To Buy The Gadget, Or Not To Buy The Gadget
Monday, September 17, 2007 Filed in: Things
I like gadgets. Somehow, I think they will change or
improve my life. They're fun, but they don't do much
to change who we are.
Gadgets come in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. The ones we want usually cost a little more than we're willing to pay.
I needed a timer with a beep. An egg timer. I devoted more than two hours to my search for the perfect egg timer. It's electronic, requires a battery, is simply to operate, works well, but won't stop beeping when it times out.
My sin is forgetting to create a list of features that I need before I began shopping for the timer. The mechanical wind up egg timers are less accurate, but the alarm goes off within a few minutes after it times out. The electronic version does now.
How could the designers have missed that obviously superior feature? I'll be that the paint on the dials has lead in it. That could endanger my life, which is a perfect reason to take it back, or look for another.
I have a cell phone but don't use it much. For whatever reason, I've never taken pleasure from answering the phone. Maybe it's the unexpected disruption of the call that bothers me. Conversely, I don't like calling people because I don't want to interrupt their day.
The latest gadget of significance is the iPhone from Apple. I want one. I need one. I can afford one. But what will I do with it? It's a cell phone, a wireless email and web browser, and an iPod. What's not to like?
What I want is a mobile video phone, similar to Skype or iChat on a PC or Mac, but in a handheld device. That would be cool. That would be a gadget worth buying.
Except I don't like it when people call me when they can't see me and can only hear me, so how much more averse will I be to a gadget that lets people see me, too?
Gadgets come in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. The ones we want usually cost a little more than we're willing to pay.
I needed a timer with a beep. An egg timer. I devoted more than two hours to my search for the perfect egg timer. It's electronic, requires a battery, is simply to operate, works well, but won't stop beeping when it times out.
My sin is forgetting to create a list of features that I need before I began shopping for the timer. The mechanical wind up egg timers are less accurate, but the alarm goes off within a few minutes after it times out. The electronic version does now.
How could the designers have missed that obviously superior feature? I'll be that the paint on the dials has lead in it. That could endanger my life, which is a perfect reason to take it back, or look for another.
I have a cell phone but don't use it much. For whatever reason, I've never taken pleasure from answering the phone. Maybe it's the unexpected disruption of the call that bothers me. Conversely, I don't like calling people because I don't want to interrupt their day.
The latest gadget of significance is the iPhone from Apple. I want one. I need one. I can afford one. But what will I do with it? It's a cell phone, a wireless email and web browser, and an iPod. What's not to like?
What I want is a mobile video phone, similar to Skype or iChat on a PC or Mac, but in a handheld device. That would be cool. That would be a gadget worth buying.
Except I don't like it when people call me when they can't see me and can only hear me, so how much more averse will I be to a gadget that lets people see me, too?
