Hello World

A Luddite in simple contemporary terms is one who opposes technology. A gross oversimplification of the designation, to be sure, but one that will serve the purposes of what I intend to write about in this blog.

Does an antonym for "Luddite" exist in our lexicon? "Technophile," perhaps? Simply, "geek"? Whatever meaningful opposite you can conjure up in your head to oppose the opposition of technology, that would have and may still describe me.

There's an episode of The Simpsons that is a roundabout analogy to how I felt about technology. Homer decides to buy a gun, and then proceeds to use it to do everything in his life - I distinctly remember him shooting open a beer and trying to change the TV channel by shooting at the television. I am Homer Simpson, and technology is my gun. If there was a way to make my life more tech savvy, I sought it out. I've got my work calendar synced to my Google Calendar synced to my iPhone over-the-air. I have my multi-protocol IM client that broadcasts what's playing on iTunes. I've got my Google Reader and Tumblr RSS feeds nourishing my Twitter account. If there wasn't an app for it on the iPhone, I didn't want it - how could people live without mobile internet, email, GPS locating, gaming, and camera, all in one package? In fact, I had been through five or six mobile phones in the span of half a year looking for just the right one. With any luck, I was lightning-fast enough signing up for the Google Wave beta that I may look forward to an invite at the end of the month. On my desktop computer I have a visceral need for the fastest processor, the beefiest GPU, more and better RAM, a bigger monitor, better sound - Dell.com gets visited once a week to fiddle with configurations, and there are multiple saved wishlists on Newegg.com for my ultimate build-a-computer. Every month as a bachelor, I could easily justify nicking this or that gadget or gizmo. My work computer was an illicit testing ground for every little piece of new and innovative software the interwebs had to recommend.

Tech lust has made me do some silly things. Case in point - although I was not enamored of the first generation iPhone (what a silly concept - that'll *never* catch on), count me as one of the poor suckers who waited in line for 5 hours for the iPhone 3G (*not* 3GS - thanks for not early upgrading me, AT&T) release, just to drive away from the store with my new, unworking and unactivated, phone. You would have thought the Braves had won the World Series or Arsenal did the treble for the joyous exclamations when that hunk of metal and plastic finally synced with iTunes and activated.

"Sounds like this fella likes his tech," I hope you're thinking. "What's all this talk of being a Luddite?", I hope you're asking.

See up above, where I mentioned being a bachelor? I'm not one, anymore. In marrying the love of my life, I have moved back to my adopted hometown, and in the process, gave up my pleasantly lucrative research job. When this decision was made, our economy was much more robust, and job prospects did not worry me. Consider me currently worried.

The wife and I have been duly diligent in pinching pennies and tightening belts and utilizing all of those other adult euphemisms for budget control, and in the process I have made some hard but worthwhile decisions. First to go was cable TV - in fact, it was never here at the house to begin with, but we definitely can't afford it now. World of Warcraft showed me the sad gnome face when the cancellation button was clicked. I have upgraded my iPhone 3G to a $40 Nokia 1208 - don't cry for me, because that joker has a frickin' flashlight on it! Slowly, but surely, my life is changing into one where technology is not only unattainable, but almost avoided. The strange thing for me is that I have embraced this lifestyle. I have looked for ways to simplify, and inevitably those simplifications have come down to eliminating expensive technology for a good, sometimes older-fashioned, solution.

Make no mistake, we are far from starving, and I am extraordinarily thankful for all of the many luxuries we still have. Going to bed every night in an air-conditioned home and not being concerned where my next meal is coming from are not to be taken for granted. This is not me whining about giving up all my cool toys.

What this is, then, is a rumination. I have had a lot of time to think in the last few months about technology and the role it has played, plays, and will play in my life. I apologize for the rambling and preemptively apologize for the continued ramblings. Here goes nothing.