? It’s appalling how much time I spend fiddling with e-toys, keeping batteries in them, fixing them when they break, and figuring out how to make them do the things they reportedly do.

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:57:52 +0000

In reply to Gabe.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Gabe.

I’ll freely admit that I really enjoy technology too.

Cheers!

By: Gabe

Gabe — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:54:53 +0000

I think technology is impacting my life, but I am not really noticing it on a daily basis. I’ve grown up with this and see it as the norm. I realized this when I went up to Northern Maine this past June. The cell reception isn’t the best, so I did not have access to email and the web as often as I normally do. Believe it or not, I felt free and really relaxed. This gave me time to be aware of my surroundings and appreciate the simple things such as meeting new people and TALKING with them. I also realized that I do not need to be doing something constantly to be productive. I guess technology and the cell phone fills this void. It makes you think you are being productive, but you’re really burning yourself out.

I try and keep a balance too – I’m trying to get back into photography and hiking. Working with computers and networks all day, I go home NOT wanting to hop on the computer except to pay bills.

I do have work’s email pushed to my iPhone, but it helps when I am on call. It saves me a ton of time. However, I find myself checking email more and more.

Other than that, I love technology. Streaming Pandora and podcasts to the car stereo on my daily commute makes it a lot more tolerable.