meirwen_1988

So, I've wanted an iPad for awhile now, mostly for work. I'd tried using my NOOK as a tablet for meetings, conferences, etc., class, you know--the whole academic thing. But the NOOK is primarily a reading device, at which it works beautifully. I really needed an iPad, especially with the lovely way I can hook one of those into the SmartClassrooms. I put it off and off, but, finally, this year I decided I'd break down--because, really, the most sensible time to do it is when you've just bought a flippin' house. (We'll discuss my money management issues some other time, okay kiddies?)

So, yesterday, I decided it was the day, and since I hadn't been able to make it out to DestinyUSA at all during the summer, it was my last chance before the 30 week cluster-flip that is the school year started. So once I finished the "Convocation Walk-through" that was yesterday morning, I decided I'd get one. AND that I'd drive to Syracuse to the Apple Store to do it, rather than just take the 5 minute drive to Best Buy or Walmart here in town.

So I went to DestinyUSA. Got some lunch, then headed to the Apple store (which was cray-cray, because, "Hello!" dumba$$--back to SCHOOL frenzy). Nonetheless, a lovely, older Apple associate named Stan came to help me. He was charming, unhurried, answered my questions (talking me back from more memory than I'd really need, given the use I intended for the iPad), and all was well. In talking I explained I'd be using it in the classroom, etc. When the time came to settle up, I got a LOVELY surprise. Apparently, the only time my educator discount applies to an iPad is...wait for it...during their "Back to School" sale period. So, I got a discount that wouldn't have applied any other time of the year. Then, on top of it, because it was the sale period, I also got a $50 gift card for the Apple Store. So, because I irresponsibly decided to buy my iPad now...I win! And, because every pay period I put $10 into a special account labeled "Electronics" I was able to buy it mostly for cash, not credit.

So, the universe just patted me on the head a bit, for which I am grateful. Especially since my NOOK is being a bit of a butthead at the moment in terms of battery issues.

In other news, there is still nowhere to sit in the apartment, except the stepladder in the kitchen or the bed. Oh, well.

So this weekend I cut back on media.

I listened to CDs in my car (when I was driving), not the radio, or an audiobook, or podcasts.
I turned my work laptop off on Friday, and didn't use a full computer again until Sunday night.

I couldn't quite give up checking Facebook and email entirely, but I limited myself to 10 minutes, twice a day.

Of course, I've been on the computer since 8 AM this morning, not counting time I was having appointments with students or on the phone doing business. So, 5.5 hours straight, pretty much. No wonder I feel so "wired."

I'm not sure what I learned from this, except that de-teching (as opposed to "unplugging") for the weekend was good. I said I'd be gone, gave people ways to contact me if important, and otherwise just backed away. It really cut away a strange level of "urgency" that I wasn't aware was sitting in the background all the time, like the hum from an old refrigerator.

I think I'm going to try again, and maybe even compartmentalize things a little more. It may make me less "available," but I don't think it will unduly compromise my ability to interact with the people I care about, and it may make me a bit less frayed around the edges. There wasn't anything I missed during those 50+ hours that I needed to see "right then," though perhaps if I'd seen Deborah's posts about sex in space earlier I'd have laughed earlier, but I still laughed. That's what matters, right?

And, I hate to say it, but Google+ may soon be my preferred platform for many things. It has better utility than RSS for reading blogs (assuming the writer makes the right connections to their Google+ profile), and because I can segregate in ways FB doesn't allow, I can quickly check on my "family," then read my "following" circle, where most of the "blog-y" things are that are work related, then if I have time I can check on my "friends," or not.

FWIW, I still don't "get" Twitter, though I'm trying. Really. And given an article I just read, I think I'm going to have to set up a student-accessible Twitter account. *sigh*

So, trying to figure out how to navigate in the electronic stream with all its myriad currents, eddies, and undertows.

Part of me really misses rotary phones, Smith-Corona manual typewriters, and getting up to change the channel. But of course it's also true you'll have to "pry [my iPhone] from my cold, dead hand." So, learning to paddle really is my only choice.

As an aside, the picture above is in honor of the dream last night in which at one point I was walking down the street holding hands with Gil Grissom. I have no idea where that came from. And, in case you're interested, he's much shorter in dreams than he is on television. ;-)

Okay, here goes. A tech question. Yes, I know this sort of question never goes well, because people's personal tech preferences seem to usually be as idiosyncratic as the boxers v. briefs question, and some people get positively rabid in advocating their own POV. So, knowing the kind of buzz saw I'm probably walking into, here goes:

Due to issues at work, I really feel I need to get a "computer" for myself. Something I can keep my music on, my personal writing, tax information, SCA and OES things, far away from the increasingly intrusive IT department (they want to sync EVERYTHING on our laptops to the main server to "protect us" and they encourage us to "treat the computer like it is your own. Don't hesitate to use it for everything except porn"). Right.

I also want to get an e-reader, one in color, because one of its primary uses would be to read periodicals (in an effort to declutter physical space and to cut down on the amount of deforestation my addiction to magazines causes).

So, I'm trying to decide between two alternatives, but I'm really not sure if the one will fit my needs or not, and the other requires a bigger outlay of cash.

Option one: Get an iPad. So, here's the question about that. Will the iPad meet the needs of being both my e-reader AND the computer? I'm concerned that it won't have enough memory, nor run the appropriate applications. And if it is only the memory issue, the smallest iBook, with my educators discount, has more memory, and more functionality, for about the same cost as the higher end iPad. If the iPad doesn't have the ability to let me use my applications (Office, Turbotax, etc.) then I just go to option 2.

Option two: Nook Color and small iBook/Powerbook/Air. I hate the way the Kindle looks and feels, and I need color for the magazines (which is why I've regretfully abandoned the Sony I really like). Then it comes down to which flavor of the Mac laptop? I don't like some of the memory concerns with the MacBook Air, but otherwise it is super-sexy (lean, mean, light). iBook (currently called Macbook) is aesthetically pleasing, and functional, but I wonder if it's too fragile. MacBook Pro is probably more machine than I need, and I'm not sure the extra money is worth it.

Okay.

Your turn. Which should I do, and within the selected option, how should I refine?

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Entries tagged with technology

What the heck?

"An Experiment of Mixed Results" or "Merrily, Merrily, Merrily--Life is But a Dream"

I'm probably going to regret asking this

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September 2021

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