Ever notice how the fancier electronics get, the less productive they become? Yea me too, and it’s a problem. Sure that 16,000 function cell phone/PDA/radiation detector/meteor deflector/oral hygiene device looks cool, but do you really need all of that crap? The answer is no, you don’t. And I’ll tell you why.
The truth is, the current state of electronics is bad. Like Gillette throwing 15 blades on a razor, the electronics industry is guilty of a failure to innovate. If you don’t believe me, answer this: When is the last time you acquired an electronic device that truly changed your life for the better? Something that makes your day-to-day easier and you wouldn’t want to live without? The last thing I can think of, and not doubt the decision, is the iPod. It was a game-changing device, one responsible for putting the digital audio market on the map and making the world a better (and more musical) place. But even considering its cred, it too is has failed to add anything truly unique in years. It’s smaller and it holds more (yay), but it still does the same stuff it did in the beginning with the exception of having a tiny color screen that can play video (double yay).
But again, I challenge you to name a bit of gear that truly changed the world. Anyone remember the Segway? That transportation device that was supposed to redefine the way people moved about. It was the greatest invention of the 20th century, a solution to all of our problems — at least that’s what “they” told us. In reality, the only thing brilliant about the Segway is how brilliantly poor its acceptance has been. To date, its use has been widely restricted. It’s not really safe for streets, it’s banned on most sidewalks and the UK has all but declared it illegal. And that’s not even considering the fact that it only goes 12mph, making it only about as fast as a brisk run.
Worse than the Segway debacle are cell phones. They are often guiltiest when it comes to useless features and little innovation. With the exception of the Helio Ocean, most of the phones I’ve examined in recent months are dubious in their usefulness. They all have tons of features, but they don’t do any of those things particularly well. Using the personal planner function on nearly any device is an exercise in futility. Mainly because a notebook and pencil carries more utility and simplicity than any electronic device poised against it. I still log my schedule in a Moleskine and I don’t know of any options capable of usurping its efficiency. It costs about $10 per year, the battery never runs out, no clunky screens to sift through before making a notation and, most importantly, it feels good to handwrite things once in awhile (if only so that you don’t forget how).
The reason the Ocean is a great device is because it has focus and separation. What it does, it does well. The device isn’t bloated with all sorts of useless noise, it serves deliberate functions with easily discernible uses. The division of phone and media device is particularly effective. I speak for everyone, but when I want to make a call, I have no patience to flick through multiple screens — I just want to mash a couple of buttons and connect with the other end. Furthermore, Helio has truly innovated by putting GPS in all of its devices. The beauty of its inclusion is that GPS makes sense. It makes ones life universally easier. I can’t even begin to count the number of times it’s set me on the right path while hopelessly lost in New York.
I know this all flies in the face of being gearheads, and early adopters, but there comes a point when enough is enough. We have to demand more from manufacturers before handing over our hard earned dollars and cents. Because we’re techies, not sheep, we’re supposed to have more sense than the other 98-percent. That’s why we make more money than the douche bag high school quarterback. It’s why we’re in the corner offices, while that girl you had a crush on in 10th grade now has three kids, has been divorced twice and still lives with her parents. We’re geeks, so have some self-respect, dammit. Demand ingenuity like your lives depend on it, because if you really think about it, it does.
Image from Livejournal
AMEN BROTHA. While I do feel as though most of the features on a smart phone I use on a fairly regular basis, most of the population does not. What really makes me laugh is those people who walk around with their bluetooth headsets on all the time in case they get that really important phone call! “Hey Rico, the ship just arrived”
Ah! The American way of taking a baby for a stroll in the park.
I think it’s easy to overlook the benefits of new digital gear, especially when the manufacturer promises the world and the product falls short of the advertised goal. And sure, some of the “upgrades” are nothing more than weak attempts to build buzz and get people to upgrade from one product to the next.
