Yesterday I ended my blog with the suggestion that today's gizmos would be as outdated tomorrow as I am. Little did I know that this morning's paper would bring this headline: "Apple is weighing a cheaper iPhone."
Maybe there's a market for yet another version of the iPhone, but what blew me away was the suggestion of one analyst that Apple's new version of the iPhone would "have to be able to run the more than 300,000 apps available in the App Store."
Three hundred thousand apps? On one device? Really?
Would someone really download all 300,000 apps to this smaller, cheaper iPhone? I get sensory overload just thinking about it.
The question in my mind is are we creating increasingly complex technology because we can or because there really is a need for it?
How many apps does a person use in a day? Datebook, calendar, music, photos, all are being marketed as must-haves on this little device. If you are glued to your smart phone all day long when do you take time to think? Or smell the roses?
No wonder so many people are stressed out. They're too plugged in.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Date Day
My wife and I went on a date today. We do that sometimes just to remember...well, just to remember.
What was the occasion? Our son had given us a gift certificate to a nice restaurant on the Jersey shore and today we decided to use it. The weather was nice for a change, sunny, not too cold, perfect for a drive south on the Garden State Parkway. Which is why I'm writing this.
Here we were, two people of a certain age, tooling down the parkway just to the right of the outside lane, i.e., the passing lane, cruise control set at a tad over the speed limit of 65 mph. And cars are whizzing past us on the left AND on the right. I felt like a rock in the middle of a mountain stream.
What's your hurry, buddy, I asked ? Why don't you leave earlier to make sure you get to wherever you're going in one piece? Of course, only my wife could hear me. Because traffic was relatively light we were spared the reckless zig-zaggers who dart from lane to lane.
We arrived at the restaurant and returned home safely after a delightful lunch and a brief walk on the boardwalk, shortened by a rising ocean chill.
We're glad we're out of the rat race, no longer multi-tasking or compelled to acquire the latest communications gizmo with all its apps. By tomorrow, today's gizmos will be as outdated as we are.
We like it this way. We can date when we want to and enjoy lunch at our leisure.
Very nice.
What was the occasion? Our son had given us a gift certificate to a nice restaurant on the Jersey shore and today we decided to use it. The weather was nice for a change, sunny, not too cold, perfect for a drive south on the Garden State Parkway. Which is why I'm writing this.
Here we were, two people of a certain age, tooling down the parkway just to the right of the outside lane, i.e., the passing lane, cruise control set at a tad over the speed limit of 65 mph. And cars are whizzing past us on the left AND on the right. I felt like a rock in the middle of a mountain stream.
What's your hurry, buddy, I asked ? Why don't you leave earlier to make sure you get to wherever you're going in one piece? Of course, only my wife could hear me. Because traffic was relatively light we were spared the reckless zig-zaggers who dart from lane to lane.
We arrived at the restaurant and returned home safely after a delightful lunch and a brief walk on the boardwalk, shortened by a rising ocean chill.
We're glad we're out of the rat race, no longer multi-tasking or compelled to acquire the latest communications gizmo with all its apps. By tomorrow, today's gizmos will be as outdated as we are.
We like it this way. We can date when we want to and enjoy lunch at our leisure.
Very nice.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Jet Lag
We got home about 6 a.m. Friday morning after an 11-and-a-half hour flight from Israel. I actually slept a bit on the flight home so I wasn't entirely zonked on arrival.
And the next morning I was able to play some competitive tennis for an hour. The crash came Saturday afternoon and into Sunday and part of Monday.
Jet lag is real. My legs and ankles swell and it takes a few days for them to return to normal. The head is a different story. It keep asking “what time is it?” When going from west to east it isn't so bad. The trick there is just go with whatever time it is when you arrive.
Traveling east to west is a different story. It takes me days to orient myself to eastern standard time when I've been seven hours ahead of it for 10 days. But I'm back now and can say we had a wonderful time with the family, particularly the grand-children and the great-grand-children.
We were doted on and catered to and we made sure that each of the children had quality time with us. They liked that and so did we.
Now it's back to emailing and phoning to cover the six-thousand mile gap.
Oh, in case you were wondering, we watched CNN's “All Cairo All The Time” coverage of the Egyptian revolution and followed the Israeli newspaper coverage as well. We did not see or feel any obvious concern by people we met in our travels. Israelis seemed to be watchful but taking events in their stride.
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
And the next morning I was able to play some competitive tennis for an hour. The crash came Saturday afternoon and into Sunday and part of Monday.
Jet lag is real. My legs and ankles swell and it takes a few days for them to return to normal. The head is a different story. It keep asking “what time is it?” When going from west to east it isn't so bad. The trick there is just go with whatever time it is when you arrive.
Traveling east to west is a different story. It takes me days to orient myself to eastern standard time when I've been seven hours ahead of it for 10 days. But I'm back now and can say we had a wonderful time with the family, particularly the grand-children and the great-grand-children.
We were doted on and catered to and we made sure that each of the children had quality time with us. They liked that and so did we.
Now it's back to emailing and phoning to cover the six-thousand mile gap.
Oh, in case you were wondering, we watched CNN's “All Cairo All The Time” coverage of the Egyptian revolution and followed the Israeli newspaper coverage as well. We did not see or feel any obvious concern by people we met in our travels. Israelis seemed to be watchful but taking events in their stride.
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
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