[NTLK] Matt's bag

[Jim Lee]

On Jan 29, 2010, at 7:50 AM, Oliver Leaman wrote:

>
> You must have a pretty big bag! What I guess we all would like is one
> device that could do all these things. [...]


Um, no - not all of us.

I, for one, believe in the Unix philosophy - make small, single- 
purpose tools that do one thing, and do it well.  Connect these small  
tools together to do more complex tasks.

I want:

1. A phone that's just a phone.  It could have a bluetooth modem built  
in, but that's it.

2. A camera that's just a camera.  No cell phone camera ever made is  
worth discussing.

3. A gaming machine that's just a gaming machine.  The DS is fine for  
this.  I don't play games on my computer or laptop or phone.

4. A GPS that's just a GPS.  I don't always need or want anything else  
when I'm hiking, or camping, or just driving to an unknown location to  
pick something up.  Why take a chance on dropping an all-in-one- 
expensive-do-everything-machine into a river?

5. A media player that's just a media player.  The iPod Classic works  
great for me - just load it up with songs, podcasts and movies and I'm  
good to go for months.  If I want a "bigger" experience, I just plug  
it into the nearest TV.

6.  A  computing device that does everything else.  Ok, technically  
speaking, this violates my philosophy, but a computer (in the  
traditional sense) is a general purpose device.  However, it too  
should be limited in scope.  I don't want to take pictures or talk or  
play games or navigate on my computer - there are better devices for  
that.  I'd rather not spend my money on duplicate or superfluous  
functionality that would be better spent on RAM, CPU, screen  
technology, battery technology, and ergonomics.

If all these things were incorporated into a single device, I'd be  
dead in the water if I dropped it, if the battery pooped out, or if it  
was stolen.  The hardware is not upgradeable unless I upgrade  
everything in one shot.  I would rather pick and choose the  
functionality that fits the way *I* work and play than settle for all  
the engineering and marketing tradeoffs made for a single device, by a  
single company.

Having said all that, the iPad could possibly function as a  
replacement for my media player, but nothing more.  I'm not sure I  
want to give up the portability of my iPod.

-Jim