Since computers have become lifestyle products instead of tools many companies have started to pander to very different types of consumers.
Pink Tech is already causing me eye cancer every time I encounter it in shops (Video 1 and Video 2).
But this pink keyboard from Greybusters with a mirror really takes the cake. And don’t miss all their other great offerings!
Could anyone please stop these people? It hurts.
Each time I test some shiny new phone in a cell phone shop I am appalled by it’s stupidity and lack of ‘usability’.
Most of these ’smartphones’ have mutated in almost unusable cell phones. The menus are too complicated, the battery time is bad, sound quality is often mediocre and call handling was too cumbersome.
But developers and gadget vendors can’t help themselves stuffing ever more function into these gadgets. But for whom?
Most people simply want a phone with a simple address book and texting capabilities.
The number of iPhone or Smartphone user who really use ALL the functions of their gizmos is rather limited, but companies insist of giving as all these additional ‘distractions’ even when we don’t want them.
Most annoying of all: the touch screens and pygmy keyboards are often hard to operate and unusable for some real work. Most of them are overpriced data peep holes, where you can lookup something on the web or have a peek at an important email (because you are addicted to that always-on lifestyle).
Go into any cell phone shop and ask for a simple phone - and you will be amazed how limited the selection is. And most simple phone are build for the elderly with big displays and keyboards.
If I want to take a notebook with me - I’ll take my notebook with me. A mutant cell phone / smartphone is not suitable to replace a notebook.
Today’s elections are fought in real life as well as in cyberspace. Campaign websites and special applications are as important as old school posters and TV ads for the candidates.
But the Obama iPhone Application really takes the cake.
First you have to own an overpriced gadget from a really snobby company called Apple.
Second you have to be computer literate and well educated to handle the bloody thing.
And third you need to willingly seek out and download that application via the Intranets.
Hardly something for your average red neck or these small town value Americans?
In the Age of Mass Exhibitionism via the Intranets everybody deserves to be a star for 15 milliseconds.
So get this great Hollywoods USB-Webcam-Kit and prepare for your few moments of fame and YouTube glory.
Why are modern males so obsessed with their cell phones, notebooks, desktop PCs, iPods and all these other electronic gadgets?
Some time ago I had a short look at the Ladies and their relationship to technology (Girly tech and why pink is for pussy). I think it’s only fair to look at myself and the Technolust of my gender.
See it in action and get excited.
Watch this video for more technical details.
It’s dirt cheap and a great toy. Me want badly - even though I can’t play an instrument. But I think it’s a great toy to get into music.
More? Official Site - and some more electro pr0n at ThinkGeek
Unless you are 12 years old, female and own a pair of very rich parents - you shouldn’t own such a piece of crap. A €190 for a 4 Gbyte USB stick is not only overpriced, but will make your "precious data" even more interesting for any thief.
Anyone remember these sweet little cameras and their huge success? Like today’s digital cameras these old snappers brought easy photography to the masses. Although they were hardly as instant as modern cameras their simple design and cheap manufacturing process made them affordable to almost anyone.
I still love the design of many of these old cams - very classic with the box-like elements, rounded corners and mostly black finish.
More? Kodak Instamatic @ Wikipedia
This is slowly becoming a seasonal thing: a new year a new iPod. Here is my excuse for buying a new one: four gigabyte was too tiny for my favorite tunes. Plus it helped to satisfy my technolust and stopped me from buying anything more expensive.
Overall the new iPod interface sucks. I still would prefer the simple old black and white screen with a super simple menu. I don’t need all that extra smart and shiny coverflow and graphic gimmickry. The inside of my pants have no eyes and I just need to see a list of what’s on the playlist. No more, no less.
Apple is currently diminishing the iPod’s greatest appeal: simplicity. Every new version tries to add some unnecessary bells & whistles.
Crap.
I always applaud companies, when they try to keep the update insanity for device drivers to a minimum. Many companies have switched to so called “all in one” driver packages, which means that all their drivers for all their products are in one huge file.
How huge? The newest SetPoint combined mouse and keyboard driver is a whooping 54 MB big. A monster to download and install.
Excuse me! But a mouse or keyboard is really a simple device - this sucks. Some operating systems are not as big as this driver package. What a waste of resources to download and store that bloody thing …
I actually think this nutty product is a good idea. I haven have cold hands while writing - although my room is heated. The only thing I don’ like are the many cables - I think I am gonna use some old fashioned wireless gloves …
I love fluffy tech and I like monsters. So this Monster Notebook Sleeve is just fucking brilliant. It even has a proper mouth and tongue when you open the monsters “jaws” to insert your precious machine.
