A Brave New World

A co-worker forwarded me the video below yesterday, along with the message, "Think we will live to witness this?" Here were my thoughts when I opened the video:

1. Oh, I've seen this before. My assistant-superintendent ALSO forwarded it to me about six months ago.
2. Of course we'll live to see SOMETHING like this. I'm actually not that blown away by this video. The see through glass monitor doesn't exist yet (at least, not in any consumer-affordable store I've ever been in), but as far as the other technology goes, there's very little in this video that isn't already possible today, if you were willing to purchase a giant touch screen TV with Microsoft Surface technology built into it. The video is guessing at the evolution of software (i.e. the ease with which the dad transfers the Skype-like video call from his cell phone to the computer built into the kitchen counter) and counting on some things that don't exist yet (such as, to go back to my prior example, what kind of camera on the kitchen counter is capturing the kids for the grandma to see???), but overall, there's really not much new here. We're living in this world already, and these advancements are going to come incrementally, so that you're hardly aware of them. Isn't 2011 Skype pretty darned cool? Or Facebook? Or the Internet on your cell phone? It's all the stuff of science fiction movies when I was growing up!
3. I don't want work emails popping up on my mirror while I'm trying to get ready in the morning. I don't know if Corning was trying to get me excited about this new future or ticked off at them because in this future I can't even go into the bathroom to get away from work. Jennifer should have pretended she didn't get the message and had another hour to enjoy the morning!

(I can't see the video.)

Foundational Change

We humans are undergoing a major cultural shift thanks to the proliferation of the mobile, network-connected device. When people refer to the Computer Age (or more correctly, I think, the "Information Age") I do truly believe that it is actually a new "Age" that we are moving into. We've left the Stone Age and the Bronze Age and the Industrial Age and moved into something completely different, and it will take a different kind of human being.

We'll adapt. We always do. But we're going to have to change.

The video below was forwarded to me yesterday. I thought it does a fantastic job of demonstrating this foundational change that is occurring. The video is specific to Iowa (I didn't even know they HAD computers in Iowa!), but the information in the first half of the video is about any state.



(I can't see the video.)

In defense of my phone

I made a post a few of months ago about how much nicer my wife's "cheap" 2011 smart phone is than my high end smart phone. And I haven't changed my mind about that post. Her phone is still better.

But I don't want to make it sound like my phone is a piece of garbage. Sometimes, when I can't get it to do exactly what I want it to do, I might say that, and I will admit that I don't like that its operating system, while extremely popular in Europe and Asia (where until just recently it was far and away the #1 mobile phone OS), is almost unheard of in the United States. No one I've met says, "Hey! Do you have a Symbian phone?" 

Still, I use my phone every day, and not just for the typical cell phone things. Sure, I do use it to check my email, and to keep up with my appointments, and as a calculator and simple note taker, and as a quick low resolution digital camera. And yes, I even make the occasional phone call with it. But so what? Everyone does those things!

Here are just a few of the other things that I use my cell phone for.

1. MP3 player. My cell phone, the Nokia 5800, was designed first and foremost to function as a cell phone/multimedia player, and I do use it as my primary music device. 
2. A Flashlight. My cell phone has an app I downloaded that, with the click of a virtual switch, sets the flash in the camera to on. It makes for a VERY effective flashlight (much more so than the cheap apps I've seen on other phones that just turn the regular view screen on). I use this function much more often than I thought I would. I never knew how often I'd use a flashlight if I had it always in my pocket. 
3. Exercise Tracker. I have an app called "Sports Tracker" that functions as a pedometer, a work out diary, and a GPS device that maps my runs for me in real time. At the end of each workout it will tell me how far I've run/walked, how many steps I've taken, and how many calories I've burned.
4. A GPS Navigator. I used "Waze," a free navigation tool, to help me get from place to place. Beats having to pay for and update a Garmin.
5. A UPC reader. I have a bar code reader that I can scan to get information on products, such as where is the cheapest place to buy the product I'm holding in my hand (which seldom is the store I'm standing in), or that can open up a link to a web browser where I can read more information.

And those are just the apps that I use on a daily basis. I also have a level, an anglemeter, a measurement converter, and a number of other apps that I have but don't use often. Something that's missing--a good eReader. There's no Kindle app for the Symbian system.

In any event, this is why I don't carry a Swiss Army Knife. I have the 21st Century Equivalent.

Care and Maintenance

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I was having problems with my smartphone recently. As I was working to determine the issue, I did something I almost never do: I got out the owner's manual and flipped through it (I was actually surprised to find that there WAS a paper owner's manual. I'm used to most of these things being in .PDF form on a disc).

As I scanned through the owner's manual, my eyes fell upon the "Care and maintenance" section. I read through the bulleted list of warnings, and one struck me as funny. No, it wasn't the "Keep the device dry" warning. I've actually known several people who've inadvertantly taken their cell phone swimming with them. Nor did I find the warning to not use "harsh chemicals" to clean the phone amusing. I'd never do so personally, but I guess that there are people who don't know better who might try such things. No, it was the last warning that made me laugh out loud: "Do not paint the device. Paint can clog the moving parts and prevent proper operation."

What made me laugh was the fact that--with lists of warnings like this--it must be that someone at some time has done all of these things. And while I can imagine why someone would take a cell phone from a very hot location to a very cold location without allowing the phone to adjust, or why someone might use something other than a camera lens cloth to clean the surface of the phone, I can't imagine why anyone would want to paint it.

I can just imagine the conversation on the telephone support line...

Operator: (obviously reading from a script) Thank you for calling Nokia, the world's leading maufacturer of cellular phone systems. My name is Joshua, and I am here to help you. What seems to be the problem?

User: The screen lock dial on my phone doesn't seem to be working.

Operator (still obviously reading from a script): I am sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your Nokia smart phone. I can certainly help you with your problem and make sure it's resolved. Can you tell me what was happening just before your problem began?

User: Well, the problem began right about the time I painted my phone.

Operator (Long Pause): Uh, excuse me? (now obviously OFF script)

User: Yeah, I didn't like the basic black of my phone, so I went to the Home Depot and got an oil based enamel and painted it sort of a deep red. Uh, hang on...(momentary pause)...Yeah, the name on the side of the can of paint is "Candy Apple Red," if that's any help...

Operator: Sir, please excuse me. Am I to understand that you PAINTED your cellular phone?

User: That's right...Uh, do you think that might have something to do with it?...

I can imagine when the phone call is over the operator contacting his superior and saying, "Bob, we're going to need to revise the standard warnings in the manual again..."