Luke Martin’s blog

Like most, I have a hard time not fantasizing about the gadget a la mode. Partly out of stubbornness, partly out of budgetary prudence, I'm trying to get by with old technology. The problem is that I'm not sure my quest will work.

Our home computer blew up about a month ago. (Ironically, it's the last remnant of my Enron days. All employees got given a computer about a year before the company itself blew up. The computer had to eventually follow the same path.) I was looking at a Macbook, an iMac, even figuring whether we could get by with just an iTouch and our home wireless network. And then I got to the point where it was hard to justify the added Mac surcharge when the computer would primarily be used for Sheri's email, the kids' web browsing (americangirl.com, anyone?), uploading photos, and being the host for our iTunes library. So I started looking at less expensive desktop and laptops. Even then it was getting hard to justify, particularly when I saw the couple of dozen old PCs at my work that they were planning on disposing of. I officially became the disposee and we're now the proud owner of brand new 10-year-old Dell Pentium III with 384k (or is it 386? -- devil's in the details) of RAM. But it does have an 80G hard drive, which is fine for all our music and probably enough for all our photos too.

To add to my retro wardrobe, I've been avoiding getting a Blackberry, even with my work paying for it. I'm happy with my little kRazr, keep on top of my emails thanks to my laptop morning and night, though knew that I needed something for my Outlook calendar and my tasks. Back to the IT rubbish heap I went. And I found this perfect iPaq h3955 (complete with solitaire!). I can continue shoving my phone in my pocket and just tossing the iPaq into my bag.

But, things have proven to be not quite as simple as planned. That glorious Dell? Keeps dropping its wireless connection and the hard drive sound like there are pieces of glass grinding in it. That iPaq? As of today, my calendar items on the PDA are off by an hour, thanks to a Daylight Savings Time glitch, and the patches I've tried to install don't work.

Oh, one old technology that's working for me perfectly -- my moleskine journal. I've been posting little online anywhere because I'm simply happy scribbling away old school. But I'm sure that someone's creating a Facebook moleskine widget that instantly tracks my musings in real time and keeps everyone in my network up-to-date on my personal life.

Yes, I know, I should be finishing up piano lessons for two of them and putting the other two to bed right now but, instead, I'm fiddling around here on Vox. I guess this is a networking site sans the steroids of facebook. A little quieter, a little more difficult to navigate. But no vampires or werewolves, which is a very good thing. (But, still makes me miss the old o.net days.) I've got exactly 13 minutes before Sheri gets back from yoga, so I better wrap up the chaos. Can I have all four in bed in 13 minutes. 12 now. Ack, and I forgot to read to them. I'll blame it on... oh yeah, an important phone call from my mother.