Diversion: One Man’s Gadgetations
As a personal-computer owner since 1986, I’ve seen plenty of developments, but none match the performance-per-dollar you’ll get from that unsexy utilitarian desktop. Not that I’d disdain a laptop – I own several – but the portable is prone to more wear-and-tear, not to mention the possibility of loss or theft. Laptops also tend to promote a user reliance on wifi Internet connection, which is far from universal or ideal in many circumstances.
When the ‘Net is absent, a thumb drive is invaluable. While I use the online cloud concept (Microsoft’s SkyDrive, for example), it’s a no-brainer to carry a little USB stick for documents, presentations and photos. It also allows the use of someone else’s computer – I posted several items from Coverings using press-room computers, transferring work from a wifi-dead laptop. (If you get clever, you can copy your DVDs to AVI or MPEG files to a thumb drive and watch them on a laptop while traveling.)
Where I don’t get clever is with my mobile phone. To be very honest, I don’t have a smartphone; for one thing, I’m not keen to dish out another $400-$500 just in connection fees. And, in 25 years of owning personal technology, I’ve learned that the more tasks you assign to one device, it’s more-certain that you’re going to brick it.
Smartphones are marvelous pieces of technology, but their main purpose is enabling voice calls. Yes, you can do hundreds of other tasks with a smartphone, but it doesn’t do them as well as specifically designed devices like GPS units or point-and-shoot cameras.
It’s a major shock for some people to learn that large areas of the United States outside major metro areas have gaps in cellular service; hit a soft spot, and something like GPS goes dark. And photo/video recording quality remains relatively low on smartphones when compared to the cheapest camera or pocket camcorder.
Trying to make that smartphone do all these things pushes it closer to breakdown; keep ordering it to do more and, like most other electronic devices, it hits the limit and seizes up. If you’ve tossed everything else, you’ll be left holding a very expensive electronic brick.
Sure, this sounds like the old guy who just isn’t getting it, and he should just move on. But, in a quarter-century, I’ve learned that every good gadget has its reason for being in my bag of technology tricks – and I’ll need a better reason for pitching them than a New York Times say-so.
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