Confessions of a Gadget Freak - Backstory
Jul. 28th, 2009 07:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rickpsWay back in February when we were all a lot younger and much more innocent, I posted a dull little ditty about my addiction to gadgets, the more complex, the better. It was a happy little post, full of humorous anecdotes and clever witticisms. Great reading... if you're in a coma.
But there was a dirty backstory. You knew there was, didn't you? Nobody could own so many state-of-the-art technical marvels and not suffer from something worse than dwindling cash. Yes, I've learned...
There seems to be an axiom regarding technogeekery. One must never reach a point in life when all those gadgets are simultaneously working as advertised. One device or another must be afflicted with some mysterious malady which renders the devices tech support team speechless except to say "we've never seen that before".
Scheduling a service call will always fix whatever is wrong. For a week or until you begin to forget that there was ever a problem with the device. When the failure does re-occur, it's usually announced by a mushroom cloud of smoke and debris akin to Hiroshima. Which always voids any warranty.
Live with any gadget for a week and you'll suddenly realize that the damn thing would be near perfect if the manufacturer would have only (fill in the blank). But they didn't, who knows why. And then in six months time, suddenly, every similar device on the market comes standard with (fill in the blank). Which makes you feel like a doofus for buying so soon.
And finally, the less you like a gadget that you've foolishly acquired, the more reliable and bulletproof it will be. Upon your death (usually from apoplexy brought on by gadget failure), this unloved device will be placed on your grave by someone near and dear to you. Where it will work flawlessly until the end of time. Or the batteries go dead.
But there was a dirty backstory. You knew there was, didn't you? Nobody could own so many state-of-the-art technical marvels and not suffer from something worse than dwindling cash. Yes, I've learned...
There seems to be an axiom regarding technogeekery. One must never reach a point in life when all those gadgets are simultaneously working as advertised. One device or another must be afflicted with some mysterious malady which renders the devices tech support team speechless except to say "we've never seen that before".
Scheduling a service call will always fix whatever is wrong. For a week or until you begin to forget that there was ever a problem with the device. When the failure does re-occur, it's usually announced by a mushroom cloud of smoke and debris akin to Hiroshima. Which always voids any warranty.
Live with any gadget for a week and you'll suddenly realize that the damn thing would be near perfect if the manufacturer would have only (fill in the blank). But they didn't, who knows why. And then in six months time, suddenly, every similar device on the market comes standard with (fill in the blank). Which makes you feel like a doofus for buying so soon.
And finally, the less you like a gadget that you've foolishly acquired, the more reliable and bulletproof it will be. Upon your death (usually from apoplexy brought on by gadget failure), this unloved device will be placed on your grave by someone near and dear to you. Where it will work flawlessly until the end of time. Or the batteries go dead.
