is this a backwards step or am I a little backwards about going forward?

I frequently read the blog of a hilarious woman, Murr, who writes over at murrbrewster.blogspot.com.au

Recently, Murr decided she doesn't have enough devices in her life and went out to buy what she calls a "tabletty thingy". 

I understand these are quite popular and can do fabulously wondrous things, but I'm pretty sure I would be even more confused than Murr by any young salesperson describing how it works, what it can do and all the apps available. 
Tech speak confuses the heck out of me.
It wouldn't do any good either to ask the salesperson to explain to me as if I were a child, because clearly children understand these things even before they are born.
Have you seen a three year old program a dvd player? I tell you, these kids today are born with the knowledge.
Which will be obsolete by the time they start school......

But Murr's post got me thinking about the first mobile devices.

Mobile phones, for instance:


I don't remember ever seeing anyone walking around my city with one of these, but I saw them in movies and they were huge.

Then came these>>>

mobile? Yes, but not too easily slipped into a pocket. Looks awkward, yes?

Technology moved forward at a faster pace and soon we had these>>>

which were a good deal smaller and easier to carry. But big enough to find in your handbag too.

then phones got smaller...

and smaller....

and smaller.

(I've never seen one this tiny that hasn't been in a movie).

Really mobile, fits into any pocket, would probably get lost in your handbag, especially if you are one of those women who never, ever empty out your handbag.
I've worked as a checkout chook and believe me, I've seen some handbags that look as if stuff has been crammed in there since Moses was a lad.
And never emptied out. 

But then along came Blackberrys and iphones.

these things were bigger and needed two hands to operate.
And some smart so-and-so invented an app for something that worked on it.
Then a few thousand other people developed apps for these wondrous devices and then we had smartphones.
Pretty soon it seemed everybody under the age of...well, me...had one.

To encourage more buying (market hysteria for the "latest must have") technology had to move even further forward.

Ta-Da!!

ipads!  Still needing two hands to operate, but bigger!
With even more apps!


some of these things are almost as big as my small laptop. 

Still mobile of course, but you can't slip one into your pocket, not even into your handbag.
Unless you carry a huge briefcase sized bag. 
And then you need a separate handbag for your wallet and house keys.

More and more now, I see women carrying two bags everywhere they go.
A regular handbag and a bigger tote with the latest in tablets. (And whatever else is in those bags). These "tabletty thingys" come with their own stand if you choose to purchase one. And then have to carry everywhere.
It's an "optional extra", you don't have to buy one, but I see them on cafe tables all over town because people need to prop them up to be able to continue reading, communicating, "apping" while they eat lunch.

So we've gone from huge and barely portable, to small, to ridiculously tiny and now we're back at medium sized tablets.

That need their own bags.

Where will it end?








Comments

  1. Great post and the last line, where will it end, is interesting yet futile to ponder.

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  2. Oh River, the tablety thingy is not an evolution of a smartphone because it cannot make phone calls. It is an evolution of a computer. A computer used to fill up a whole floor, then a desk (desktop) , then a lap (laptop), and now a palm (tablet including iPad).

    If you have a smartphone, you don't really need a tablet thingy except if you have poor eyesight or get a headache when using 3G or 4G connection like me.

    iPad can function as a kindle as well as a computer to surf the next but it cannot run big complex programs. It suits 2 fingers typist.

    So, you can think abt getting a tablet such as iPad (combined x'mas presses from all children?) and retire your kindle and desktop.

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  3. Next thing you know we'll all be pushing little desks on wheels ahead of us where ever we go .... complete with rearview mirrors and horns no doubt.

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  4. it won't end while there is money to be made.

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  5. Isn't Murr a hoot? And usually so spot on too.
    No ipad here. Or even a laptop. Or a kindle.
    A dinosaur.
    And I think Joanne Noragon is right, while there is money in it, new devices and new apps (must haves) will continue to be sold.

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  6. Andrew; futile for sure.

    mm; I actually knew that. I used "had" instead of "have" by mistake, meaning that we have ipads as well, not to supersede the smartphones etc. I know this because my daughter has one and uses it when away from home and as a kindle too. I still don't want one.

    Delores; I think it's much more likely we'll all be stuck at home living through the internet, never leaving the house. In a few million years we may very well evolve to have more fingers, but no legs. That's horrifying.

    Joanne; in the end it all comes down to money doesn't it?

    Elephant's Child; I think Murr is the funniest woman on my reading list. Susan Swiderski and Diane Tolley are close seconds. Joanne is right on the money (ha ha) with her comment.

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  7. more and more people are so tethered to these devices and disconnected in real life interactions.

    If only I could figure out how to take a picture on my iphone. Love having my computer at my fingertips, though.

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  8. The best way to spend money: Travel.

    Best pop group of all time: The Platters.

    Funniest woman on blogs: Copperwitch.

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  9. Linda O'Connell; Isn't there a menu where you can select the camera function? Ask the nearest child, he or she will show you. I feel saddened when seeing groups of young people out at a cafe and they're all sitting around the table busy with their devices instead of chatting.

    R.H. the best way to spend money is on a variety of things. The Platters were really good. Funniest woman? Murr Brewster. I do love Copperwitch though.

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  10. I don't know if it will ever end but it certainly needs to LOL

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  11. "Things" are futile. Not happiness, not joy: a mirage.

    We will die.

    Copperwitch humour is the woman herself -life itself.

    Rare.

    Few can do it.





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  12. It'll all end with a chip in our heads.

    Yikes.

    Pearl

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  13. Hopefully, it'll all end with everyone waking up to the fact that they don't need to haul all that crap around, that they can actually (gasp) talk to the real people around them, rather than having their heads so shoved up their, um, devices, they're oblivious to the real world.

    Then again... Pearl could be right.

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  14. I have GOT to visit this Murr person!! And just my luck: I bought a Kindle because I didn't know what an Ipad was, and now MM has taught me that I should have gotten an Ipad and forgot about the Kindle....that IS what MM is saying....Not sure. But I hope the NEXT THING is a cell phone with a rotary dial.

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  15. Op Ex; when the digital world crashes and we have to go back to the old ways. us oldies will have to be the teachers if we're still around then.

    Pearl; the only chip going into my head is the hot salty fry I feed into my mouth.

    Susan; I hope that happens sooner rather than later. Before evolution decides we don't need our voiceboxes.

    lotta joy; welcome to drifting. It depends on whether you want to just read or read AND have access to the internet.

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  16. Once a computer took up a whole building.
    I have a desktop Mac and I love it.
    We have a smallish Nokia mobile phone and I hate it. We still have a landline telephone with caller ID and I love it.
    I hate tech jargon although I do sometimes listen to an IT guru on radio and he is so good even I can understand what he is talking about and he only deals with PCs. I listen just for fun when I remember.
    I get annoyed when people bring their mobile phones with them and spend time either receiving or sending text messages.
    I am old and therefore old fashioned perhaps????

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  17. Mimsie; there's nothing wrong with being old fashioned. Sometimes the old ways of communication are better. Talking face to face, writing a letter, being polite with guests instead of constantly checking or updating your facebook and twitter pages. I remember movies made when computers were new and seeing rooms with every wall full of electronic whizz-bang machinery. Buttons, lights and spools of tape everywhere.

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