Second-guessing the Gadget Statement

Entered: in Alphaword on Alphasmart Dana | Date: 20200904 | Soundtrack: Coldworld

So, almost immediately after

, I started screwing around with my gadgets. Some of this was justified by preparing for ROOPHLOCH 2020, but mostly, I have never lost my adoration for the tech of the late nineties and early naughties.

As mentioned in

this phost

, I finally figured out how to get photos off my handspring visor deluxe + eyemodule2 camera. I have a Sony PEG UX50 with a camera built in, but it doesn't seem as magical as the ultralowres monochrome goodness of the eyemodule2.

[IMG]

Maybe this is the gen-x equivalence of the boomer love of muscle cars - because when they were young, they could afford them. So with my generation, gadgets (I have never owned a new car, much less one with muscle). Who knows?

These objects do remind me of a time before 9/11 when the world was different. I would carry a computer that ran at a faster clock speed than my first PC in my pocket, and there was no worrying that it was spying on me. I could bring websites and usenet news with me for reading on the go. Have games with me. Even write programs in C and compile them directly on the device! When I was in college, I had a margi presenter to go. Along with Documents to Go on my Treo 90, I presented powerpoint from my PDA for classes. Took notes on that device and my TRG Pro. Lighter than a laptop, and painless to pop out of my pocket for studying. My original SDF website (circa 2002) was produced on a Palm OS device.

So, fine, I have a hard time giving up my gadgets.