Is it any wonder that we're so easily lured into the more-more, gotta-have-the-latest-thing, won't-be-happy-until-it's-mine, stuff-stuff-thingamabobber whirlwind of feeling some strange need to have the latest and greatest? Our technology has built-in obselescence. In a few years, the shiny things we acquire become relatively useless compared to the Next Best Shiny Thing.
Cases in point:
• Apple introduces the iPod Nano. It holds 1,000 songs! It's as thin as a thick piece of paper! It has a color screen like the big iPods! I look down at my iPod Shuffle and think, "Man, I wish it was an iPod Nano." But wait! I have yet to fill up the 1 GB of shuffling goodness my Shuffle affords me. I also don't have the patience to create endless playlists. Who cares about the color screen if it is in my pocket while I'm walking? Or I'm jogging and don't care to look down at it? My Shuffle is more than I need.
• Subaru releases details about its 2006 version of my 2005 car. Now it comes with standard 17-inch wheels! And seven more horsepower! And in new colors! I look at my nearly new car and think, "Wish I could have waited a little longer!" But wait! Having had a car with 17-inch wheels before, I know that replacement tires are more expensive than for the 16-inch wheels I have. Seven more horsepower? Who needs them! I've got enough get up and go for me and four other people. And I still love the color. If I had waited, I would have melted into the old driver seat of the Family Truckster as the A/C cooked me into a darker shade of white (now blissfully someone else's burden).
• Picking on Apple again, the very computer I am using now is no longer the latest and greatest. It's an iMac G4 – one of the first iMacs with the telescoping LCD screen. Not only do new ones come with the faster G5 processor, but also with more memory and standard DVD recorders. For about the same price! Oy vay! But wait! This computer is perfect for what we need, has all the programs loaded and hasn't given us any trouble. It's a keeper (until it stops working; someday I know it will).
• My 10-year-old mountain bike! It's dingey, it's dinged, it's green! So many advances in frame technology since it was built! How can I be seen on it! I wish it was a road bike. But wait! The thing is broken in, and nobody in their right mind would steal it (built-in anti-theft device!). Besides, pedaling would be the same on my long-paid-for bicycle as it would on a new $2,000 model. Yet the latter might leave me a bit sore in the wallet area.
• My 9-year-old TV! It's old-fashioned, and weighs a ton. Look at all the shiny high-definition ready LCDs and plasmas beckoning me to hang them on my wall. But wait! LCDs don't retain their highest level of quality for long. And plasmas, well you know I'd need a second mortgage. Besides, we still don't have cable. Why spring for TV bling when all we'll see is static?
• Cell phones! New features are being added every week to the newest models. I've seen one that can open your garage door, be used as a TV remote, send and receive e-mail with attachments and, if you can figure out how, be used to make telephone calls. The ones we have are basic models. The Petite Filet uses hers for work a lot, so we may upgrade to something more reliable. But does she need to know the exact time in every time zone in the world? Does she need to know currency exchange rates? Is she going to check the latest sports scores? No! And what's more, it doesn't have to be paperthin, because she will keep the thing in her purse (which can hold three bowling balls without touching).
I have a lot. Too much in fact. I didn't mention all the 35 mm cameras that I'd love to trade for a new digital. We've been dealt a reality card because our house's plumbing is (once again) revolting. As in we weren't able to use either of the toilets last night. Let's just say we're well on our way to building a nice compost pile in the back yard. Our plumbers (who know our address without us reminding them) unclogged the clog, sort of. They'll be coming back this week to poke a tiny camera up the pipe to see where the gaping, mud-filled hole is. Then, they'll let us know how much of our new flooring they'll need to rip up before breaking a hole in the concrete slab and fitting a new piece of PVC pipe.
It's back to basics at Casa del T-bone! If anyone wants to contribute to our Plumbing Relief Fund, I'd be happy to trade my 1966 Kitchen Aid mixer for some cash. Well, scratch that. Some things haven't gotten better; they don't make those like they used to. I've actually mixed a bowl of bricks into a red mush with it.
I will chip in for this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/GENUINE-BRITISH-WWII-LATRINE-SCOOP_W0QQitemZ2294936531QQcategoryZ36049QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Sorry, dude, that's a crappy thing to happen at anytime!
I resist purchasing "techno-toys" because I know they'll be obsolete in a matter of months. The older I get the less it bothers me.
Ya know, you've touched on one of the reasons I have a love/hate relationship with the Metroplex. I think people in the Dallas area get caught up in keeping up far too much. The realtor tried to get us to look at homes in Frisco, and - please don't get me wrong - there are wonderful people and things to do in Frisco, but it was all a little too generic for me. I like my older home because there are trees and mature landscaping. (Sidenote: How sad is it when a home built in 1989 is deemed as older. Only in the Metroplex, 'eh?) I like fixer-up projects. (I would not, however, like plumbing problems.) I like being outdoors. Etcetera
The things that are important are the times you sit looking into the eyes of people you love, laughing with them, crying with them, and going about daily routines. Sometimes these things will involve big-screen t.v.'s, but I seriously doubt you'll look back years from now and say "Remember when we got that new I-Pod, and we downloaded those playlists..."
I don't buy newfangled gadgety things because I don't want to learn anything new. I know enough already. I do not want to learn how to work these things. That '66 KitchenAid is a keeper.
All I can say is AMEN, T-Bone. I complain about all this stuff all the time. I hate the fact that you can no longer get anything repaired....i.e. shoes, computers, ANYTHING electronic. I don't NEED all this new stuff and I hate having shoved down my throat all the time.
Ditto on that one. It's too bad that if a component on a standard color TV goes bad, it's less expensive to just get a new one. Same with most other electronic thingamajigs, too. I am, however, lusting over a new guitar down at the music shop down in Tacoma. (sigh)... Have a good one, T. Good luck with your plumbing problems. Hope everything comes out ok.
I've decided to chuck all of my electronics and go back to using an abacus. And passenger pigeons to send messages.
I have both an iPod and the shuffle. I actually prefer the shuffle because it's still the lightest and I have a lot of playlists and so it's easy for me to drag and drop.
However, i haven't seen the Nano yet in person. I might not be able to resist. It's like the Shuffle on steroids.
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