Incremental technological advances that add up to awesome

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It’s Sunday morning and I am pottering around my house, cleaning up, listening to my favourite radio show, Adam and Joe. Nothing too surprising about that, except the epiphany I just had when I sat back with a cup of coffee and considered how I’m doing this.

  1. The show is broadcast on Saturday morning, digitally only - via digital radio or streaming over the internet.
  2. It is then rebroadcast for a week via BBC iPlayer.
  3. I can stream this via QuickTime my iPhone.
  4. My iPhone is hooked up to my wireless network, which is hooked up to a modem connected to a 10Mb fibreoptic line.
  5. My iPhone is plugged into a Gear4 FollowMe.
  6. The FollowMe is powered from my laptop via USB, and is also charging my iPhone.
  7. This device has scanned the FM frequencies in use near me and found the gaps. It’s broadcasting the show to my house on 90.1FM.
  8. I have tuned my Tivoli iPal to the FollowMe, and I can take it from room to room with me…
  9. …but at the moment it is plugged into my Bose speakers, and the sound is crystal-clear, and filling the entire room.

I am not an early-adopter technology geek, in that I like technology for what it can do, rather than on its own merits, but damn, this setup is awesome, like it’s from the future, and I only just realised it. Even five years ago, the above setup would have been pretty cutting edge, and it would blow the mind of someone ten years ago. Yet today it’s just, like, whatever.

Anyone else had a similar realisation?

2

Recently, many things.

My NetBook is truly a laptop computer. I think it weighs all of 3 pounds.

My Blackberry Storm. Amazing little machine. Stream music from the net and listen to it on Bluetooth headphones. Great when working around the house.
Or use it as a GPS (got the Garmin software, not using Verizon) Not only tell me how to get somewhere, but it tells me what businesses are near. Or the cheapest gas. I’m in GIS and I still find this amazing.

I can also use the Storm as a modem for my NetBook. I can connect anywhere I have a cell signal. Or just browse on the Storm. That it is a phone is really secondary.

I bought my wife a computrainer for x-mas. It’s a virtual reality trainer for bikes. You ride/train in the race before you even get there.