Talk
about a busy week.
Work piled up so badly on me that
in addition to working late last night (Friday) I also
had to go in and work all day today as well. I'll have
to do some more work on Sunday but it can't be helped,
deadlines are deadlines. I'm just glad this only happens
a few times a year, otherwise it could really cut into
my photography time.
Part of the reason things got so busy
was because I took some time off last week, but it is
also getting close to the end of the fiscal and this
is always a busy time for me. (In addition to the regular
environmental engineering and management stuff I do
I am also the resident bean counter for my office)
But the bulk of the end of year crunch-time
is over, and soon things should calm down to a more
reasonable pace. Just in time for the weather to start
getting better as well, so I look forward to the coming
weeks. It is nearly the time to say goodbye to the blast
furnace humidity of summer and welcome in the dry sunny
days fo autumn.
--
There are an endless variety of cell
phones (or "Keitai" as they are called here)
in Japan, most of which by themselves have more computing
power than Mission Control for the Apollo Space Program.
But in this world of ever higher and higher technology
there are a couple of phones out there that have taken
a different route.
A couple of the more forward thinking
ones I have seen are not what you would think of as
cutting-edge, rather, they do only one thing, and only
one thing, but in a very good way.
Take the Tu-Ka
S , a cell phone targeting senior citizens.
With its limited number of large,
easy to see (and press) buttons, and a battery that
only needs to be charged once a month, this phone was
an instant hit not with the hip crowd, but rather with
those in the crowd in danger of falling down and BREAKING
their hip. Quite a step beyond the old Life Alert "I've
fallen, and I can't get up!" technology...
Another cool, yet exceedingly simple
cellphone in Japan is one targeted towards the other
extreme of the age spectrum.
It is a kids phone with only three
buttons. And the buttons are not numerical, rather they
are color coded shapes. (A circle, a square, and a triangle)
This means that with just the press of one button a
very young child can dial Mom, Dad, or the Police (or
whoever else is programmed into that last button). The
phone can also receive calls just like any other cellphone.
How elegant.
Does all this talk of cell phones
mean I am finally ready to jump on the bandwagon and
get myself one?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
There is much value to be put into
not being in touch with the rest of the world 100% of
the time. I also enjoy the freedom of being disconnected
from the "grid" and living life face to face
instead of through microwave repeater towers.
BUT, (And that's a big but) if cellphone
camears keep getting better I may have to break down
and get one, just for the ability to both take and instantly
email pictures.
Comment 23
|
