Popular technology is rising to flood levels for old-fashioned

By Dave Churchill (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, May 25, 2007

I am getting a little worried about falling behind. Not the usual “behind,” during which the lawn doesn’t get mowed and whatnot. I have teenagers to handle those chores.

No, the problem is that I can not keep up with the world of popular culture.

For instance, I do not own a Tivo. Actually, I have never even seen a Tivo. For those who, like me, are falling behind: A Tivo is some sort of digital VCR, but better. Why it is better is hard to understand; maybe it is easier to program than the now old-fashioned VCR.

Apparently some significant percentage of Americans — maybe half? — now own a Tivo or Tivo-like product, with which they are recording important programming like, “24,” and “American Idol.”

Which puts me even further behind, because not only do I not Tivo (it is also a verb), I have never seen those shows.

I know about Tivo because I do try to keep up with the times to some extent, mostly by reading about the times as they go past at light speed.

Although I have a laptop computer, use it every day, carry it just about everywhere I go, apparently I am not getting full functionality out of it. For instance, to save weight, I bought a laptop which has a separate DVD drive, the kind you leave at the office and plug in when you need it. Those who are more culturally aware find this amazing. “You mean you don’t watch movies on your laptop?” they ask.

No, I use my computer for work. I go to the theater to watch movies or, perhaps, view them on a DVD on my home television. That is very old-fashioned.

I am completely mystified by Blu-ray, which reminds me a lot of Tivo. As far as I can tell, Blu-ray is much like Tivo, in that I have never seen one and do not fully understand the purpose. As far as I can tell, Blu-ray is like a DVD, but better for some unknown reason.

I tried the iPod thing, and it was moderately amusing for a couple of months. But it turns out that filling your ears with miniature speakers tends to block out the rest of the world. I happen to like the rest of the world or, at any rate, find it interesting. So the iPod has been in a drawer for a couple of years now.

I was reminded of this by a New York Times article about a 25-pound, battery-powered amplifier into which one can plug his or her iPod and blast the tunes out to the neighborhood. To do this (although it would be better if you didn’t), you would need a $200 iPod and the $300 amplifier. We used to accomplish the same thing with our 1980s-vintage “stereos,” for a lot less money.

And don’t even get me started on text-messaging. I have sent a couple of text messages, and received a couple of them. But afterwards, I had a question: Everyone involved in texting (another exciting new verb) must, by definition, have a cell phone. Why not just call?

I’m sure I am missing something, and it may be that the something is encoded in those acronyms that are the basic building blocks of text mail.

The most popular abbreviation or acronym seems to be LOL. Someone told me it means “laughing out loud.” But does it really? Couldn’t it be “lots of love,” or “lots of laughs.”

Or perhaps, LOL stands for, “look out, loser.”

If so, I appreciate the warning, because this huge waterfall of pop technology could be all-consuming. And all in the interests of entertainment.

Almost makes being old-fashioned look like not such a bad idea.

Journal publisher Dave Churchill’s column runs on Fridays.