![\"chaplinAnnex-Chaplin,Charlie(ModernTimes)_01\"](\"http:\/\/balldiamondball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/chaplinAnnex20-20Chaplin20Charlie20Modern20Times_01.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI have a new phone.<\/p>\n
In olden days of yesteryear, such an announcement would have been greeted with a big “So what?”. A phone back then was a simple device , used for the simple task of speaking directly to people anywhere in the civilized world. Such a feat amazed my mother, and my grandfather, who grew up in even simpler times, but for us denizens of the late 20th century, a phone was no big deal.<\/p>\n
Today, they are our alter egos, our valets, our staff of loyal servants. They have become, for many, a critical part of daily living.\u00a0 When they stop working or are lost, you can see the twitching, the muscle memory in play , the person reaching for the device that is no longer there, or no longer lights up. Such poor souls appear lost, haunted.<\/p>\n
I have had the fortune or misfortune to have been there at the beginning of this growing symbiosis, this dependency on electric servants. I began just as the standardized mainframe era began , a wretch with punch cards in the pockets and rubber bands on his wrists. I watched the cost of telephones drop to less than $1000 per desk and every desk then so equipped. Two decades later, there was a PC on every desk when they broke the $1000 limit. I lugged a ‘portable computer’ which weighed in at 29 pounds and was the size of a high end sewing machine. I had a phone in my briefcase the size of a shoebox which blasted a full 5 watts of transmit power so I could always be reached.<\/p>\n
I marveled at and still possess the first palm pilot, a wonder machine that kept your contacts, your calendar, allowed you to do email off line\u00a0, fit in your shirt pocket and ran on two AA batteries for a month. That set the hook for my total addition to the info assisted lifestyle.<\/p>\n
So it went on , year after year, the symbiosis grew in depth.<\/p>\n
Then the great schism occurred, IPhone, Android , Blackberry , Palm and Windows.\u00a0 Having actually met Jobs on a few occasions, I knew the Iphone would be\u00a0 a leap for me personally. I was a Palm guy early on, and they did some great\u00a0 product, but alas, were doomed to fall by the wayside. Android was a hot mess back then, where the main attraction was the OS was free, thus improving the profit margins.<\/p>\n
Windows was my next stop, since it fit with the tech I used on all my other machines by then and they gave a good early run. I have known for two years that the Boys from Redmond were going to cede the current ground, but the devices met my particular needs very well, so I just kept on rather than make the painful change.<\/p>\n
Well, I am in a month long carry two phones transition now.\u00a0 It is as if I am housebreaking a whole new generation of servants to sooth\u00a0my daily interaction chores to come as close to the way things were in my daily life. I now run a Samsung Galaxy s8, now loaded with Android apps written by Microsoft, connected to Microsoft cloud services which support\u00a0most \u00a0of my clients.<\/p>\n
The transition started a bit rocky, but is now on the downslope and cruising. Yes, I have figured out how to make the new ecosystem of my daily life do all the things that were wired in before, and a few new tricks in addition.<\/p>\n
My wife and daughter, both Iphone\u00a0 users, shrug , and keep telling me I should just get an Iphone. I nod, and smile and remember that Jobs fellow, way back when.<\/p>\n
I know my grandchildren will look back on the primitive times prior to direct neural implants as a painful and dull process, but for now, my daily world is calming down to a new routine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I have a new phone.<\/p>\n
In olden days of yesteryear, such an announcement would have been greeted with a big “So what?”. A phone back then was a simple device , used for the simple task of speaking directly to people anywhere in the civilized world. Such a feat amazed my mother, and my grandfather, who grew up in even simpler times, but for us denizens of the late 20th century, a phone was no big deal.<\/p>\n
Today, they are our alter egos, our valets, our staff of loyal servants. They have become, for many, a critical part of daily living.\u00a0 When they stop working or are lost, you can see the twitching, the muscle memory in play , the person reaching for the device that is no … Continue reading