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This is the Modem World: Digital junk food

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

Fast payday loans For Every One

I’m hanging out in Atlanta right now, getting ready to speak at Digital Summit 2013 about things you’re probably not terribly interested in. Most importantly, I’m sitting at a bar and just ordered what looks to be a monster of a burger called the “Hot Mess” at a place called Park Bar near my hotel. Despite my disdain for online review sites, it was either this via Yelp or the hotel bar and, well, I find hotel bars depressing.

It’s also pretty clear that the only reason I ordered the Hot Mess is because my wife isn’t here to give me a hard time about it. No, I’m not a kept man, but I respect her knowledge of health and try to let her guide me most of the time. But when I’m on the road, I sometimes let all bets fall to the floor so that daddy can dig into a burger uninterrupted.

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This is the Modem World: Why don’t I crash?

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Author: Heather Brown

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

DNP This is the Modem World TKTKTK

My first computer was a Commodore VIC-20. It raged with 3.5K of RAM, a high-speed cassette deck, and built-in BASIC. I used to copy game programs string-by-string from the back of COMPUTE! magazine — tens of thousands of lines of code — and small errors were not an option. One syntax error and the program wouldn’t work. When I did make those errors, I’d go back, line by line, and check for differences. There was nothing — at the time — more annoying than seeing hours of code crash because of one bad POKE statement.

That digital fastidiousness has stuck with me since. I keep all my computers’ files in order, keep operating systems updated, backup constantly to a remote storage device and quickly go after a machine that’s behaving strangely. The net result, and I may be tempting fate, is that I have never had a computer completely fail in the thirty years I’ve been using them.

Filed under: Misc

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This is the Modem World: Nothing is new. It’s been done before.

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Author: Randy Miller

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

It’s funny how things come back around. When I was growing up in the ’80s, music was looking back at the ’50s and ’60s and re-creating it into some of the best bands the world has seen. Paul Weller wouldn’t have become the songwriter he is had he not grown up on the Beatles. Likewise, Paul McCartney wouldn’t have become the genius that he is had he not been raised on Little Richard. And now, bands are looking back at the ’80s and re-doing that explosive era – with both good and bad results that I will not go into here lest I make new enemies.

Culture is cyclical, and we’re beginning to see that technology is bound to follow that same rinse-and-repeat formula.

Filed under: Misc

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This is the Modem World: When tech can’t save us from road rage

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Author: Jesus Sargent

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

So I’m driving house the various other evening after a decent day of work, expecting a little run, some supper and maybe a motion picture. Taking my regular north-south course along Crescent Heights, I listen to Tame Impala to soothe the nerves and get in an additional mindset.

I’m at one of those intersections through which 2 lanes become one because of a parked vehicle in the right lane ahead. I, being in the right lane, gun it a bit at the beginning in order to get some distance from the man on my left.

He’s having none of this, apparently.

Ends up my vehicle is faster, though, and I edge him out. I see him wave his arms frantically, shaking them and then applauding.

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This is the Modem World: When tech can’t save us from road rage

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Author: Jesus Sargent

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

So I’m driving home the other night after a decent day of work, looking forward to a little run, some dinner and maybe a movie. Taking my normal north-south route along Crescent Heights, I listen to Tame Impala to calm the nerves and enter another mental state.

I’m at one of those intersections in which two lanes become one because of a parked car in the right lane ahead. I, being in the right lane, gun it a bit at the start in order to get some distance from the guy on my left.

He’s having none of this, apparently.

Turns out my car is faster, though, and I edge him out. I see him wave his arms frantically, shaking them and then applauding.

Filed under: Transportation

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This is the Modem World: Nerds in rabbit holes

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Author: Charity Woods

Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column committed to checking out the culture of consumer innovation.

I have many interests: mountain cycling, martial arts, computer game, running, reading, cooking and horror films. For each one of these, there is an internet rabbit hole so deep, so filled with information and compatriots that it’s a miracle I ever in fact follow up on them. Ask yourself this: Do you do exactly what you state you do online?

The web is great at allowing people to nerd out on their certain interests. While it serves up information and media like a champ, numerous of us invest our time deep-diving into whatever rabbit hole interests us. When we nerd out about technology right here at Engadget, for circumstances, we’re getting a double dose: reading about innovation in a tech environment. It’s a gorgeous thing; it’s addicting and we forget truth while we’re going deep. We could possibly be in a bar, at residence, at the workplace– wherever it is, we lose sense of our environment.

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This is the Modem World: Nerds in rabbit holes

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Author: Jack Schmidt

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

I have many interests: mountain biking, martial arts, video games, running, reading, cooking and horror movies. For each one of these, there is an internet rabbit hole so deep, so full of information and compatriots that it’s a miracle I ever actually follow through on them. Ask yourself this: Do you do what you say you do online?

The internet is great at allowing people to nerd out on their particular interests. While it serves up news and media like a champ, many of us spend our time deep-diving into whatever rabbit hole interests us. When we nerd out about technology here at Engadget, for instance, we’re getting a double dose: reading about technology in a tech environment. It’s a beautiful thing; it’s addictive and we lose sight of reality while we’re going deep. We could be in a bar, at home, at the office — wherever it is, we lose sense of our environment.

