The Modern World
I'm frustrated. Last Saturday, I continued a long honored tradition of standing in the kitchen and preparing dinner while listening to A Prairie Home Companion on my portable radio. The show has been on for 30 years, and listening to it brings me back to a quiter, simpler time.
At one point, while I was cutting the ginger and green onion for the steamed seabass, Sally Dworsky, the daughter of one of the band members, sang a beautiful song. It was one of those moments where you know the lyrics and you can't quite place the artist. After a while, I realized it was an old John Prine song. So, while I was waiting for the rice cooker to finish, I powered up the computer to see when Prine was coming into town. Of course, I eventually found out that he is coming to L.A., but most of the good seats were already gone.
It got me thinking. With all of this technology around us -- with all of these gadgets and "information pushers", we still don't have tools that bring it all together for us and personalize information. Google is great but you still have to open the browser and push "Search." I want my technology to work for me, but also to get out of the way and connect me to what is important to me (like my rice cooker and radio).
I believe that in the search for economic success, many of the world's great computer companies have pitted themselves against each other to define their "markets" and lost sight of what is most important -- that technology is a tool. A hammer is a tool as well, but if all you've got are screws, it ain't gonna do you much good.
I'm still going to get those tickets....
At one point, while I was cutting the ginger and green onion for the steamed seabass, Sally Dworsky, the daughter of one of the band members, sang a beautiful song. It was one of those moments where you know the lyrics and you can't quite place the artist. After a while, I realized it was an old John Prine song. So, while I was waiting for the rice cooker to finish, I powered up the computer to see when Prine was coming into town. Of course, I eventually found out that he is coming to L.A., but most of the good seats were already gone.
It got me thinking. With all of this technology around us -- with all of these gadgets and "information pushers", we still don't have tools that bring it all together for us and personalize information. Google is great but you still have to open the browser and push "Search." I want my technology to work for me, but also to get out of the way and connect me to what is important to me (like my rice cooker and radio).
I believe that in the search for economic success, many of the world's great computer companies have pitted themselves against each other to define their "markets" and lost sight of what is most important -- that technology is a tool. A hammer is a tool as well, but if all you've got are screws, it ain't gonna do you much good.
I'm still going to get those tickets....
posted by Lou at 8:08 AM
2 Comments:
get yourself a good rss aggregator and learn how to use it. net news wire will search yahoo news every hour for keyword searches like "rice cooker" or "really sick porn" or anything else that you have an interest in.
Netnewswire is a good start, but it's still not what I'm talking about. Myyahoo is also good, but I've got to be sitting at my computer. Now if you could take the function of yahoo, incorporate it with netnewswire and get it to my TV or cell...now we're talkin'.
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