Hasta La Gadget!

Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

I think I figured out why we love to argue about technology. It came to me via the wisdom of my mom, not surprisingly.

It started last Sunday, when I was at her house to mooch some lunch while helping her get photos off of her digital camera and onto a sharing site so she could, ahem, share them. She was complaining that younger generations won’t have photo albums, those lovely, physical relics of days gone by that mother and son can pore over and share memories.

“But, we’ll have Facebook Timelines,” I replied, sheepishly.

She glared.

I glared back.

Continue reading This is the Modem World: Why we fight

This is the Modem World: Why we fight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

She looked at me, then at my phone and back at me. She was not pleased. Her eyes darted around the restaurant. They surveyed the other husbands, boyfriends and fiancés: Were they too ignoring their dates, checking sports scores, texting their buddies? Is my husband a jerk or is this a social pandemic?

“What would happen if your phone didn’t exist and you had to talk to me?”

“But I am talking to you.”

“No, you’re looking at your phone.”

“Right now, I am saying words to you. How is it that I am not talking to you at this very moment?”

I wasn’t going to win this with semantics. No, I lost the moment I decided it was an appropriate time to grab my phone. And, to be fair, I was being a jerk. We were at a nice dinner and I should be into her, not my email, sports scores or Reddit.

So I put the phone away. I promised to not take it out for the rest of the night, a promise I kept. And we had a lovely evening.

Continue reading This is the Modem World: I’m giving up absolutely nothing

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc

This is the Modem World: I’m giving up absolutely nothing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

I love movies and books about ghosts and aliens, especially the older ones from an era when technology didn’t allow too many special effects. For me, it’s what you don’t see that freaks me out.

Continue reading This is the Modem World: So where are all the ghosts and aliens?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

This is the Modem World: So where are all the ghosts and aliens? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

Usain Bolt is fast. Really fast. So fast, in fact, that we all revel in his quirky personality and dig the fact that he comes from Jamaica. We’re all Bolt fanboys.

The Olympics, born as a celebration of the human body and spirit, bring the world together every two years in a peaceful competition and allow us to transform nationalism into a spirited, peaceful chant for our own countries. Usain Bolt displayed the Olympic spirit during a post-race interview when he stopped the affair to wait for the American national anthem to finish as another athlete received her gold medal. Respect.

Continue reading This is the Modem World: Curiosity Killed the Fanboy

Filed under: Robots, Science

This is the Modem World: Curiosity Killed the Fanboy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

Just over a month ago, Apple launched its svelte new MacBook Pro with Retina display. Powerful and beautiful, we all fell in love with the new device, jammed up Apple’s ordering process, and prepared to queue up for a hot new Mac all over again.

Then we woke a day later to a slew of realizations: the unit is hard to upgrade, software isn’t optimized for the new display, and repairs will be expensive, if not impossible. Then we heard that some Retina screens were having color issues. So we rioted. We hated it for being limited, for not being the sexy woman she promised she was the night before.

Continue reading This is the Modem World: So what’s with the tech backlash thing?

This is the Modem World: So what’s with the tech backlash thing? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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