God, I Hate Technology.

Let's start with the Zune HD I'm listening to right now (Carry the Zero by Built to Spill; my goodness, it's a beautiful song). I bought it for Barb last Christmas because she wanted a radio. Poor thing. She just wanted a radio, an FM radio to listen to KNRK and KOPB, etc. Given just this little bit of license ("I'd like a radio, please") I dug into the internet with the fury of a Viking attacking a hamlet of innocent Celtic fisherfolk.

I learned everything there was to know about latest-generation mp3 players, focusing specifically on the disadvantages of the monarchical iPod touch. I chose the mighty challenger, the Zune HD, which is a nice piece of kit, but frankly can't hold a candle to the iPod. Except, the iPod touch doesn't have an FM receiver. You've got to buy a docking station from Bose or someone else to get that. And if you want a decent one (e.g., a Bose) it adds three hundred bucks to the bottom line.

So that sucks. Apple offers the best product, but gimps it. Which seems weird, as their cheapy iPod nano has an FM receiver. Why not the bigger Touch? Oh yeah, because that's exactly Apple's business plan and it has made them the biggest tech company in the USA. That's why. They introduce very appealing products that have a short feature list. Then every year or two they add features, causing a frenzy of buying among their cultish fanbase.

Three or four years ago when I was looking for an mp3 player for myself I chose the Korean iRiver Clix over the American iPod Nano because the Clix had an FM receiver. And it was cheaper. And it had a voice recorder. And it didn't require proprietary software. Three or four years later Apple introduces a new Nano with, what do you know!, an FM tuner. Their business model is to inspire loyalty through fantastic design (they win in that category every time -- their products are beautiful), and then inspire their loyal fan base to trade in their products every year or two as they introduce new models with features that the originals should have had all along.

This business model irritates me enough so I don't want to ever buy an Apple product, even though they are indisputably awesome. I get a Clix, or a Zune, or a Gateway.

Now I want a smartphone. Bad. But screw Apple and it's effed-up iPhone!

Hollywood?

 

This looks like a still from a Hollywood disaster movie, but it's real. This isn't a news post, so I'm not reporting with any accuracy where it happened: Guatemala, if memory serves. Regardless, the image is striking, frightening, and apparently the very real result of subterranean waters creating a sinkhole.