Techno-BALLA!-gy

[Lang Zai]

Apple came out today with their new iPhone (http://www.apple.com/iphone/). I want one and yet I know that I have absolutely no need for it. Hell, in Hong Kong, cell phones are practically a fashion statement. I am obsessed with technology and have been ever since I was a little kid. My father and I used to build radios when I was a little just for fun. I spent a lot of my childhood sawing wood and building little construction cranes with electromagnets to transport paper clips from here to there. I even built my first desktop computer when I was 14. I built a desktop around 6 months ago and had more fun building and picking parts for it than actually playing games on it.

I think my most useless electronic toy, though, is the heater in my room. My roommate are cheap and keep the thermostat at 60 degrees ferenheit, which is like 15 and a half celsius. It's fine throughout the day, but it feels like a hypothermic disasterland in the morning when I'm trying to get out of bed. Mongolian Yachts would die senslessly in such cold. So I have a heater in my room that I turn on when the alarm rings, and then I snooze alarm to warmth.

Here's the thing, the heater actually has a fucking remote control! Talk about luxury. Not only is the heater two steps from the bed, but I have a remote that does the walking for me. It begets the epitome of morning laziness. And I'll never be able to devolve back to ordinary, pathetic, hand operated technology ever again.

Focus: What completely unnecessary pieces of technology do you have? How do you feel about the progression technology? What do you have that you can't live without? Are you a Blackberry fiend?

[Ken]

Here are some of the things my new cell phone can do:

take pictures
text message
picture message
display my location anywhere
connect directly to the Internet for tones and games

Here is what I use it for:

telephone calls

I realize most of those newfangled features come standard in most phones, but fuck if I need them. I've taken maybe two pictures with the camera for shits and giggles, and haven't touched the other stuff. I probably paid more for the shit that I don't use than the shit that I do.

And doesn't it cost more to run a space heater than to raise the thermostat a few degrees?

[jess]

I don't understand what the thread title says.

I have a super fancy Mac that I don't really use anywhere near to its full potential. It's essentially a giant word processor and deck of cards to me.

It plays and burns music and movies, so that's pretty cool. I live in a super small studio apartment, and it has a remote control. I always forget that it has a remote.

I feel like I've said it a million times, but I ALWAYS have music on. I've been underestimating the iPod for years. Eh, I have a portable cd player that plays mp3 discs, what do I need an iPod for? Now that I have one, I'm hooked.

I refuse to be one of those people that walk around outside or in stores with it on. What a bunch of assholes. How do you strike up conversation? How do you meet new people when you're always plugged in? It's making people rude.

[IamRob]

Here are some of the things my new cell phone can do:

take pictures
text message
picture message
display my location anywhere
connect directly to the Internet for tones and games

Here is what I use it for:

telephone calls


I was out of the loop for cell phones for a really long time. I JUST got a cell phone about two years ago, before that it was in the early 90's after college for work, and it was similar to the phone Zack Morris had in Saved by the Bell.

My cell phone now came free with my plan, and that was two years ago. It can do text messaging and phone calls. That's all it can do.

Focus: I have a ton of gadgets I don't need. I have a light changer that changes traffic lights from red to green. I also have a device which knocks out cell phone reception which probably is the most useful thing I own.

[Sporting16w]

I do consulting work for one of the biggest cell phone manufactures, so I always have the latest model. The one I have right now, sucks donkey balls. It is supposed to do push-email (i.e. blackberry) but it will not, and the video quality is garbage.

Like Rob I have a ton of useless shit, and just picked up more at CES. I now have a USB hot plate, fantastic.

I have this thing called the Tune Keg, that hook ups to your car stereo and syncs to iTunes via Bluetooth, it sounds like shit though.

As many of you know, I worked for a watch company for a long time so I have watches that have crazy gadgets, usb memory, internet, cell phone, none of the features work correctly.

I will post more when I go through my box of crap at home.

[Lang Zai]

As many of you know, I worked for a watch company for a long time so I have watches that have crazy gadgets, usb memory, internet, cell phone, none of the features work correctly.

I just remembered this. When I was a kid I had this watch that could remote control any name brand television. Like, if I wanted to control a Panasonic TV, I would just set it 17 or something in the settings, and walla! I could control televisions at bars, airports, or even at school. Whenever the teacher wanted to show a documentary, I would turn the television off. The teacher couldn't figure out what the fuck was going on!

The was also a function that it could learn remote frequencies from other remote controls. My parent's car at the time had a remote on the key that they could use to unlock the car from about a foot away, and my watch could actually start doing that too! I could unlock the car door with my watch!

[BigWig]

I have a 104 inch projection screen tv in my living room. It's totally massive and totally awesome. It's hooked up to surround sound and pumps out about 1600 lumens so I can have every light on in the house and still see perfectly. It has made my house the go to place for sporting events and 24. It's even gotten to the point where I feel pretentious going to other people's houses and feeling bad for them when I look at their little 30 inch screens, poor bastards.

[Brick Tamland]

Apple came out today with their new iPhone (http://www.apple.com/iphone/). I want one and yet I know that I have absolutely no need for it. Hell, in Hong Kong, cell phones are practically a fashion statement. I am obsessed with technology and have been ever since I was a little kid. My father and I used to build radios when I was a little just for fun. I spent a lot of my childhood sawing wood and building little construction cranes with electromagnets to transport paper clips from here to there. I even built my first desktop computer when I was 14. I built a desktop around 6 months ago and had more fun building and picking parts for it than actually playing games on it.


Too...many...Asian....jokes...must....focus...

Focus: Icefishing equipment. This is my addiction. I have hand-held sonar, an underwater camera, DVR for said camera, GPS, and dozens of rods. I even have remote sensors that tell me when a fish has been hooked on a line. Every single year they come out with new shit, and every single year I buy more. I need help.

