I love my / hate my gadgets

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share or flame 5 techthings you love / hate

I love my ...

1. Internet radio. It is a Roberts radio plugged into my hifi amplifier that plays internet radio, whether national radio like BBC Radio 4 or local radio from a little village on the fringes of Europe. I live in a foreign country (well, don't we all) and I like to hear familiar, gentle talk radio. It also plays my entire CD collection stored on a network disk.
2. Laptop. Goes without saying. It always obeys me and is like a whole set of private universes inside this box. Sometimes I think programming is like seeing through the eyes of a god. (Yeah, Linux with lex and sed and perl and all kinds of fun toys, but no games).
3. Digital camera(s). Fabulous - I make a picture and I can see it and I can manipulate it straight away.
4. Printer.
5. EBook reader. New toy full of loads of books off the internet.

I hate my ...

1. Mobile phone. Not that everything about it is bad - but have I ever, just once, received one call or one message that made me happy? And it always knows where I am.
2. DVD player. What is with all the rubbish you have to watch before the film, and the ridiculously individual menu arrangements?
3. Dishwasher. I can do it by hand quicker and with less damage to the planet.
4. Car. I used to love repairing and tuning the things, but I never learned to drive and avoid travelling in them.
5. Apple stuff. iMac, iPhone, iTouch, iPad, iHateThemAll. I can't help it, I just can not stand putting glamour and style over functionality.

I love my,
1. Canon XTi, because it is small and easy to handle, vs my 50d that is slightly better quality, but bulkier and heavier
2. Toshiba netbook, because it has a long battery life, is light enough to take along everywere with you in a bag
3. Garmin Colorado 300 gps, with topo US 2008, because it is top notch, and guides me everywere, and has waypoints of every place I find interesting
4. Custom Cannondale team frame, with Sram Red group, and Easton ec90 slx carbon tubulars
(cant think of a 5th thing right now)

I hate my,
1. FineDrive 400 gps, because it was a expensive lump of crap that will get you lost
2. Creative mp3 player, because the battery life is about 5min.
3. HP iPaq PDA/phone, because the battery life is about 6min (why did I ever buy something like that in the first place )
4. Specialized Toupe team saddle, because it cost $170, and will wear a nice hole in your back side
5. S-Works carbon bottle cages, because they cost $70 each, will shoot water bottles out the bottom and will snap in half after a few rides

I like my bike and my internet connection. I dislike war machines and microwave ovens.

I love my
Laptop - It's what I spend 90% of my waking hours using. It's my connection to the world, and it gives me something to tinker with as I expand my knowledge of computers.
Boom box - I have it set on FM 87.5 so it perpetually plays white noise. It drowns out the ringing in my ears.
Graphing calculator - Don't use it that much, but it's a fascinating and useful device. It's also programmable (with TI Basic), which makes it fun for a computer geek like me.
Terminal - This is where I spend most of the time on my computer that I don't' spend online. There is so much to do here, I can't believe other people think it's too intimidating to be worth it. I just found out how to play tetris, pong, and dunnet (a text-based adventure game) in Emacs.
MS-DOS emulator - I just downloaded it to my Mac earlier today, and now I have access to a whole bunch of MS-DOS games from www.dosgames.com.

I hate my
Cell phone - It's a crappy piece of $hit that turns itself off every few minutes and has a battery life of a few hours. I don't feel like getting a new one because setting up an account is a pain in the @$$.
Apple ][c - It's broken.
Headphones - The sound quality sucks.
I can't think of any other electronics I have that I hate.

I love my......

1. Turn table/record player, because I can slap on a vinyl and rock the night away.
2. Valve radio. because it makes the sweetest sound on the planet.
3. Desktop computer, nothing has gone wrong with it because I custom built it myself using only top quality products.
4. Amplifier, because it has quite a high out put so its good to piss the neighbours off with.


I hate my......

1. Windows, because it is worst OS on this planet.
2. Apple products, because they built to rather low quality standards and are simply no more than idiotic fashion statement.
3. Dlink modem/router, because it always has synchronisation problems with my DSL connection (I am not the only unsatisfied, Dlink customer).

The only machine in my life I have an affection for is my bicycle. Every other machine is just a tool to me. It is either useful or it is not useful. Some machines are more useful or effective than others. The idea of having a warm feeling for an inanimate object borders on the insane.

ruveyn