Sat, 31 Dec 2011

Icon for Today

I originally wrote this in July of 2009. The old one represented the increased use of cell phones.

But I have a new icon to show now the last day of 2011. It seems that the art of conversation -- even on the phone -- is going the way of the letter. Now texting is the preferred mode of communication. It's so rampant that California has declared a maximum enforcement period over the New Year to stop distracted drivers. They have issued 15,000 tickets for texting while driving and it isn't even the first yet.

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Because it's hot here, I get out in the morning to walk. I have noticed that the early morning icon is the bicycle and trashbag full of aluminum cans. But the REAL icon for our times is the person with the cell phone stuck to their ear. You see them in all sorts of places across all social strata, age groups, and ethnic groups. Usually, they're talking really loud as if everyone needs to hear their conversation.

posted 14:26 [/bloids] permanent link

Fri, 29 Jul 2011

Going to the Fair -- It's Gona Be Hot

We are going to the California State Fair today, so, naturally, it's going to be 100°F+. We have had relatively mild weather here is Sacramento, but, of course, on the day we are going to be walking around on blacktop surrounded by a major head island, it's going to be over 100. I'm beginning to wonder if this relationship between going to the fair and high temperatures is some sort of law of nature. It might be that fairs attract heat like trailer parks attract tornadoes. I can't be sure -- I haven't conducted any scientific study, but it sure seems like that.

posted 07:42 [/bloids] permanent link

Mon, 11 Jan 2010

Detecting the Crazies

With the increased use of bluetooth headsets, its difficult to tell the crazies from the cell phone users.

This morning at 6:15 while filling up my car, I spotted a lady next to her car gesticulating wildly and talking in a loud voice. About 10 years ago, people would have been avoiding her like the plague, assuming that she was talking to unseen spirits. Now, it was just another annoying person sharing their cell phone conversation with the world. She was, obviously, someone who spoke with her hands and she continued this quirk while on the cell phone.

Telling the crazy ones from the cell phone users . . . maybe there isn't all that much difference.

posted 07:01 [/bloids] permanent link

Sat, 15 Aug 2009

Trust in Technology

I went walking today, as I do almost daily. As I was walking out of a particular establishment, I approached an automatic sliding door and it didn't slide until the last minute. I had to slow down and might have run into the door had I been paying no attention to what I was doing.

This got me to think about our trust in technology. We are raising an entire generation of people for which technology is second nature. We trust that when we throw a switch, click a mouse, push a button, that things are going to happen as we espect them to.

What would it be like if you couldn't depend on those sorts of things and what if that trust in technology, especially technology like the Internet, is misplaced?

We pick up the phone, text someone half a continent away, write an e-mail to someone on the other side of the world and expect that the communication will go through almost instantly.

We order something online while sitting in our living room through the WiFi and trust that the product we have order will be delivered, often within 24 hours. Or even better that we can order on the Internet and drive down to our local brick and mortar store and pick up the product in 24 minutes.

We think nothing of playing a video game with, perhaps, thousands of people around the world.

We send our images to You Tube, Facebook, My Space and trust that they will not be misused and that only those people who we want to contact us will do so.

It's interesting how little thought we give to all technology. We use it with complete abandon and without thinking of wether it will work, not to mention how it works. Next time you use technology . . . wonder.

posted 11:26 [/bloids] permanent link

Thu, 14 May 2009

Newspapers in the Digital Age

Do you read one? That is, do you subscribe to or buy the paper version of a newspaper daily, sit with your morning coffee and get newsprint all over your hands? I don't . . . haven't for years. At first it was a time thing. I just didn't have time to browse through the paper. Now, it's both a time thing and the fact that I can get news from the radio, television, and the Internet. So what's going to happen to newspapers? I don't know. The good ones -- really media companies -- will move into the electronic world and develop a new business model. Their current model is based on advertising, both display and classified. But the Internet and other media are sucking off these sources. Internet lists are decimating the classifieds and the display advertising is going to the Internet and other electronic sources.

Newspapers are suffering some because of electronic advertising models and aggregators, also. It's many times the aggregators who get the advertising dollars because people don't go to the newspaper site to read the full article, but merely get the gist of the information from the aggregator's page. I know that is what I do. Newspapers have to figure out a business model which can adapt to the situation or go under.

posted 07:06 [/bloids] permanent link