Things That Work and Things That Don’t

Tivo
I like to think of myself as being on the cutting edge of technology.

I think that companies would consider me an early adapter.

That is a consumer who tries new technology before it becomes mainstream.

I was one of the first people to own a Mac. In fact I still have
that original Mac which I recall upgrading from 128 K of memory to a
whopping 512 K…making it what was referred to back in the day as a
"Fat Mac"

My first car was Honda Civic CVCC. In fact it was the first Civic to
be imported into the United States back when it was the cheapest and
smallest new car that could be purchased in America.

I owned one of the first Startac Motorola cell phones along with the first generation iPod and Sony Walkman back in the day.

I also have a basement full or now dusty new technology that never
fulfilled the marketing promises such as a moldy box of first
generation Sony Beta records and Cameras, and Rio digital music players.

So I think I can safely say that I have a reasonable grasp of new
technology that works, and more importantly that does not work.

Here's a short list of my current best and worst technology innovations over the last several years:

Works: Apple iPhone

The new Apple iPhone is amazing in its simplicity. For instance I've
owned smart phones, Blackberries and regular mobile phones that have
always had the ability to assign ring tones and images to contacts in
the address book. In other words, the phone plays and displays a
different song and photo depending on who is calling.

This can be handy as you know who is calling without even having to
look at the phone. Is it work, or is it my son? Good to know before you
answer the phone.

However all of phones might as well not had this ability because
assigning a ring tone and photo to a contact was akin to building the
Eiffel Tower from scratch using a French assembly manual. Seven levels
of menus into my T-Mobile Dash Smart Phone and I was no closer to
getting my son's picture assigned to him in the phone, than when I
first pressed the start menu.

And don't even think about trying to bring up a web page on a so
called smart phone. You could have a super blazing fast WI-FI
connection, but the end user experience is like looking at the moon
through a 1970's Chinese pair of disposable binoculars.

The iPhone makes all of this and much more so simple that my mom
could do it. And believe me that's saying a lot as my mom does not even
know how to check her voice mail.

Does Not Work: All other mobile phones

OK maybe that's not fair as all other mobile phones can be used to
make and receive calls, send text messages, and if you happen to have a
Blackberry you can also check your email. But all the rest of the stuff
that the other phones say they do including syncing with your computer
they really don't do…unless you happen to be a tech geek or have an
IT department at your disposal.

Works: Tivo

The great thing about a Tivo is that it records the programs you
like and want to watch, and doesn't allow you to easily delete those
programs by accident.

Does Not Work: Motorola/Comcast DVR

I don't believe that in all of modern times has their been such a
complete hunk of stinking crap used by so many people. I have now owned
four generation of this steaming pile of you know what, and amazingly
they just keep making it worse.

The myriad of menus and sub menus and sub sub menus would confound
the launch control experts at NASA. The remote control has about 14
sets of arrows that point in four directions that do what exactly??

But worst of all the machine has an innate, I would say almost
spooky ability, to stop recording or freeze-up during the best parts of
any show I happen to be watching. The remote regularly stops working
only to execute the 300 or so commands I pushed in frustration when it
died in span of two seconds or less. These usually include deleting the
finally of Idol, or the Super bowl, or the Academy Awards.

If want to make an easy case for the regulation and the breaking up
of the cable company monopoly, you need not look any further than the
box by your television. Because I cannot fathom how any for profit
company could in good conscious sell such a complete and utter load of
crap and stay in business.


Works: ?

Cateye
Does not work: Bike Computer

I have yet to stumble upon a bike computer that actually works. Sure they will eventually tell you your speed, distance, cadence, time, and perhaps even power but…..

Dear God in heaven they require a PhD is mechanical engineering to
install and calibrate and a PhD in electrical engineering to operate.
And don't even think about trying to reset the bloody thing.

With today's modern electronics, GPS and iPhone engineers would it
not be possible to build one that just attaches to your bike and works
out of the box with simple displays for speed, distance, time and
perhaps cadence, and only one freaking big red button that says "reset"?

Works?

Does not work: Satellite Navigation Systems

Sure they cost anywhere from $500 to $2000 dollars and can certainly
display all of the Greek restaurants in Boston, but can they be
programed to get you to your hotel late at night after an all day
conference and heavy business dinner without a 12 week learning annex
course in the computer engineering.

I don't think so.

Unfortunately the same can now be said for the modern car driver
computer inter phase. Now that most of us reading this can use either
use a PC or Mac why is it that each car company is designing their own
car/computer inter phase?

Most modern cars have or will soon have computer display screens
that will control all of the cars functions like heating, and cooling,
or satellite navigation. Yet without a doubt all of these make
something that used to be simple…complicated.

What used to take a second, like turning the knob to increase the
heat or volume, now is buried under the dozens of sub menus. And just
like the cell phone ring tone, you can now calibrate the spring rate of
the right driver's side shock absorber, but you'll need to learn German
and/or Japanese while taking that navigation systems course at the
learning annex.

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Roman Mica
Roman Mica is a publisher, columnist, journalist, and author, who spent his early years driving fast on the German autobahn. When he’s not reviewing cars or producing videos, you can find him training for triathlons and writing about endurance sports for EverymanTri.com as our sister blog’s publisher. Mica is a former broadcast reporter with his Master’s Degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He is also a presenter for TFLcar’s very popular video review channels on YouTube.