Plum Crazy

For your technology edification, today we present good technology vs. bad technology.

1. This is an example of good technology. This is my iPod. The blue skin is a case I bought for it. It is a regular 20GB iPod, not a new iPod Mini. The iPod Minis, while looking ever so fabby, are simply too small with a mere 4GB of memory. iPods are good. They let you take all your music with you wherever you go (in my case around 8GB or 2073 songs). This is a happy thing.

2. This is an example of bad technology. This is my Blackberry. This means that even though I am taking the day off work today, I still have access to my work e-mail. Funny thing happens when you have access to your work e-mail at home - People expect you to check it. Day off? More or less. Fortunately still more than less. Still, working from home? Not a happy thing.

3. This is another example of bad technology. This is my RSA token. This allows me to access my work network from home. This means that if somebody sends me an urgent e-mail on my Blackberry with something that just can't wait until Monday (not that it really couldn't, but accessibility breeds tighter work-imposed deadlines), I can log onto the network and work from home. Still not a happy thing.

Wasn't there a time when you could really take a day off without people expecting you to be available? It's not like I'm a doctor or that people will die or be harmed if I'm not. Ah technology.