Filed under: Misc

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This is the Modem World: The internet may be killing cash

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Author: Angela Chin

Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem Globe, a column committed to discovering the culture of customer innovation.

We prayer money. It can be exchanged for life-sustaining things, makes us powerful and drives us to make brand-new things. It likewise drives us to do some really weird stuff, but that’s a topic for another day and place. You may not acquiesce the altar of the dollar, however you certainly recognize the should have some in order to make it through.

While we love money as a culture, its time could be restricted as a currency, and the web might be to blame. Money wasn’t constantly king. Before we traded money, we exchanged gold, cows, clamshells, rice, copper, tea leaves and even bat guano. At some point in those currencies’ lives, people identified that there were other things worth more and proceeded to trade those.

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This is the Modem World: The dark side of Google Glass

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem Globe, a column devoted to exploring the culture of customer innovation.

I desire to be excited about Google Glass– I truly do. I saw Robocop as a kid and dreamed that, one day, I too could possibly walk around with a HUD that would feed me information standing by, receive messages and record the world around me.

However now that years have actually passed and I have actually experienced mankind prayer the smartphone, make common voice-controlled navigation and ideal self-mounted, POV digital video cameras, I’m not so sure that Google Glass is visiting benefit us as a society. There is a dark side to what seems a fantastic coming together of complementary modern technology, and I’m here to poop this party.Com ments

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This is the Modem World: Bring It On, Sony. Please.

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Author: JohnnyBells

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

The Wii U launch sort of came and went, didn’t it? I mean, it’s a nice console, but it certainly didn’t cause any major waves. In fact, Nintendo only sold 57,000 units in January. For those who don’t track game console sales numbers — and why would you — that’s bad. Very bad.

The Wii U, at least so far, has underwhelmed consumers. There isn’t a killer application just yet, and despite some interesting innovation with the touchscreen controller, no one is sitting in his living room, staring at an empty space in his entertainment rack, thinking, “You know what I need? A Wii U.”

And now we’re all waiting so see what Sony does with the PlayStation 4. Rumors are that they’ll do what Sony always does: Pack a ton of technology into a package that will be expensive — but cost less than it should — in order to get early adopters on board. It’s actually possible that by the time this column is posted, Sony will have already released details about its upcoming hardware and you’re too busy oohing and ahhing about frame rates and visual controllers.

I hope so. It’s clear that we need new hardware. We’re desperate for something amazing. We need a new hardware war, something to get us fanboys off our heels. Faint rumors about Microsoft’s next console, images of possible new PS4 controllers and buzz about anti-DRM features have me interested, but I’m not getting the sense that people are bouncing around message boards, gritting their teeth and hungry to get their hands on a new console this year.

Perhaps it’s because the last generation of hardware is still quite serviceable. I still use my PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on a regular basis. The PS3 is my go-to Blu-ray player and I’ve been grinding my way through Ni no Kuni. The Xbox 360 does my Netflix and media playback duties and is also my choice when it comes to playing shooters given Live’s solid performance despite throngs of screaming fools.

At this point in the previous hardware generation, I was more than ready for new hardware. Shadow of the Colossus was dragging the PS2 to its limits. I wished at the time that I was playing it on more powerful hardware. Meanwhile, the giant Xbox was clearly ready for better networking features in order to do all Microsoft wanted to do with Live, and who didn’t want a prettier Halo? Meanwhile, the GameCube desperately needed to be replaced by something more innovative and competitive.

All three companies delivered. The powerful PS3 is still the best Blu-ray player on the market, Xbox Live is the best gaming network outside of Steam and the Wii remains an excellent party device.

I’m worried, though, that this next generation will just be more of the same. The PS4 certainly sounds powerful, but what can it possibly do that will blow our socks off? There isn’t a new optical format to get excited about. The new Xbox will most likely also be a powerhouse, but instead we’re hearing more about how Microsoft could be appeasing publishers with some strict anti-DRM measures. We all saw what Nintendo did: Innovate a little, but keep the Wii brand name and deliver a better — but similar — experience.

In short, these are probably going to be the most conservative game console updates we’ve seen yet. We’ll hear a lot about applications, digital downloads and better performance. We’ll have a hard time telling the difference between a game console and a set-top box. But what we’ll be left with might be underwhelming, and that’s going to be disappointing. Let me be clear: I hope I am wrong.

Maybe it’ll all be in the apps and the way they change the way we consume games and media. Maybe the new devices from Sony and Microsoft will allow us all to finally say goodbye to cable companies. Maybe we’ll never have to rent a Blu-ray disc from Redbox again.

Or maybe it’ll just be more of the same. Here’s hoping it won’t be. C’mon, Sony. C’mon, Microsoft. Get crazy.

Joshua Fruhlinger is the former Editorial Director for Engadget and current contributor to both Engadget and the Wall Street Journal. You can find him on Twitter at @fruhlinger.

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Posts Tagged ‘modem’

This is the Modem World: Digital junk food

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