Check it out!
In recent years we have seen an explosion of girly tech - gadgets specifically designed to appeal to woman’s sense of cuteness, styling and beauty.
But this new Sony Ericson phone in combination with it’s product website really takes the cake. A gold-pink cell phone is bad enough - but on a neon-green background?
Gimme a break. I’ll sue them for eye cancer!
But there are many golden, pink and other soft coloured gadgets out there - that are equally bad in terms of design and colour harmony.
Are woman really that hungry for pinkness in their mind? You girls know that pink is used to reflect your genitalia.
So in that context the Sony Ericson cell phone above ’says’: pink pussy below - and attracted to gold in the head, press the knobs to make her ring …
So Ladies - and don’t forget to ‘Bling’ your pink gadget to increase the girly ranking in your circle.
Yesterday I spent almost the whole day to sort out my computer box. I used to work as a system administrator for some time, so there are plenty of digital ‘leftovers’: adapters, cables, chargers, batteries, converters, transformers, even more cables and hubs of all sorts.
It is precious high tech trash. Some of these cables and especially adapters once cost a huge amount of money. I found one old Mac PowerBook to SCSI cable that once cost over €100. Now it’s simply high tech trash.
But it’s mostly poisonous trash. Some countries have laws against disposing it all as usual. Most cables and plugs contain precious metals - so it should be recycled.
But most of all: these cables and plugs should be designed to be more universal.
The USB plug and cable system for example was meant to be universal - just as the name says. But already USB is no longer just one plug but four different sizes. Well done computer industry!
And why can we have ONE charger for all those small gadgets like cell phones, cameras and mp3 players?
We are heading for the totally wireless gadget Internet: TV, radio and telephony are slowly making it to the net as well. Skype is already a great tool - I use it on a daily basis. For many business users it has replaced all the other instant messenger like AIM or ICQ.
Many people already got rid of their land line or only own one to have DSL - cell phones are the way to go. But I guess Internet phones will substitute sooner or later, because they offer an open basis and more possibilities for less money.
So cell phone providers will face the same struggle as classic telephone carriers and media companies: new technology will destroy their old and overpriced business model.
The new 3 Skype Phone are only available in a few countries, but the rates are amazingly low.
(Big audio geek rant ahead - just ignore it if you are not a sound nut like me 
)
To say that I am a audiophile person would be a bit of an understatement. I hardly leave the house without my iPod and even while working I love to listen to music via headphones. My brain simply loves to be close to the sound of music.
There are three things in my life were I am constantly looking for a better gadget: keyboards (because I type a lot), mouse (for smooth clicking) and headphones (I only have that set of ears). Sure I also love to shop for good monitors (because I want to be nice to my eyes as well) and a kickass computer - but usually both items don’t need changing only every two years.
When it comes to my ears I am VERY picky. As a kid I had several serious infection and some operations on my ears - so I am extra sensitive when it comes to my eardrums. Plus I still can hear grass growing although I had these operations and tortured my ears with techno music in the early 90’s. Yes, I will donate my amazing ears to science when I die …
In the age of the every shrinking music players buying the right and good headphones is important as well as a joke. Why? Because of sound compression and bad sound chips.
Compression: Many MP3s sound like shit, because they have been ripped with a low compression setting (like 128 or 192 kps) and therefore ‘hiss’ or ‘jitter’. So with good headphones you can hear all these ‘damages’ done to good music. I try to get the highest quality rips for my music collection - it should be at least 256 kps or more.
Sound Chips: This little bugger transforms your digital MP3 files back into proper music. Most PCs have terrible sound chips, their quality makes most sound engineers weep and kill themselves. If you combine a bad sound chip with a low quality MP3 than you get the sound quality of a 1930’s radio transmission.
iPod’s are supposed to have good sound chips, but are still vulnerable to bad MP3s (shit in - shit out). That is one of the reasons why Apple pushed it’s AAC sound format when it introduced the iPod and iTunes - they wanted to make sure people got ‘well ripped’ music onto their new gadgets.
My serious headphones (Sennheiser HD 555): amazing sound quality and size. I feel like an Easter bunny wearing these. But with these good music is a revelation - they really make you LISTEN. Most excellent sensation my friends …
My machine actually comes with an acceptable SoundMax HD chip and some software based SRS sound. It is actually amazing how well this machine sounds WITHOUT external speakers. This little machine is enough to keep my small room filled with a decent sound - although not too much bass.
