Technology, 2nd Edition

We are pleased to announce that, in addition to our very new (_{and very pretty}) MacBook, we have acquired another piece of technology of late. The story of the iPhone named Ian and his untimely demise is a sad and sordid one, and we are loathe to bring it up again, except to put this other new technology in context.

Yes, we are finally (_{at long, long last}) in the possession of a new, functioning (_{it seems a touch superfluous to describe technologies as functioning -one would naturally assume an object to be capable of the task it is designed and marketed to perform- but, in fact, recent interaction with a variety of different technologies- in various states of functionality- proves otherwise}) smartphone device. After Ian's exit, (_{and following a very short, horrific period with no phone whatsoever- we assure you, it was as terrifying as it sounds}) we found our way to a phone that was intended to be ours for a few days, a week at best. The phone had been used very little, and appeared on first inspection, to be a sufficient, short-term stand in for the replacement smartphone to come. (_{we have connections with people with connections})

What was intended to be a few days ultimately stretched to almost three months. What first appeared to be a fully functioning (_{if unspectacular}) replacement revealed itself as highly eccentric, painfully outdated and could only be described as 'functioning' on the technicality that it had an on/off function. It was a debacle in the truest sense of the word.

Once our connection finally got the go-ahead on our replacement, we were faced with the challenge of picking a device. We were of course familiar with the iPhone 3GS, and were pleased with it's performance, but the Motorola Atrix and the HTC Inspire had both garnered a fair share of praise in recent weeks. And of course, the iPhone 4 was also available. We played with all of them, weighed the options, and are pleased to announce our newest device:


_{Meet Jackson.}

We decided that we were not quite ready to give up on the 3GS. Switching to a Droid phone would have required significantly more patience than we think appropriate, given the situation. The iPhone 4 has much the same user experience as the 3GS, and if something where to happen to this new device, we would feel particularly awful if it were a 4 (_{we would still feel bad if problems befell our Jackson, but we find this to be a matter of degrees}).

It is our fervent hope that this concludes the technological reports on Must Have This Blog. While we do like to have (_functioning) technologies, we prefer not to dwell on those things, spending the time instead on other topics we find more interesting. In that light, we are excited to announce an upcoming trip in the near future to a major American social event. More to come in the coming days...

Must Have This: Poll

We must, first and foremost, apologize for our less than regular attention to this blog in the past few days. A number of large, schedule-altering changes occurred in very short order and, combined, presented us with very little time and energy to do much other than those particular obligations and sleep. We express our gratitude with your patience.

Another major event of the last few days (aside from, say, President Obama's State of the Union address (go here for the complete speech with some marvelous graphics to illustrate the President's points) on Tuesday) was the unfortunate demise of our device, a mostly-reliable but occasionally belligerent iPhone by the name of Ian.

Whilst watching the State of the Union, we set Ian on the arm of the sofa upon which we were sitting (and eating pizza and drinking beer, we'll have you know- we do appreciate the simple pleasures). Unfortunately for Ian, we tend to fidgit on occasion, and on such an occasion, our hand brushed against said arm of said sofa. Or rather, the device sitting on the arm of said sofa. Down, down went Ian where it crashed into the very cold, very hard tile floor.

Now at this point, we should mention that, while we do generally avoid throwing them, phones in our possession are, shall we say, well used. We take our phone everywhere- gym, work, bars, concerts, markets, you name it- and as a natural result, they occasionally get dropped. Occasionally. As in, not frequently.

So when Ian quite veritably leapt off the sofa, we were irritated, but unconcerned. Until we picked it up and flipped it over. Spidering across the touch-screen surface was a huge crack. Splinters of the surface had come out and the technologic guts of the thing were visible beneath. The device still had power, but when a button was pressed, the screen went white. Ian was, essentially, in a coma after it's swan dive. (We would love to offer a picture of the damage- something sensational that we would encourage you to shield from children and those faint of heart- but unfortunately, Ian was our sole picture taking device)

And now, we are left sans technology. When we first were faced with this fact, we felt more shock than anything else. We were having a very hard time comprehending life without a smartphone.. But as the time passed and we began to realize all of the functions Ian had fulfilled, we became quite depressed.

Shaking ourself out of the depression was difficult (requiring a good dose of the Scissor Sisters and a cardio machine) but we managed some how. And now, our attention has turned to the future. More specifically, to Ian's replacement.

We must find a new device. We were pleased enough with the iphone, but the new models are so expensive, and we have no need/desire to extend our contract for another 2 years, putting it's termination sometime in the 2020's.

What should we get? What should we try? We look to you, our readers, for inspiration and guidance. We have limited knowledge of matters technological, and would love input from as many as have opinions.

We thank you in advance, and will return to our regularly-semi-scheduled posts of fantastic Must Haves shortly.