Web/Tech

I’d written a post on my friend’s iTouch back on Inauguration Day, just to see what I thought. Would the touch keyboard be totally obnoxious? Would the whole thing feel like a bulky, or conversely flimsy, POS? I knew I needed something of the sort—I had no PDA at all, and only an older, used Nano in my car for portable music fun. But I wasn’t going to spend $400 without trying one out. I was surprised back in January, by how much I loved the little thing. And the wait since then, as I slowly accumulated the money to buy one (thanks financial aid!), has only made this post sweeter to type.

This is one amazing hunk of plastic and glass.

I’ve got it in a simple leather flip case with a magnetic closure. As it will be in one of the pockets in The Purse Of Doom, I felt that a substantial screen cover would be wise. The only downside to this type of case is that it is slightly attention-consuming to use any letters or scroll bars near the edges, as the leather cover buts right up against them. Thumb-typers shouldn’t have that problem, but I’ve always been the hunt-and-peck sort, and my index fingers sometimes brush the leather when I type “P” or “Q”. The upside is that the iTouch saves my ass with an autocorrect feature. It will also add a period and a space when you double click the space bar, which is nice.

The first app I bought was Rejeweled, and I’m embarrassed to report that I spent about four hours playing it yesterday. Today was a bit more productive—I got a number of work apps, including the WordPress app that I’m using right now, which works like a charm.

I had to get “Don’t Panic” engraved on the back. Douglas Adams was my personal religion’s prophet. All these toys I grew up reading about in SF books and watching on futuristic shows—”Star Trek”‘s communicators, Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide—we now have ‘em. Call me a nerd, but I can’t wait to see what we do with them once the novelty wears off and people start pushing their limits.

A lot of times, I miss the boat technologically when it comes to the new toys. I tend to milk whatever tech I’ve got until it’s on it’s last legs. That’s how I wound up with a five-and-a-half-year-old Powerbook G4, no upgrades ever, running Panther. Why do I do it? I don’t know. I suppose because, despite all my hot air to the contrary, I’m really not that self-indulgent when it comes to buying myself things. Product of my upbringing: make things last. It feels ridiculous to buy things that I don’t absolutely need to survive—but that’s no way to live.

One of the things that most strongly reinforces my desire to live is being reminded that I don’t have to settle for just surviving. Would you laugh if I confessed that my new toy helps?