I like the idea of iCloud, since I use virtually no gadgets
that aren’t Apple, aside from a Kindle Fire that has proven relatively
disappointing. The problem with iCloud is setting up everything so that it actually
works. I don’t want it for all that much, just coordinating a handful of
documents (I already have all my music stored on Amazon), but there’s so much
turning this on and that on, the main problem being the computer I’m at most of
the time, the one at the DJ, which is the one that is the most locked down.
It’s only recently that we’ve been able to use basic Apple apps, and only today
when I finally got iCloud working correctly. It made me wish I had a shorter
password, if nothing else. Anyhow, it looks like it’s working now.
This is in aid of a general reality, that the corporate
world has become less and less interested in proprietary technology over the
last few decades, for a couple of reasons. Chief among these is the combined
facts that, first, standard apps have all the inherent benefits of being the
standard (anyone you hire probably already knows them, they don't require much support, and the user base is so
vast that what you don’t know you can find out in two seconds), and second,
standard apps are cheaper than rolling your own. Once upon a time, if you
wanted to do something, rolling your own was probably your only choice. But
nowadays standard word processing and database management and number
manipulation are everyone’s technical lingua franca. So here’s today's message
for the young and restless: master Word and Excel. Now. If you aren’t a whiz at
these two programs, you will lose out to those who are. Of course, this is
probably so obvious and unnecessary to point out, that you probably can’t
imagine why I’d even mention it. Except it’s not. Why someone would create a
document (e.g., write a case) and not spell check it is beyond my
understanding. Or use basic formatting tools. Then again, I also believe that
the ability to knock off the odd time-saving macro in an Office app is a
game-changer, but some versions of Office don’t allow you to create macros on
the fly anymore. Jeesh. It’s odd to see these programs suddenly dumb down when
their general trajectory has been to keep adding features beyond anyone's practical use limit. Why subtract one? Oh,
well. Different issue.
Anyhow, that’s the state of the business world these days. I
am, admittedly, in publishing, and probably have marginally higher evaluation
standards for communication with potential employees, but if you can’t
demonstrate to me the ability not merely to write clearly but to present that
writing competently, you’re on your own. Just sayin’.
Back to that Kindle Fire. Not the $50 one, but the one
before it. I thought I’d like a new e-book reader, but instead of getting the
latest Kindle I thought I’d try something with more functionality. It weighs
more than my cat, despite the fact that it’s the size of a mass market
paperback, which is annoying. And honestly, the basic functionality (especially
Bluetooth, which is problematic in the wild anyhow) isn’t so hot. Battery life
is marginal, and the screen is uncleanable. It was a waste of money, I think.
Lately it’s become the default input device for my Echo, which is sort of
redundant, given that the Echo is theoretically self-contained, but it does at
least give me a controller for Spotify content. I do like the Echo, by the way,
although it’s the kind of gadget that, if you don’t have it, you don’t need it,
but if you do have it, you like showing it off to people. Alexa, when was
Albert Einstein born? People are impressed by that sort of thing. Hell, I’m impressed
by that sort of thing. If I want to ask Siri that same question, I actually
have to press the button on my iPhone. As if I have all that time to spare.
Off tomorrow to the home of the Lexwegians, to hear tales of
brave travel through the Turkish empire and the like. I’ll see you (or someone
who looks just like you) there.
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