Technology Pioneers

Steve Jobs passed on October 5th and the world paused for a moment.  In the last two days there have been millions of comments, postings, videos, stories, and tributes about the
man who changed how we look at and use technology.  I am struck at just how wide his impact on technology, people, and society has spread.  Dictionary.com lists one of the definitions of a pioneer as, “one who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress.”   When I think back, I remember critics of Apple and Jobs often saying that they didn’t come up with the idea or product.  Perhaps that is true with some of Apple’s products.  What is hard to deny however, is that Jobs brilliance made technology personable, usable, and “in”.  Jobs clearly had artistic vision, not necessarily an attribute associated with technology pioneers.  Others will write passionate tributes to the life and contributions of Jobs and we’ll reflect on how Jobs efforts made our lives different.  It will likely all be good.  I was on the way home from work on Wednesday when I heard of Jobs passing on the radio.  After the initial feeling of sadness for his passing, I couldn’t help but to think this thought, “Thank you Steve Jobs for your contributions to making our lives more leisurely and fun.”

Durable Technology

There she is, “old reliable”, my Bridgestone mountain bike.  She’s over 25 years old.  I went on a nice bike ride this morning, a cool day and the start of fall.  That bike has been such a good piece of equipment for me.  I’ve ridden thousands of miles on the bike since I got it for $700 back in the early 90’s.  Every couple of years I’d take it in for a tune-up, put a few new tires on it, and replaced the brake pads and chain every so often.  All told, in 20 years I have probably invested about $5,000 in keeping up the bike over the last 20 years.  About the only thing that hasn’t held up too well on the bike has been the pedometer\odometer.  It seems that it works for about a year or year and a half and then I’m trying to replace the battery only to see that I need a new one.  That’s been the most frustrating piece of technology on the bike.  The good news however, is that the older I get, the less I care about how far, how fast, or how much time I have ridden.  These days I’m just thrilled to be able to get out on the bike, get some good exercise, and enjoy the outdoors.  Computers have given me plenty of pleasure over the last 20 years too.  I’ve had several.  Computers are not much like bicycles.  Not many moving parts, but not as long lasting as the old Bridgestone.  I used to buy  computers that could be upgraded; only to find out it was more cost effective or necessary to simply replace the whole computer rather than upgrade it.  Unlike the bike mentioned above, I’m not going to go back and do the math on all the money I’ve spent on computers.  It would be too painful to see just how much money I’ve really spent on hardware and software over the last 20 years.  Often I’m told that so much of the technology is more reliable and more durable because there are “no moving parts”.  We especially hear this when we are considering buying storage devices.  When I think of my Bridgestone bicycle, it has many moving parts.  One of the few things on the bike that doesn’t have a moving part is that odometer, which isn’t very durable.  Kind of ironic isn’t it?

Addicted to the Apps?

Does technology exacerbate obsessive behaviors?  I remember a few years ago when Amazon.com first came online around 1995.  At the time, I used to spend a lot of time in the bookstores browsing and ultimately buying a book or two almost every time I went into a Barnes & Noble or into a Borders bookstore.  I’d go when I could, but that was once a month or if I were lucky, a couple of times a month.  There just wasn’t time to get out to the bookstore.  But when I did, I’d certainly buy a book.  Then came Amazon.  At first I couldn’t help myself.  It was so easy to browse the book world and ordering a book was just one click away.  It didn’t take much for me to buy one, two, or even three books in a sitting.  And unlike the bookstore, I could get to Amazon.com without even leaving the house.  I had a relatively long stretch with Amazon, being interested in books and fascinated with the technology of Amazon.  It took me nearly two years to get out of the compulsive behavior of buying books online.  I read them all, but I was certainly spending too much money.  Money, I didn’t really have for all those books.  I remember the relief I felt some two years later when I realized I had broken that addictive behavior.  Recently, I finished a book titled, “Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality” by Elias Aboujaoude, MD.  In the book doctor Aboujaoude covers a number of different conditions that he has treated patients for that are related to technology. He writes of online gambling addictions, relationship difficulties, and compulsive shopping to name a few.  Aboujaoude posits that technology can make some otherwise manageable behaviors difficult.  It was an interesting read, especially the ideas around the “safety behind the screen” feeling that people can get.  Yes, I remembered, the challenges I felt getting out of my “Amazon.com” habit.  I had succeeded in getting back to “normal”.  Recently, I was having some technically difficulty with my iPad.  I couldn’t find some of the apps that I had recently installed.  Much to my amazement, I learned that there is a technical limit as to the number of app icons that you can have on a single screen.  It turns out that you can have as many apps as your device can hold, but you can only have 20 items per screen and up to 10 screens.  Apple recommends creating folders to hold all your apps and then you can have 20 folders per screen with 20 apps within them.  Where am I going with this?  Well, through this debugging process I realized that I had over 250 applications on my iPad.  And all of them weren’t free or .99 cents.  Uh Oh!  It is Amazon.com for me all over again?

Getting Away from Technology?

As one who uses technology all the time, I love to get away from it for some time to enjoy some other things like nature.  Here’s a picture I took the other morning of Herrick Lake, a nice forest preserve I like to bike ride at. This photo was taken on a Sunday morning around 7 a.m.  It was great to be in the preserve with the sun rising, the air cool, and the quiet of nature.  So what does this have to do with technology you might ask?  This is actually a photograph that was a panoramic view stitched together with about five photos.  The photos were taken on my iPhone using the built-in camera and then the photos were stitched together using Photosynth, a free application for the iPhone from Microsoft.  I took the pictures, stitched them together and e-mailed the photo in a quick stop during the bike ride.  I guess for as much as I like to get away from technology, I really don’t get too far away.  Oh well, having the convenience and quality of those tools all in my pocket is a nice way to “capture” the moment.

Here to Share

As a higher education technologist with extensive experience in various media and multiple disciplines, I am hoping to share my expertise and experiences with family, friends, students, teachers, and others.  I enjoy collaborating with others.  I believe my experiences and my passion for technology and learning combined with my teaching experience, makes me a valued resource to any person, community, school, or professional organization hoping to further incorporate technology into ones life or the learning environment as a means to better serve both students and community.