and I hope it works a lot better than the past did.
I enjoy technology - but when it comes to cell/smart phones...I am a total Luddite. I use my cell phone so little that about a year and a half ago I switched to a pre-paid plan and saved a bundle by not having a monthly bill for minutes I didn't use.
I guess this lack of phone-worship stems from the fact that when I was part of the smart crowd and out doing interesting things worth talking about cell phones didn't exist. So I never got in the habit of updating my status constantly while at the grocery store, or driving to work, or just having a drink. And now that I'm old, I don't care what anybody else's status is. I can wait to talk to them when they get back from the grocery store.
I had to go throw some new minutes on the old phone yesterday. I think my total cell phone tab for 2011 so far is like 60 bucks. While I was at the Verizon minute-store I looked around at the Wall of Wonder Phones they had there. It wasn't that busy, so I actually got a chance to chat with the sales rep about what was there.
I looked at the Ipad, the Xoom, and wondered why people were so excited about something named the Droid Bionic. The name alone gives you pause, like we can''t wait to turn into the Borg.
When I converted all this technology back into something I understand - dollars - I could see just what a bonanza these things were for the data carriers. Because if you do the math:
1. I am stuck with my expensive DSL service for my computers at home. Face it, it's not like we can go back to dial up, and computers HAVE to be connected for updates and any other task other than printing a letter. As the phone company has a monopoly - it's not like I can choose from several high-speed ISP's in the area - I"m screwed in excess of 100 bucks a month there.
2. The wireless network and these devices are not an able substitute for a "real" computer with a high speed connection. Data use is capped. Stream a few Youtube videos and you've used up your bandwidth for the month.
3. Ipso facto, you have to spring for them both if you really want to utilize the technology. Which means in excess of 200 bucks a month just to connect up to the "world". I remember when that was a car payment!
The only solution, for me, is to wait until the computers I have at home are so totally outdated that they are museum-worthy. Then junk them, disconnect the DSL, and jump into whatever wireless platform exists at the time. One that has a phone, camera, Internet access and barber shop. And only pay ONE access fee - or if possible, pay as you go on that too!
Because for all the expense and my Luddite attitude, I have to admit - those Ipads are pretty slick!!!!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
More With Less
In any physical system, efficiency is certainly one of the guiding principles of design. I just pulled a book down from the ol' tech library and re-read it, pulling out new information like you always do when you go over something a second time.
That book is called, oddly enough "More With Less - Paul MacCready and The Dream Of Efficient Flight". I picked it up out of the discount rack somewhere, which is too bad...it's a well written story.
As a little back story, Paul MacCready was the first to win the Kremer Prize for man-powered flight. He also went on to found Aerovironment, which does work in a whole range of cutting-edge fields from battery technology to drone aircraft.
One thing that struck me the second time was MacCready's approach to problem-solving. Just about everyone who had failed to win the Kremer Prize tried to make a man-powered aircraft look like, well, an aircraft. MacCready didn't start there. If you look at his Gossamer Condor design that won the prize, it truly is the "minimum viable product", to use a current buzzword. Just enough Mylar shrink wrap and plastic tubing in the right arrangement to get the job done.
If you have a position to defend, you aren't open to alternative solutions. Unfortunately we see that happen all the time, and it's crippling. It's not enough to think outside the box - you have to ask why the box is square in the first place!
That book is called, oddly enough "More With Less - Paul MacCready and The Dream Of Efficient Flight". I picked it up out of the discount rack somewhere, which is too bad...it's a well written story.
As a little back story, Paul MacCready was the first to win the Kremer Prize for man-powered flight. He also went on to found Aerovironment, which does work in a whole range of cutting-edge fields from battery technology to drone aircraft.
One thing that struck me the second time was MacCready's approach to problem-solving. Just about everyone who had failed to win the Kremer Prize tried to make a man-powered aircraft look like, well, an aircraft. MacCready didn't start there. If you look at his Gossamer Condor design that won the prize, it truly is the "minimum viable product", to use a current buzzword. Just enough Mylar shrink wrap and plastic tubing in the right arrangement to get the job done.
If you have a position to defend, you aren't open to alternative solutions. Unfortunately we see that happen all the time, and it's crippling. It's not enough to think outside the box - you have to ask why the box is square in the first place!
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