No, icefishing does not make me a redneck. It makes me cool.

[Grayvy]

I refuse to be one of those people that walk around outside or in stores with it on. What a bunch of assholes. How do you strike up conversation? How do you meet new people when you're always plugged in? It's making people rude.

Fuck rude. I wear mine just so I can listen to Portishead or Jay-Z or Tool or ANYTHING that'll stop me from punching people in the neck while I'm in Wal-Mart trying to buy squeeze margerine. I go NOWHERE without my ipod. It's my 30gb slice of Xanadu. 2500 songs and rising.

I have one of those Motorola RAZR phones, which does all sorts of shit, but all I really use it for is texting, which can be done from any cell phone that doesn't have rotary dial. But I'll beat you with a bag phone from 1989 if you try to pry it from me.

I also always carry a tiny digital video camera, 'cause you just never know when some wacky bullshit is gonna go down, and I wanna be prepared.

[NonDairy]

I refuse to be one of those people that walk around outside or in stores with it on. What a bunch of assholes. How do you strike up conversation? How do you meet new people when you're always plugged in? It's making people rude.

Not that I'm one of those people who wears his all the time, but do you really feel like they'd be meeting new people in stores if they weren't wearing an iPod?

I only ever listen to mine on the subway or when I'm napping at my night job.

[jess]

Not that I'm one of those people who wears his all the time, but do you really feel like they'd be meeting new people in stores if they weren't wearing an iPod?

I only ever listen to mine on the subway or when I'm napping at my night job.

Perhaps it's just me, but people talk to me all the time. Standing in line, on the bus, whatever. It's like I have a sign. It was worse when I worked customer service. But it's fun, you learn some interesting things talking to strangers.

[Aquaholic]

Perhaps it's just me, but people talk to me all the time. Standing in line, on the bus, whatever. It's like I have a sign. It was worse when I worked customer service. But it's fun, you learn some interesting things talking to strangers.


And this is exactly why I wear my Ipod all the time. And any potential fun is far out-weighed by potential stalkers, crazies, and the other assortment of people you seem to end up being friends with.

[Thrillhouse]

I've been a techo geek since I can remember. All the new stuff always appeals to me.

Cell phone: Doubles as an mp3 player, 1.3 megapixel camera, video, streaming video or music, and has a big ass screen. Still drops calls like no other.

Sony PSP: This is by far my most unecessary piece of equipment. Not to mention the fact that Sony made absolutely ZERO use of an amazing piece of hardware with tons of shitty games. On the plus side, it did provide the entertainment of making Brick Tamland cry because he can't work it.

I had one of these since my freshman year of high school.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/9154/ti9288868c9os8.jpg

[Fuzzy]

I built a desktop around 6 months ago and had more fun building and picking parts for it than actually playing games on it.

Yes but did you take the time to sleeve the wires in the case like I did when I built mine? (see attached picture near the bottom of the case.)

Focus: I am not an innovator, I am a late late late adopter. I've never owned an iPod (although I am finally thinking about getting one), I will probably never get a black berry or PDA unless my company requires it. I have a Playstation 2 that I bought six months before Playstation 3 came out and I don't play it that often. Therefore I don't really have any useless gadgets, etc.

However that being said, I can't live without my computer or the Internet. I am an online/single player gaming fiend; so much so that if I would have uninstalled my games I probably could have boosted my GPA by a half a point. I need to get out more.

[Brick Tamland]

Sony PSP: This is by far my most unecessary piece of equipment. Not to mention the fact that Sony made absolutely ZERO use of an amazing piece of hardware with tons of shitty games. On the plus side, it did provide the entertainment of making Brick Tamland cry because he can't work it.


My PSP works just fine. In fact, I can put pictures, video and MP3's on it now. However, I still cannot get MarioKart to work. For that I blame you.

Shitty games? The Godfather is wonderful (although it would have been a lot cooler if after you won the game they unlocked the whole movie). Hot Shots Golf? Heavenly. Star Wars Battlefronts? Awesome. The only dud game I have on PSP is Spiderman 2 and that is mainly my fault b/c I can't work all those damn buttons at once. My biggest beef with the PSP is that you cannot see the damn screen in daylight. This makes playing while driving to work almost impossible.

Focus: Is a quesadilla maker considered technilogically advanced? Because if so, DAMN! Greatest thing ever.

[jadams4148]

I cannot live without my Treo and my laptop. All day, everyday, I wear them both out.

I love technology and I love electronics. I convinced myself (and my wife) that I really needed to have a home theater so I could show my clients what theirs could look like. And the guys who did the equipment gave me a HUGE discount to make sure I directed business their way, so I went way overboard. The problems: 1. I have no time to watch movies and really enjoy it and 2. my wife can't remember how to work the controls and 3. the sound system can literally shake the entire house, which is useless with two small kids, so we don't use it much. But I watch sporting events in there, which is awesome.

[ghost_kr3w]

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g298/kaliniteeffusion/data.jpg



I can't live without my music setup. I listen to music all day everyday. This is the same setup I use for my gigs.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g298/kaliniteeffusion/setup_01.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g298/kaliniteeffusion/setup_02.jpg

[SecretAgentMan]

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's unnecessary, but my tax payer funded, gov't issued Treo700p might be a bit top of the line and a bit silly what with TV and camcorder options.

Also, I rarely watch TV yet felt compelled to watch Football and 24 this year on a brand new 42' HD Flatscreen. I don't play videogames so I never bothered with Playstation or anything, yet because I'm an adventure traveller I have some ridiculously expensive gear, including handheld Garmin GPS units.