Month: June 2012

30 Blogposts of Summer #2: What a Waste of Time!

“What a waste of time!”

I’ve never found a good way to answer this one, and I hear it regularly. People criticize using social media tools like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter (particularly merciless on Twitter) and state with a degree of assumed superiority, “I don’t have time for that…stuff.”

On a practical level I can appreciate this comment. I am well aware of the time that is needed, and the time that can be lost in communicating online. In my list of problems with social media, I’ve always put lost time as a greater danger than privacy concerns or inappropriate contact. It is easy to become engrossed in Twitter or Facebook (I don’t particularly have to fight to keep from working at my blog…which is apparent in the number of entries). I also agree that there is a lot of trivial junk on social media sites. I am less aware of this, because I follow interesting people who usually have something to say, but I concede that out there are thousands of ham sandwich eaters reporting in.

What does bug me about this type of comment is twofold. First there is an assumption in it that nothing of value can be done in this medium. I know this factually to be untrue, because I have learned from things I have read on Twitter (often much more than from other places). I have keep in touch and deepened friendships through these sites. Sometimes something has just made me laugh…which to my mind is one of the the greatest values in life. I wonder what deep important and desperately meaningful thing these critics are doing with their time. Not to be too nasty, but someone is watching Survivor.

The other irritation is the recognition of this as a pose that can be and is used against any enthusiasm. It is the ultimate condescension, “I know you like this, but I’m too good to be bothered.” I see this in all areas, including technorati who are equally dismissive of the ones who don’t participate. It can’t be a simple difference in interest, rather it has to be painted in terms of wrong or right, better or worse.

Recently I was listening to a couple of people playing out this conflict. On one side I felt the contempt of the social “mediarights” toward the unplugged, and on the other the disdain and fear of the time wasting narcissists by the properly focused technophobes. I practically broke into singing “The Farmers and the Ranchers Can Be Friends.”

Let’s not let social media be one more polarizing force in our social fabric

As always, I welcome your comments.

Photo Credit: ‘E’ guerra!!!!!!!!!!-Ovvero la vendetta di Geo-Cat attack’ http://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2175836512

 

30 Blogposts of Summer #1: iPad Update

I’ve been using the iPad for nearly two years now, and with all the talk this week about an upcoming Microsoft tablet, I took a few minutes to take stock of where I am with this product. Though (for those who remember that far back) the iPad was more or less forced on me in the midst of my skepticism (read paranoid hatred) about the product and the tablet in general. Now two years later, would I still choose this platform if offered another choice.

The simple answer is yes. I remain completely attached to my iPad. In fact, when the new iPad came out, I purchased one with my own money, so I could no longer be considered a, unintentional user. I take it with me everywhere, and I use it daily (understatement). In almost all cases I love the interface, and I particularly like how the compact device contains so many parts of my business and personal life. Sitting with my iPad in an airport (as long as I have wifi…another post) I can work on a blog post, answer email, watch Netflix movies, read a novel (I’ve really become addicted to reading on the iPad…recently while reading a “retro book” I found myself touching a word on the page to get a definition), or dozens of other uses.

Broader than this, I have found that my basic tech orientation has changed (please don’t rip from this post, “Greg has changed his orientation”). I used to sit at my desktop at home for hours daily, now weeks go by without touching it. This is similar to work, where I often sit with my iPad on the desk, ignoring the machine right beside me. My netbook has been relegated to the machine I hook up to projectors when giving a presentation. I am about to write an inexcusable phrase…the iPad is my lifestyle device (please, don’t hate me).

Now, I can’t say that I love to do everything on the iPad, when I have to make a complicated PowerPoint or Prezi presentation, I still use a desktop machine. I am looking forward to full integration of Office into the iPad, though I still am unsure whether it will be easier than to have the multi-tasking environment and load screen of the desktop. Probably most frustrating for me is that I’m still taking two devices with me when I do a presentation, my netbook to hook up to the projector and my iPad for my notes. I hate taking two devices on a plane. This is a problem of my own creation. When I used only a netbook I always kept my notes on paper, and I could still do this with the iPad, but my desired for self-contained presentations still outweighs my hatred of carrying two computers.

With the announcement of the Microsoft Surface Tablet this week, I’ve been asked whether the Surface may become the iPad killer. Though I am tempted to say no, I don’t see people moving to a different product at a similar price for a long time, I think it is safest to say that I don’t know. I certainly have been proved wrong more than right in my prognostications. However, in either direction, I am fairly confident that for the the next period of time, I will be using (and loving) my iPad.

As always, I welcome your comments.

 

Photo credit: iPad http://www.flickr.com/photos/36234195@N04/390

 

30 Blogposts of Summer

This is the first week of “school summer.” The majority of the schools are out, and aside from a few panicked calls from parents and principals, things slowly transition into their summer pace. In many ways the next two weeks are the best part of the summer. I was remarking to someone that I always feel the turn immediately after the fourth of July; suddenly summer is not that new, and the coming year is on the radar…already presaged by Back-to-School sales!

As I started to sort out my office, I found some notes for blogposts that never were written, many of which are far past their relevance. Hesitantly, I logged into the blog itself to see its very neglected condition. Despite my yearly promise to post at least twice a month, I see that I’ve only written four times through nearly half a year. Though I know my readership is not large, I can’t see how anyone can follow a blog with posts that are rarer than sightings of Bigfoot.

Looking back on last year, I saw that I was most productive last December when I created the artificial “24 Days of Blogging” challenge (obviously I can’t be disciplined, but I can trick myself). Though I don’t want to match the craziness of that marathon, I thought I’d try again during the summer.

So beginning this week, I will write at least 30 blog posts (not counting this one) prior to the end of “school summer” on September 1. That’s about one every three days. I don’t know what I’ll be writing about (if you want to send suggestions, I would love you), but I will try to comment on a wide range of education, technology, life, and cultural topics (I’ve noticed in my writing that I’ve become much less of a tech blogger and more a life blogger…sounds like the beginning of a post).

Anyway, grab your surf board and here we go! As always, I welcome your comments

Image: ‘End of summer / Fin del verano‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/8991878@N08/3353864563