Bhagwan @ Large

Times like these

(ed: this piece composed on an 8GB, 1st gen iPod touch)

It’s 4 AM. Again. I should be asleep. I should be writing. There are a lot of things I should be writing about, and yet very few things worth writing down. Tonight, after 3 decent hours of sleep, the nostalgia machine started churning, taking me back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when sleep was not just a luxury, but a tradable commodity.

In 2007, my star was riding high. Two years ago now, I was heading down to a science fiction convention to remind myself why I do what I do. Also, I had World Series tickets, which I did not pay for. I had just purchased a new telephone, one with decent messaging capabilities and the ability to type and store brief notes. I thought it would be a neat idea to travelogue our journey to the series on that device, but I quickly became bored with the process, and spent more time writing about other telephones I had owned.

In seven hours, I’ll be heading north of the border with friends to attend a U2 Concert. 24 hours after that my plane will be landing in San Jose to attend a science fiction conventon. I’m writing this on a portable handheld device whose primary function is to play music, the very device I bought the aforementioned telephone to avoid carrying around. Yesterday my combat shopping ways found me an upgraded version of this device at a significant savings over the retail price (i.e., most). It has all the bells and whistles I desire, plays music, movies, plays games, and also types and stores brief notes.

Just like the one in my hands, which cost me practically nothing. Can’t carry them both around, and even though this one is several years old, “small” by comparison, and not as advanced, it commands an astonishingly high resale value.

Unlike a telephone. Both the one I had then (which I sold off this summer to pay for a pair of Bluetooth headphones, unusable with this device but perfect for the one that will be) or my current model, which primarily sees use as a mobile texting platform. It also plays music, movies, and games, and connects via Bluetooth to a pretty nifty pair of headphones.

I’m lying on my back with artificial full spectrum light illuminating my large fingers tapping away at a small keyboard. Over yonder in my bag is a much larger keyboard, one obtained specifically so that I can type brief notes, play games, music, movies, and go on the intarwebs to shop for upgraded bits of technology. It also writes, or rather, enables the writing of, works of fiction.

Just like the one here in my hands. Or charging over yonder, just waiting in case I want to make a telephone call. In fact, my small, portable computer has a telephone number too, so that I can connect from the intarwebs from just about anywhere.

Now isn’t that useful. In a house full of computers, I can go anywhere else and connect to the internet, which is also right here in the palm of my hand. Or on my belt. Or in my bag. Or at the desk I should be sitting at, instead of lying on this couch.

But for all my toys and connectivity, there is no single piece of technology in my posession that will give me even one more hour of sleep. Just things to keep me company while I wait.

I think there’s an app for that…

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Turns out, it’s me.

Slowly.

Upon the acquisition of an iPod touch (exchanged for a very small portion of the contents of my garage), it occurred to me that I have a number of relatively recent movie purchases that came with a free digital copy. These have not been all that useful to me, since I have a DVD player (or rather, several) hooked up at my computer workstation.

My original thought was to archive my considerable dvd collection onto one of the external hard drives we have, and then use L’s old thinkpad as a media computer in the front room, and our laptop/netbook/mobile phones for portable viewing.

Windows disagreed. In fact, Microsoft DRM locked down the digital copies so hard that they are almost unviewable on the main computer where they were first installed, and where I would never really care to watch them.

But this here small piece of technology has changed everything. Almost all of the copies have an iTunes variant, and once formatted said copy attaches to the Account, not the user. Looking around the house, we have exactly five computers on which iTunes is installed. Which means that through the magic of portability, lots and lots of screens.

And hypothetically speaking, software exists on the internets to take that DVD library and make it available for very small viewing devices.

Which brings me to what I consider one of the finest movies of last year. Zach Snyder’s adaptation of THE WATCHMEN. I synced it over last night, and started watching it this morning. I’m watching it now. It is 10:23 PM, and stolen minutes here and there have allowed me to see the movie on my schedule, “reading” it almost as individual issues.

It does not suffer for the separation. In fact, I think it is enhanced.

The quality of playback is simply amazing. Listening through tiny headphones and through the magic of the inverse square law, I’m getting sound on par with the complicated and expensive system in the other room. Picture is crisp and clear, and should be on every one of the other lcd screens as well.

This non-purchase has changed my world. The only drawback to this 1st gen touch is the lack of bluetooth, but sooner or later I’ll be able to address that with an upgrade.

Something has to sell, somewhere. Or perhaps I’ll get one of them job thingies. I’m nearly out of debt, and almost a productive member of society.

Almost. And I think I’ve earned it.

Until then, I’ll be here in the Temple of Technology, communing with my 8Gb oracle and the rest of this bottle of wine.