Life Imitates Art

I recently bought a flip camera. I have heard that video is the new blogging. Vlogging, as it were. And I tend to agree that video is making a comeback, especially given Apple's revelation yesterday. The announcement that takes us beyond the 2-way radio wrist watch from Dick Tracy, obviously more than a mere fantasy from the mind of cartoonist Chester Gould. How could Gould have known way back in 1931, when Dick Tracy debuted, that a true possibility existed that technology would actually surpass a small wireless device that allows for mobile communication?

With the onset of Skype and all things web cam, how could we doubt that it was so close? As close as June 24th - the release date of the iPhone 4. We knew it was coming, but the very fiction that has been so attached to the idea since the gangster 30s kept us, well, me anyway, from hoping - from believing. How utterly delightful to be alive in an era where fantasy becomes real. Where life actually imitates art, instead of the other way around.

And what a fine art it was. It was actually later in 1946 when the two-way wrist radio was first introduced - truly a preview of the cell phone. Ten years ago, I didn't even own a cell phone. That was by design, I didn't want to be reached. When I was at work, I wanted to be at work. When I was shopping, I wanted to be shopping. When I was camping or on vacation, I wanted to be on vacation. Unreachable - recharging. My how times have changed.

I have been known to sleep and wake to my mobile device. I network, take pictures and video, listen to music, read books, cruise the internet, email, blog, tweet, and text via my mobile. I am rarely seen without it. As a matter of fact, I often feel like I am going through withdrawals when I am driving. The times that I actually leave it home are rare but my children definitely enjoy it. Breakfast on Sunday mornings, the movies, and interviews are the only times my phone it not in front of me or in my hand or tucked inside my planner.

On the day that LinkedIn announced an expanded functionality for Blackberry, Steve Jobs took to the stage and delivered another knockout punch. And it's ok - it's ok because this is what drives innovation, this is what keeps 'em on their toes, this is what keep consumers consuming, developers developing and producers producing.

I'll see you in the funny papers!

© by rayannethorn

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on June 8, 2010 at 10:43am

The funny papers will also have a field day with Steve Jobs presentaton of the iphone4 when the wifi didn't work.
There really are cyber gremlins that keep us all a bit reminded of how dependent we are on our gadgets and what a helpless, humbling experience it is when they don't work. There must be a message in there somewhere but perhaps it is just learning to deal with frustration and the deadly quiet of the lack of functional technology.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on June 8, 2010 at 12:09pm

Totally agree Rayanne, the fun part of anything is not how one handles things when they work but how one handles things when they don't work or when weird things do happen.

I suspect there was the same amount of frustration when the cave dwellers where trying to make fire and it rained. :) Imagine what a hero the first guy was that figured out it would work better to move inside the cave to start the fire instead of waiting for the rain to stop so dinner was on time. Probably would have been a cavewoman, while the cavemen were working on a way to build a shelter outside over the fire that wouldn't burn up.

I love my iphone, ipad, two desktops and two laptops. I do however sometimes remember that it was possible to recruit without them when everything goes down. However if the phones are out too ,a day off is in order.

Steve Jobs did get a laugh albeit i would guess that whoever "Scott" is there may have been some discussion about how in the hell that could have happened. But what a great story in the annuals of..Do you remember when..

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Permalink Reply by Brian Meeks on June 8, 2010 at 12:16pm

I have the 3Gs, and didn't think I wanted the new iphone. Just one year ago, I had a prepaid cell phone, because I didn't like cell phones. Then my parents, who both had iphones, shamed me into getting one. Now I love it. I am completely won over. Good post. :-)