Just making conversation

[GoodWatch]

Just curious. Do you like gadgets? Do you use a SlingBox or a programmable multifunctional remote control with more computer power than an early eighties midframe? Are your gadgets cutting edge? In other words, is there a correlation between your choice for Apple’s offerings and other electronic wizardry?

In my case, it’s a mixed bag. I have a PVR (TiVo like machine), a Logitech programmable remote that is indispensable to fire up the TV, the PVR and the home cinema system in one go. Otherwise, I’d be goofing around with 3 remotes. But I write with a fountain pen and my watches are mostly mechanical.

I usually wait until version 1.1 of a product is released. I will buy the iPhone but not just after it is finally released in my country. I’ll wait until an UMTS version is available, that’ll suit me better.

Speaking of mobile phones, I’ve been invited to take part in a pilot involving making payments with a NFC (near field communication) equipped Nokia 6131. I wrote an extensive application and received all the paperwork yesterday (after a long radio silence). I’ll get the phone, already charged with 50 Euros to cover all costs during the pilot that’ll run until the end of February 2008 and I have to make two payments per month and charge the phone twice a month with 20 Euros. I also have to fill out 3 questionnaires during the pilot. If I stick to these requirements, I may keep the phone at the end of the pilot. You pay by holding your phone in front of an antenna (hidden) and keying in a PIN. That’s it. It’ll become you’re wallet. I hope it picks up and does not die at birth. This is technology I really dig.

Imagine a NFC equipped iPhone! It’ll become my e-mail client, my diary, my wallet, my navigation device if Apple incorporates GPS and teams up with TomTom and I will even be able to make calls with it!

 

[MikeTheC]

GoodWatch:

Hello! I'm glad to see someone around here just "wants to talk". My, how refreshing.

So, I'll take the plunge and answer some of your questions.

1. I don't own a SlingBox and have no need of a remote control. However, working in retail, if someone invented a remote that let me mute some of the idiots I have to deal with (or maybe turned on sub-titles for the non-English-speaking hispanics I have to endure) then I might consider buying one of them.

2. I try to stay on top of most things, but I certainly don't have the money to stay at the cutting edge of technology (nor the patience, since the "cutting edge" status is, any more, so fleeting and so transitory anyhow).

3. I don't watch TV. I'm against the Entertainment Injustistry and all that it stands for. If there's an individual show out there that's actually worthy of my time, well, let's just say I won't be watching it on broadcast TV and leave it at that.

4. I like to write with gel ink pens in a notebook (I am working on a writing project and get satisfaction doing hand-written stuff, even though it all does get eventually typed and -- someday -- it'll be posted.) And as for watches, I have a Fossil that's solid-titanium mechanical watch (I react to many metals, and can't stand any kind of weight in anything that I wear, jewelry-wise) and also a Casio WS-300 analog/digital which is my "daily driver" watch.

5. I don't own an iPhone. I can't justify spending that kind of money on a phone. Also, I refuse to ever again be a customer of AT&T or to use GSM as my cell phone broadcasting technology, so that about rules out the iPhone on a technological basis.

6. I don't like the concept of using one's cell phone as one's identity, or as a conduit for making financial payments. It's a bit too Orwellian for my poor brain.

 

[GoodWatch]

Clear choices. I’m glad I’m not in retail. 2 differences in circumstances in my part of the world make me comment on points 3 and 5. BBC and our own non-commercial television. And different system of providers

3. Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Beasts, Blackadder and for instance a Dutch program called ‘Different Times’ that in each episode analyses a part of (Dutch) history. Brilliant! (If you are into these things of course).

5. I expect to be able to at least switch provider with my iPhone as soon as it becomes available over here. But, as with all providers, this will take a year. But I also expect more than one provider supplying the iPhone.

Finally, every bank card is a debit card over here and together with a PIN we make almost all our payments with these. Such a card is already ‘your identity’ and GSM tracking is used often by the police. With a NFC phone nothing will change. And: some things don’t need justification. In fact, you don’t need them at all. But they sure can be nice!