I use the small earplugs and earphones only with my iPod for portability reasons. The big Sennheiser is made for more serious audio - the pricetag of over €100 makes that painfully clear. The Sennheiser also mercilessly kicks the digital setup in the butt: every little hiss or frequency distortion is played back in it’s lousy inadequacy. Thank you so very much you overpriced set of ear muffs!
High Quality MP3s make a big difference here. Never mind the extra space they eat on my hard drive - it’s worth every minute of smooth sound.
With cheaper headphones you will hardly notice the differences, because they blur the sound anyway.
Small is beautiful! A note to Apple - please don’t sell me an overpriced MP3 player with such shitty earplugs. Everyone I know has thrown them away after unpacking …
The big Sennheiser sure sound great with the iPod as well, but is unpractical for the road. Plus the plug is made for big hifi equipment and therefore needs a ‘bridge’ for the smaller plug. The whole thing as actually big and clunky - and almost the same size as the iPod. Not something you want in your pocket.
My earplugs (Sony MDR-ED 31) - small, easy to carry around and quickly stuff into my pockets if needed. Good sounds, lacks a bit bass. Feels a bit like someone sticking fingers into your ears.
All iPods have a built in ’sound barrier’ - which especially annoys kiddies, since you can’t crank up the volume. You can ‘improve’ the sound a bit with the different equalizer settings, but once again low quality MP3 will hiss at you like a bunch of mad snakes. So once again it pays off to rip your music at a higher setting.
The Sony earplugs are nice to wear and don’t seal up your ears like so many other similar products. They sound good and very convenient for traveling.
My travel setup (AKG Acoustics K 412 P): for some good sounds and keeping the public noise out of my ears. Excellent sound quality - and they can be folded together, so they use less space in my messenger bag.
The AKG headphones are the best compromise between transportability and sound quality. You can actually fold them together, so they get even smaller. The audio quality is very good and they even have a warm and pleasant bass.
As a good consumer I have bought all the right products for each audiophile situation. Perfect - until we finally get some decent and usable Bluetooth headphones and iPods with built in Bluetooth as well. Then I can FINALLY get rid of all the cables and go wireless … and buy new headphones!
I still remember trying to see Walkman for the first at a local department store (Karstadt). They were on display - but all chained to the counter. Bastards. Compared to today’s iPods or discmans they were pretty bulky and heavy. Most of all VERY expensive.
A few weeks later some privileged kids and youngsters had one of these. You could simply spot them by those glowing orange ‘rubber ears’ and their almost absent style of walking. These days it was VERY unusual for anyone to run around with headphones on.
I also liked the Walkman speech phenomena - people who talked while listening to their precious music always screamed - just like some people do today with their cell phones. Oh, what joy - made them always behave like idiots.
Similar the Walkman gaze - some people seemed to dream or stare at distant realms while listening to their music. Somewhere, some other sound planet …
With the Walkman also arrived the tape mixing frenzy. It was not enough to record any old record and just listen to it. You needed special remixes for special moments: one cool mix for jogging (another 80’s craze), one for video gaming (rush tapes) and of course for waking up in the morning on your way to work or school. Some of these tapes are burned so deeply into my memories that I still expect certain song combinations - just the way I banned them once on tape and listened to them a thousand times.
And the shitloads of batteries we consumed to keep those little buggers running. Plus the never ending quest how to transport it. The early ones were to big and heavy for your jacket - so you needed a special belt case, which was uncool. If you put your Walkman in your rucksack you might entangle yourself somewhere. Today we are used to have cables and electronic devices all around us - but in the 80’s hardly anyone carried anything ‘cable’ with them.
Also the world was a much quieter place then. The music anywhere revolution was just about to begin: MTV had to be invented yet and most stores didn’t feature roaring TV sets with ads or fast music videos. Hey, even McDonalds was a quiet place to crunch your burgers!
One thing I very much enjoyed was tape swapping with friends. You listen to mine and I check out yours dude. A few models had two headphone plugins - wow - that was cool to listen to great music together. Especially for couples …
Another rather uncool thing was reliability. I literally glued and taped some of these machines until they fell apart. And there was no way of fixing these broken jukeboxes. It was always cheaper to buy a new and smaller one.
Walkmans really made the phrase ‘My life is a Soundtrack’ possible and I still can remember certain moments in my life plus the tracks that I played that very instant. Crazy?!
What are your Walkman memories … drop a comment please …
Gee, is it already over ten years ago that these oversized pocket calculators achieved the final breakthrough of the PDA? Together with the mainstream revolution of the WWW suddenly cell phones and personal digital assistants exploded everywhere.
