The Technophile and Luddite

January 27th, 2007

Technology Note: This is a longer post I’d been meaning to write for a while now. I’ll probably link to it from my About page.

I’m definitely into technology: I make my living through it, am fascinated by it, and even write about it obsessively. But, there’s some tech-stuff that leaves me cold - and what I choose to do without might shock you. So here are two short lists: one of technology I can’t live without and another I choose to ignore, followed by some thoughts about why.

Tech I Can’t Live Without

1. MacBook.

I’m an Apple fan boy, let’s just get it out of the way. My MacBook is my constant companion during the work week. A solid machine, with the only problems being stains and some heat. It’s more than fast enough for my most common tasks, plus at a little over a thousand bucks it’s a bargain. Apple rocks, OS X is cool, I worship Steve Jobs for putting a Mac in a Book; there, I’m done now.

2. CMS software (WordPress, Joomla).

This blog runs on WordPress and my bottle cap website runs on Joomla. Both make running a website a piece of cake, plus having the content online means I can update stuff anywhere I have an internet connection. Lastly, both pieces of software are free.

3. iPod.

My long commute via the CalTrain is made enjoyable with this wonder of a device. It has forever changed the way I listen to music. I can hardly wait for the iPod Femto: it holds a kabillion songs and you wear it like a contact lens.

4. Various Software: Quicken, iLife, Photoshop, Dreamweaver.

Quicken has kept me sane for the past three years. Although the UI is sometimes frustrating, there are enough charts that allow you to believe that saving for retirement may actually be achievable. The two iLife programs we use most are iTunes and iPhoto, and I’m getting back into Garageband - all do what they claim to expertly. Photoshop and Dreamweaver I use at work daily, which allows me the pleasure of entering positive numbers into Quicken on a regular basis.

5. Various websites: MyBlogLog, Technorati, YouTube, Google, Techmeme

I hit the above sites daily. Several might just be flavors of the month. Six months ago this list would have had Slashdot and digg instead of MyBlogLog and Techmeme. But Google has been set as my home page since 2000 or 2001. I use Gmail as my primary email address and for news and search. I would wither away if Google were to disappear.

Tech I Choose to Ignore

Now that I’ve offered up some tech-stuff I can’t live without, here’s some tech-stuff I shy away from. Hold onto your seats.

1. Cellphone.

There, I said it. I don’t own a cellphone. My wife does, but I don’t. My reasons run as follows:

Too confusing. So many buttons. I can’t even figure out how to make a phone call on many of them. Too expensive. I despise the complex contracts, monthly fees, and pricing schemes. I’d love to buy one phone, pay for it when in use, with no contract. Cell phones interrupt me. I hate interruptions. I prefer the one-step-removed communication of email. I can pick and choose when I respond to a communication and put much more thought into the response.

I’m pretty on board with the Apple iPhone - I want to get one, but for reasons that have nothing to do with the phone technology (it’s all about the internet).

I know some of you are thinking, no cell phone? What the hell? Is this 1857? Well, I’m proof you don’t need one to survive.

2. Instant Messaging.

I have an AOL handle in iChat but I’m rarely logged in. Maybe once a year, if that. As with the cellphone, IM interrupts me. I hate it. I don’t feel any useful communication comes about in spurts and spatters of typing. Come talk to me in person, call me on my landline, send me an email, or comment on this blog. I think that’s plenty of options.

3. Cable.

No cable TV. I’m not really into flipping channels because it’s like a bad game, trying to find something entertaining that never shows up.

It’s not the content of cable television that I’m against (as I do watch movies, Battlestar Galactica, and Gilmore Girls), it’s the delivery mechanism. I want to choose what I want to watch and when, not have to accept whatever’s on. But it’s not as simple as just buying a PVR.

The best shows are showing up on DVD and even in iTunes as downloads. There are advantages to watching shows on DVD - I can polish off six or seven episodes in one weekend, and without the annoyance of waiting one week in between each.

Yeah, I get a lot of strange looks from people for whom my complaints are incomprehensible. Without cable, they fear the world would end. Some even try to tell us about cool “package deals” as if it must be some economic hardship as to why we don’t “do” cable.

The fact is, my life doesn’t revolve around television. I watch plenty of movies and TV shows through other routes. I just don’t choose to digest said media in the old manner of some channel deciding to show it at a certain time with ads plastered all over it.

4. PVR.

Although I admire the concept of an iTunes for television, without cable, unfortunately the PVR is pointless. The dance that keeps going around in my head is: I’d only get a PVR if I we had cable. Well, that’s a lot of money every month right there, just for the pleasure of time-delaying programs, when basically the same thing can be done with Netflix and iTunes downloads.

Yes, with either one there is a time delay of a few months before a program shows up on DVD, or the limited choice on iTunes plus a delay of a few days, but with cable and a PVR, isn’t the whole point the time delay? If I record a cool show on the PVR and then watch it a few days later at my convenience, the end result is the same if I go the Netflix / iTunes route.

When I think about it in this manner, cable and a PVR seem really pointless. What I really want is basically on-demand television shows and movies via the computer. And while I wait for this day, I save a crapload of money and time not spent watching television.

What Does This All Mean?

1. I’m a control freak. In addition to the obvious control over media, I also like to control communication so I have the ability to decide where and when I want to deal with people.

2. I’m one of those creative, artsy-fartsy types. Blogging software, music creation, design tools, all enhance productivity and enable me to create something tangible so at the end of the day I can say, “I did this.” I get so much bizarre nerdy personal satisfaction from uploading 1,200 scans of bottle caps to my database driven website it’s not even funny. The latest episode of American Idol can’t compete.

3. I’m an anti-social nerd. I just yawn at real-time communication technology. I think this is related to control over communication. I prefer email. I’m the annoying person that prefers to not answer the phone so I can listen to voice messages later. I don’t do IM or Skype. My iSight is never on.

But it goes further - I think this is why I’m a prolific blogger but would run in the opposite direction if you asked me to give a speech before a live audience. The truth: I’m rather anti-social, and use technology as a screen or buffer to control the messages that get through.

4. I’m a cheap bastard. I don’t like technology that involves a monthly fee (subscription). I think this is part of the reason why I’m not into cell phones or cable. The only instance where I’ve broken this rule is Netflix, because it affords me control over what movies I watch, and obviously broadband because it’s like a utility. I guess a lot of folks consider cellphones and television basic utilities. But it’s a reason why I’m confused by ideas like a music subscription service. I really prefer the pay once, you own it model.

You can nickel and dime me to death but ask me to pay twenty bucks a month, and I’ll pull out the magnifying glass and seriously analyze the usefulness of the service.

5. I’m not a brainless consumer. I don’t buy stuff just because everyone else has it. Definitely not a trend follower.

6. Maybe I’m just a hypocrite. Despite all my rationalizations and excuses, perhaps I just love certain technology because I grew up with computers, music, and books, but my parents didn’t get cable until I was in junior high. I also quite probably have an aversion to cellphones because my dad was a constantly on-call physician who would keep being dragged away by disruptive cell phone calls (he had one of those grey brick ones). Or maybe since my first computer was an Apple IIe I have had lifetime exposure to the reality distortion field during my formative years. Well, at least I try to think about these things.

Anyhow, I hope you found this post amusing. I’d be interested to know your thoughts on why or why not you subscribe to certain technologies. Or if you want to deride me for not having a Bluetooth cyborg earpiece so I can rudely defer grocery-shopping decisions to someone else while at the store, fire away.

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