Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Communication cornucopia

I am ripe and ready for an iPad or a tablet PC. I am also ready to replace my aging mobile for one of the newer ones. I have already taken the plunge for an e-reader by getting the Kindle but that's about as far as I am willing to spend for now. The speed and ferocity of new gadget announcements is driving me dizzy; a new iPad competitor is introduced almost every other day, while a new Android mobile is superceded by another before it hits the local market.

All these gadgets - the tablet/iPad, the mobile phone, and the e-reader - overlap one another in function and purpose. They come in different sizes, enticing you to buy one of each. You buy the largest screen for home use, the smallest one for the greatest mobility, and one in between when you couldn't decide which one to take with you. Actually, there's really no necessity for any of these gadgets, as the good old PC can do the job. So why am I craving for a new gadget? Have I been brainwashed by the advertisements?

I have enough of this. I am just going to sit back and watch the gadget makers fight it out. Perhaps all I really need is a mobile phone that just makes calls and sends text messages, rather than high pressuring myself with one that has lots of apps, bells and whistles. We live in a world that is over-connected. It is time to break free and be just ourselves once more. It is good to be able to get "lost" once in a while, where no one knows where you are (no GPS), cannot reach you (phone battery dead), and cannot email you (no internet service).

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