Palm created 1996 a huge market that was invented by Apple with it’s Newton 1992. But the original Newton was a brick compared to the slender Palm (which would appear huge compared to today’s machines). And it played nicely with a Mac and a PC. Something Apple always hated until they finally ‘got it’ with the iPod.
Suddenly everyone wanted to have one of these organizers - in every meeting people would try to take notes with Graffiti - a special sign language to make the computer better understand human handwriting. Most people ended up using the keyboard map instead.
Today the PDA’s are slowly disappearing - or better say evolving into the smart phones. Today almost any cell phone offers an extended address book and scheduler. If you need more power - you simply use a notebook or small laptop. Especially since PDAs from Palm and Windows CE are bloody expensive.
The whole PDA market will be killed by smart phones. There is no need to have a small computer if you cell phone can organize your life as well.
More? Palm Pilot @ Wikipedia
I hardly can remember my first (cheap) stereo system which was all the rage back then. You simply had to had a decent HiFi system at home - just a simply tape and record player was not enough to grantee your social status. Every since the 80’s audio freaks have gone overboard with special preamps, super CD-Player and all that expensive boy toys.
In that context I find it cynical that most people are now hooked to cheap ass speaker system on their computers to listen to badly ripped MP3 files. So the new digital revolution actually was a downgrade in sound quality compared to audio CDs and a good stereo system.
But never mind. It’s small and portable or big and clunky on your desktop - but most of all it’s bloody convenient! So we see once again new high tech gimmickry to give is better sound. JBL, Apple and many others offer a gazillion highly evolved speaker system to play your hissing and badly compressed MP3 files in your living room.
Ah, the irony of high tech. But at least it looks cool when it sounds like shit.
And another great USB gimmick. This one actually keep you fit - or at least helps you to walk a bit more …
The Pedometer tracks how many steps you have made. Via USB you connect the device with your computer and feed the data into a statistic and fitness website. Nice!
Motivation not included.
At a certain advancement of technology - Kitsch will take over innovation and spoil everything.
The ‘electronic book’ was already dead when it was first proclaimed as the next big thing on CD-ROMs. But nobody bought those shiny edutainment books on CDs, no matter how annoyingly they stuffed down our throats. Remember when almost every magazine had a silver disc attached to it?
Then came the mainstream web and the browser - and once again the book was considered dead by tech pundits - the web was the new "electronic book". This didn’t stop companies like Apple, Sony and Palm to also sell their PDA’s as new "electronic books".
Everybody knows that reading a long text on screen sucks - even on very good screens. But Amazon.com has decided they do it all better. Their new "electronic book" reader is called "Kindle" (which is already a weak name) and it has WiFi, built in search, a weird keyboard and an extra nice screen, so we can read it in the bright sunlight.
Forget Kindle - buy an Asus Eee PC …
Amazon has rolled out a huge launch page on it’s site with many videos, reviews, celebrity endorsements and stuff you can already download via your Kindle.
But the user reviews are a disaster. Anyone reading the specs of this ‘contraption’ immediately sees that it is hardly state of the art. And it lacks basic PDF support among other things, battery lifetime is too short and the thing is simply bloody ugly. They should let Apple design a new one.
But for the most part it’s totally overpriced: $399 for a simple eBook reader? You can buy for less dollars any old decent Palm and get more value for your money. Or you buy a really cool and more useful Asus Eee PC for also $399. It’s bloody small, has a proper browser and office suite - and can also be used to view eBooks.
Of course for $399 you can buy many books and magazine … without all the digital hassle and simply read without worrying about battery time and sunlight reflection on your display.
This is a great product: a small windup to recharge your cell without using any electricity plug. Since we hardly have enough exercise these days cranking up your gadgets could be a new fitness fad.
I would love to be a hand cranked geek!
But small electronics can also be charged by small solar panels like MySolidus.
The Walkmen Generation had one big advantage over the iPoddies: their gadgets didn’t have an imposed sound barrier. The iPod has a clear loudness limit - which can be annoying while traveling in a loud environment.
But since everybody seems to be born with an iPod in their arse and earplugs instead of ears it’s a good thing. The Generation iPod will be mostly deaf by the age of 30. So less power to your headphones and earplugs might be a good thing.
And it might be nice to actually be able to get through to you - even when you have those super expensive Sennheiser plugs in your head. Total immersion in your own sound bubble is so unsocial you iPod zombie …
Artist: Christophe Gilbert
There is no such thing as a big enough monitor. So I upgraded from a 19" to 22" monitor. This Samsung beast is excellent: great contrast, brilliant colours and brightness like a sunbed. I only wish it was a little bit bigger …