I used to work in a huge filing warehouse for the government of Canada. My days were spent deep in row after row of shelving where I would file for hours on end. I didn't mind it, to be honest. I enjoyed it because we were allowed to listen to music while we worked. For me, this meant bringing my portable CD player and a small booklet of CDs to work each day.
Oh, let me first add that this was 2005.
Anyway, I would spend the night before work sifting through my CDs, picking out the ones I thought I would like to listen to the next day at work. It was kind of tedious, but I honestly didn't mind. It was about this time that I started doing my weekly radio show (you can learn more about that at the Punks in Parkas blog). I was carrying around my CDs every week to the radio show. I never wanted an MP3 player, or an iPod. What's the point? I wanted to support the musicians making the music and actually have a physical copy of the music.
Everyone had either iPods or MP3 players and while I was interested in them, I just couldn't be bothered.
Nothing lasts forever, and unfortunately, the radio on my portable CD player stopped working. I enjoyed listening to the radio in the morning and missed it horribly. I went that next weekend to look for a new portable CD player with a radio. This turned out to be a very difficult thing. Portable CD players were on their way out and iPods and MP3 players were the new wave. I caved and bought myself a very small, very cheep, no name MP3 player with a radio.
After about a week, I couldn't believe I held out on this for soon long. Shortly after getting that little MP3 player, I moved up and got a myself an iPod. I've been attached at the hip to that iPod ever since. I would bring it with me everywhere, from work to shopping to the gym, it was always on me.
And that is kind of where my technological advancements stopped.
Until now.
Start of this year, I caved and bought myself a laptop. I needed a new computer and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made for me to have a laptop. I actually have wanted one for a long time, loving the idea of taking my laptop with me anywhere to do writing and what not. I was in love with it from the first moment I opened it up and logged on.
With April came my 33rd birthday. When my parents asked if I would like a Kindle for my birthday, I kind of jumped on it. I had the same mentality with the Kindle and other eReaders as I did with the iPod. I didn't see the point, and there is something sexy about a house filled with books, right?
That is until you have to move all those books. Ever try moving books? They are not just heavy, but beyond heavy. Sure, my two huge book shelves stuffed with books make me look intellectual and grown up (and I've almost actually read all the books contained in them as well), but they are just a hassle to house and move. Much in the same way my CDs had become. I've been exposed to eReader's for a while, as a friend of mine at work got one a few years back but I just never saw the logic behind it.
Usually, this would be where it ends. How much more technological can I get? Laptop and Kindle, within months of each other? Surely that would be enough.
Not really.
Yesterday, I caved and finally got an iPhone. It's been no secret that I've been hating on the crappy cell phone I've been using. I didn't see much of a need for upgrading to a smart phone before, but suddenly, that option seemed like the only one that made any sense. The headphone jack on my iPod is on the fritz, so why not get a new smart phone that I can still play my music and podcasts on? New iPhone it is.
I couldn't be happier, to be honest. Maybe it was time for me to trade in my tired old paper book for the slick eReader. Time to get rid of my phone and replace it with this handheld little wonder. I need to stop holding off on change and grasp it with my virgin fingertips and immerse myself fully into it. Otherwise, I'll get left behind the technological revolution.
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