That said, I disagree with you that the “state of electronics is bad.” I loved my Treo and now love my recently-purchased Sprint Mogul. (The upgraded speed, greater Outlook server connectivity, and wi-fi capabilities were much more than window dressing in my consideration to get a new smart phone). I could live without my DVR or MP3 player, but I’d prefer not to! And in terms of pure improvement of life, I could not recommend more highly the Sennheiser PXC300 noise-cancelling headphones, particularly for anyone who travels.
Point is, one can always focus on how Segway didn’t change the world or the latest cell phone doesn’t whiten your teeth, but that misses the point. If you don’t want the latest gear, don’t get it. If your PDA/phone/MP3 Player/toy is annoying you, turn it off! We all have the free will to use or not use whatever tools become available, so why complain that we have the choice.
Being the geeks we are, we hang on every incremental change that happens,…ooooo the new iPod is black, oooo”… rather than stand back an look at the big picture. We are a bit spoiled in thinking that the next big thing is only a day away.
In our past long gone innovations came slowly and the time between major inventions was 100’s if not thousands of years.
Fire.
The Wheel
The printing press
The iPhone
What I find really entertaining, on nights when I am really bored, is to watch a movie from not too very long ago, say the 60’s or 70’s, hell maybe the 80’s and see what missing from the picture. No PC’s, no email’s, no IM, no internet, no cell’s, crappy TV’s, crappy cars (with notable exceptions), no microwave popcorn ( this is arguably a step in the wrong direction) no portable audio.
Ever try creating a nice letter on a typewriter… before liquid paper. Every use an early computer with a 9 pin dot matrix printer?
If your crappy 70’s car broke down in the middle of nowhere in 1975, you could die and nobody would find the body for months. Now, unless you are an ATT customer, help is just a cell phone call away.
I once used a quote when responding to a article on iPhones, “Oh the humanity”. Originally spoken by a radio reporter witnessing the Hindenburg disaster. Afterwards I thought, what would that reporter have thought back then if he knew some dude in the 21st century would quote him, using something called a computer, over something called the internet, into something called a web page, about some gadget that could wirelessly act like a telephone, play color silent and talkie motion pictures on a small viewing screen made of something called LCD and could hold more “records” than anyone could possibly own. The poor guy would be staggered and overwhelmed.
But for all of our advances are we any better off. Yes, I think the chicks now are much hotter.
This article makes some valid points about complacency in today’s companies. Sticking more blades on a razor doesn’t necessarily make it a better razor. But where the author gets it terribly wrong is when he slaps the Segway PT on the pile of useless inventions. Segway Inc. is a company that’s offering a truly innovative product. And frankly, it’s articles like these, filled with inaccuracies (“its use has been widely restricted. It’s not really safe for streets, it’s banned on most sidewalks…”) that propagate the old stereotypes and make it difficult for the Segway PT to gain widespread acceptance. Check your facts, Blake.
Alright, clearly you have an agenda, so I’ll forgive you for taking my quotes out of context and misrepresenting me in both this comment and on your blog. Nevertheless, there is nothing out of sync with my statements about Segways. The vehicle is very clearly banned in a wide-span of areas. Here are just a few news stories supporting that claim:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209827,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4217573
http://www.sfweekly.com/2002-12-18/news/showing-segway-the-highway/
Regarding my statement about its safety, I’m willing to admit that that comment was less based in evidence and rooted more in my experience and powers of deduction. For one, it clearly couldn’t withstand any sort of true traffic collision. Secondly, main municipalities have restricted or banned the use of Segways as a result of their dubious safeguards. One such problem is the lack of a true brake. Japan actually requires users have brakes installed if they are to use it on roads.
That said, I appreciate the fact that you appreciate the Segway, but next time you feel the need to pounce on someone’s statements, please be prepared to back it up with an adequate retort. You supply no evidence to the contrary of my statements and thus are actually guilty of the very grievance that you erroneously and irrationally charged me with.
What about groups like inventgeek.com?