There’s this meme going round that’s about technology blind spots, I suppose you’d call them – on popular technologies you don’t do or skills you don’t have.
I admit to having occasional attacks of techno lust and have succumbed from time to time (PDA, Tablet, iPod, etc), but such attacks seem to be getting fewer and far between.
My blind spots?
Gaming consoles. I am quite partial to certain types of games (MMORPGs, turn-based strategy a la Civ, puzzles) but have never ever really gotten into consoles. This, despite the fact that we have Gameboys, a Gamecube, Playstation 2, a DS, and a Wii in the house. I don’t know why, particularly. I have enjoyed certain games like Galaga and Tetris on the Gameboy, and bowling on the Wii is fun, but that’s about the end of it. Oh, but recently Whack-a-mole on the DS was amusing. Heh.
Macs. I’ve never really used a Mac and I don’t get the Apple cult at all. (We have a Mac laptop in the house but I’m largely indifferent to it, give me my EeePC any day. Or my Tablet.)
Mobile phone. These days I seem to use my phone for text. In fact I text enough that I’m starting to think I should get a plan for cheaper text messages. But I don’t use my phone for much else, apart from sudoku when I’m forced to stand on the train.
Podcasting. Should I be admitting this, given that I have had a lot to do with podcasting at work? Well it’s not that I don’t like it as a medium, it’s just that I am not particularly interested in creating personal ones. I also don’t seem to listen to many.
Programming skills. I have none, beyond Basic which I learned in high school 6 million years ago. I suppose it would be interesting to be able to write little scripts but I don’t have much motivation to learn, especially when I live with someone who can do this with his eyes closed and it’s much easier to just tell him what I want.
I suppose I could call SecondLife a blind spot. I’ve visited there a few times but always get irritated with the clunkiness and the interface. Chat, changing my appearance and being able to ‘fly’ isn’t interesting enough to get me visiting regularly.
Skype. Never used it.
Video. Blogging or vodcasting or YouTube. I used to think this indifference was just due to a lack of a video camera, but I now have a working camera on the EeePC and I still haven’t bothered to investigate.
What else?
Like Laura I am not a cash register fan. I always break a cash register if I have to handle one. This happens so unfailingly that I am no longer intimidated by the things, I am amused by them and always wonder what bizarre problem I am going to cause next…
Like Fiona I am not afraid to tinker with a pc. All I know about computers is self-taught. I’ve also learned a lot from hanging around with real geeks (e.g. M).
Others: Steve, Dorothea, Rochelle, Jenna.
Yours?
4 Comments
interesting. Like you I did podcasting at work but don’t listen to them myself. But DH does, and he also listens to music much much more than I do. He is the one who wants the ipod and I couldn’t care less.
I’ve never used Skype but that is probably because I’ve no one I really want to talk to using it. If my sister moves overseas for work then I would.
I also occasionally wish I had some programming skills – or at least, more Web design skills like java. But never had the incentive to train in them.
I’ve never really been able to play console games, but I’ve recently been going through a Lego Star Wars phase… It’s a really fun little game – so funny! It’s also a really good game for non-serious console players – very approachable and pretty easy to pick up…
Part of my trouble with console games is managing the controller. At first I was pretty unco, but now, 68.1% of the way through the game (it’s on right now :p), I feel much more coordinated. I think that the next PS2 game I try will be much easier now that I can handle the controller.
Penny, you’re right about needing to have incentive!
Akkadis I think I am the same with the controller. I do like the Wii’s controller, though…
I was thinking of you and one of your cash register stories when I wrote that, actually. 🙂