Anyone who knows me knows that in the immortal words of Kip Dynamite, “I love technology.” People at work call me the gadget guru. When anyone there is thinking of buying a digital camera or a new printer, they come to me. I probably got this reputation because I was an early adopter of the PDA. I would pull it out in meetings along with a folding keyboard and take notes. Then I would email them to the group afterwards. Meanwhile, the rest of them would be jotting things down in their Franklin planners or on legal pads.

Numerous technologies — from the PC to the iPod — have in some way made my life better. Yet in spite of all of these benefits, there are down sides. Tech items do not come cheap. They are often obsolete by the time you buy them. They are sometimes fragile and not all that durable (e.g., I have broken the screen on at least two PDA’s). Intuitive is not always a word that one uses to describe new gadgets. They sometimes require a steep learning curve. Related to this, and the object of my post, is the amount of time one spends maintaining personal technology. First and foremost my complaint is with the personal computer.

My experience with the PC began in the spring of 1991 when I was a second semester freshman at Harrisburg Area Community College. I was taking an English composition class. One of the requirements of the class was to write our papers in the computer lab. It was on those Apple IIe’s, with their monochrome green screens, that I first learned the value of a word processing program. It lifted my writing to new heights, whereas before most of it ended up in the waste can (all of my high school papers were written by hand). I got an A+ in the class and soon set some money aside for an Apple Macintosh Classic.

I used the Mac Classic at Covenant until I upgraded to one of the early Powerbooks (a 165 I think). Like the Classic it also had a monochrome B&W screen, as well as a track ball mouse. This was the next step in my computer evolution, because all of a sudden I was no longer tied down to a desk. I sold the Powerbook in 1994 after I graduated from college, using the proceeds toward my wife’s engagement ring. She had a Mac IIci that we used until 1996, when we dropped two-grand on our first Windows PC. That purchase marked the beginning of my love hate relationship with the PC.

I could go on forever about the problems I have had with our two Windows machines. However, it would not be fair for me to leave out the fact that they have enabled us to do wonderful things. As I type this blog post I am listening to iTunes, watching TV and editing a digital photo…all on my PC. How cool is that?

Pretty cool, except for the hours upon hours that I have spent over the years troubleshooting software and/or hardware conflicts, reformatting hard drives and reinstalling Windows. The latest in this saga involved an upgrade to Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0. It installed fine on my business notebook, but on our home desktop I cannot get it to function correctly. For whatever reason you cannot save or print documents. Pretty important for a digital photo editing program, huh? I can still select ‘Save for Web’ and ‘Print Multiple Photos’, but the standard commands do not function.

This and a few other abnormalities led me to recently reformat my PC’s hard drive. For the first time I got Service Pack 2 installed without any negative effects, so I thought things were boding well. Then I put PSE 3.0 back on. The problem did not go away…no printing and no saving still! After a few hours of following troubleshooting instructions on the Adobe web site, I uninstalled version 3.0 and put 2.0 back on. Then a new problem raised its ugly head, something about the color palette settings being incompatible with the current operating system. Nothing looks right at all — the colors are that far off.

I also lost all of my Outlook email archives. They became corrupted after burning them to DVD-R’s. To top it all off I am getting these random error messages, as if Windows is trying to boot off of a floppy disk.

So here I sit with a PC that will not function properly, save as a web browser and text editor. I am debating if I should reinstall Windows yet again? I would almost rather take a hammer to this silver box than waste another evening trying to fix it. Of all of my beloved technologies, the PC has robbed me of the most time. It is more high maintenance than a pampered princess.

Maybe it is time for me to make the switch? With the release of the Mac Mini I could go back to my computing roots for around $500 (maybe less if I use Ebay). All of the Mac users I talk to praise them for their stability (no blue screens of death), lack of viruses, and solid integration of software with hardware. A Mac would also be right up my alley in terms of multimedia. I know that Apples are not panaceas, but this could be a way for me to get some of my life back. Perhaps a tiger is in my future?

The tickets that we won from the contest are General Admission. I have to admit that I am both excited and bummed. I am excited that I can get as close to the stage as humanly possible. I am bummed that we will have to arrive at the venue as early as possible if we want to get that close (not to mention standing for the entire concert). I think I am up for it, but I feel for my non-concert going wife.

I just checked Ebay to see what the bidding was up to for GA tickets. With an hour left in the auction our same tickets are already selling for 4.3 times their face value. The price can only go up as the minutes count down. I have to admit that the thought of selling our tickets and getting cheaper seats has crossed my mind…NOT!

I picked up the iPod today. It is charging as I write. I wish everything was rosey, but I am slightly disappointed in the condition of the unit. It is brand new, but the radio station opened the box and stuck one of their stickers on the back (which has since been removed).

I bought a clear plastic case at the Lenox Square Apple store today. The salesman said I was doing the right thing by protecting it immediately. The reason? They scratch really easily. On the black gloss U2 iPod scratches are especially noticeable. At this point, I might as well forego the case.

The radio station intern who defiled the iPod managed to put scratches on the casing and a pretty good one on the clear section over the screen. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (at least not for too long), I will end the ranting by saying, “IT MAKES ME MAD WHEN PEOPLE ARE CARELESS WITH THINGS. WHY DO PRETTY SHINY THINGS HAVE TO SCRATCH SO EASILY? I HATE ENTROPY!”

Okay, I feel better now.

PS – A pox on that 99X sticker happy flunky.

My wife and kids are flying out of Hartsfield International Airport tomorrow afternoon, so I am killing two birds with one stone. I am picking up the U2 iPod along with the rest of the concert prize package. I meant to order a case to protect the pod, but have not gotten around to it.

What I Want
Vaja iVolution iVod Remixed custom leather case – from $70

What I Need
iSkin eVo2 100% silicone case – $29.99

I have been living in the Chattanooga area for nearly eleven years full time — fourteen if you count college. I still hold on to more of my Pennsylvanian dialect, but fear that my children will grow up saying “Y’all” and “Fixin’ to.”