technology | Mostly Bright Ideas

Browsing All posts tagged under »technology«

No-Brainer

February 16, 2014

Every time I get a sinus infection, I first assume it’s Bubonic Plague. And it makes no difference that the symptoms are instantly recognizable as those of the non-fatal sickness. As far as I’m concerned, I’m as good as dead. In a similar way, when my hands are cold, I do some online research and […]

What to Expect in 2014

December 29, 2013

Predicting the future is a risky thing to do. You’re going to be wrong most of the time, and people – especially your closest friends — will happily point out how far off you were. In 1974, I said Richard Nixon would never resign. Ten years later, I announced that Walter Mondale would defeat Ronald […]

Gone, and Pretty Much Forgotten

August 7, 2013

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We’re losing things. We may not even realize it’s happening, because they’re the kinds of things we don’t pay a lot of attention to, so we fail to notice when they disappear. It’s something like when a casual acquaintance moves to Paraguay without telling us, and twelve years later we wake up and say, “Hey, […]

The Behinder I Get (Part 2)

January 24, 2013

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My struggles with technology date back to high school, when I’d sit and listen, day after day, as the other boys at the lunch table would describe in great detail the precise and elaborate arrangement of their stereo systems. I assumed that my inability to share their enthusiasm for speakers and amplifiers was somehow a […]

The Behinder I Get (Part 1)

January 16, 2013

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I’ll be the first to admit that for the past ten years or so, I’ve been wandering – lost and confused — in the jungle of emerging technology. And no matter how I hack away, the thick undergrowth of gadgets and accessories continues to coil around my wrists and ankles, pulling me down and threatening […]

Keeping in Touch

May 2, 2012

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In 1981, I read a book by someone who was extremely well-known in some obscure field. I can no longer remember his well-known name, so there’s little chance the obscure field will spring to mind. But I do recall that at one point he offered this as his theory of life: “We’re all in constant […]

Funnel Vision

April 14, 2012

Predicting the future is a tricky business, and the results are usually less than impressive. Take, for example, all of those world’s fair exhibits that have attempted to portray life even just a couple of decades ahead. What we always get are flying cars, highways devoid of traffic jams, entire meals in a pill, and […]

When I’m in Charge (Part 2): Infomercials, Dictators, CEOs, and Other Bloodsuckers

May 17, 2011

I hesitate to tamper with an already-fragile economy, but let’s face it: We have enough gadgets that chop vegetables. A new one appears about every six months, and the infomercials always make it sound as though we’ve all been subsisting on potato chips and jelly beans because no one can manage to cut up a […]

Please Stand By: The Future Will Be Here Any Minute.

October 14, 2010

People tell you to live in the moment. I’ve tried, but it goes by so fast and I’m not a quick thinker. By the time I decide what to do with the moment, it’s usually too late. A hummingbird lives in the moment. For me the past and the future are much more useful, just […]

Paper or Plastic?

August 24, 2010

Electronic book readers are dropping from the sky like an invasion from Mars. At least that’s how it appears to me. I’m the only person on the planet who still doesn’t have a cell phone, I’ve never sent or received a text message, and I wouldn’t know a BlackBerry from a Baby Ruth. Yet when […]