twitter

Remember when we talked about social media on the way back from Zeitgeist? I am still convinced that all this social network craze will simply blow over. Not like a bursting bubble, more like drying up.

Just as it starts with smart phones. I know engineers who've had them for many years, who certainly know what kind of power theses things have and how to harness that. Yet now the first ones are at a point where they want to go back to a phone-phone.

Me, I am happily alive without a Twitter or Facebook account. Never had one. Mankind does not need this stuff.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Yeah, those computer things are just another fad.

A good thing the mayor of SF did back flips to keep Twitter from leaving town. ;-)

I second that. Had an Ipad. Sits on shelf unused. Battery bad. Had an Iphone. Sits on shelf, disconnected ATT account. Battery bad. I have 27 Imac. They did recall on HD. Good machine. Very useful for watching video.

I don't like Facebook. Linkedin seems useful. Same for Twitter. I'm trying to keep an open mind. These social sites seem moronic and bad.

ugh.

If you had kids you'd realize that it's part of their being now. They don't lose touch with friends from four schools and two moves ago unless they *want* to lose touch. Things will never be the same (barring some massive catastrophe that disables the interwebs).

--sp

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward" 
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com 
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

or they are enslaved by someone with even mediocre intelligence.

Sure, but what are the results? I see that the majority of "modern" kids is not playing outdoors anymore. No bicycling or kicking soccer balls in the street like we did. There are 10-year olds who are, seen from a medical perspective, morbidly obese and out of shape.

Then, they are very much dependent on others and that's usually their parents. When young the "smart" phone or whatever told them what to do. When older they can't make decisions and aren't used to taking risks and their consequences. Many live at home when they are 25 or even older. Mom washes their clothes, dad fixes their cars. Heck, some don't even have a car.

For healthy people they will be, or already are. Because of my job I am always in the Internet. Have to be. Yet sometimes when I can eke out

2-3h I push the hibernate buttons and the whole office shuts down, don a helmet and hop either on my road bike or the mountain bike. The bikes, helmet, water bottle, hydration pack, shoes are always ready within five seconds walking distance from where I am sitting right now. The only tech gadget I have is a Nokia 2115i (bare bones phone-phone), just in case I crash hard somewhere.

When I face a tough situation such as a difficult design I've never had before, there is nothing more liberating than to muscle up a wilderness trail, sit on a rock on top of a hill with a grand view and think about possible solution. Totally low tech, even if I had a smart phone or tablet there'd be no 3G signal or whatever access. All I've got in my backpack is paper and a pencil. It's all I need.

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Facebook and Myspace helped me track down people I hadn't seen in a decade or longer. I had no luck with search engines after years of trying.

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to 
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

I've climbed my share of mountain peaks and found kids doing instagrams from on top of the peak, then they tweet about it. Stupid in my opinion, but it doesn't mean that social implies you sit on your ass. In fact, most social is mobile.

Then you have those wankers with gopros on their head as they destroy the trails with mountain bikes. Who the hell watches gopro mountain biking video on youtube is beyond me.

Still Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat whatever can go to the dustbin of history as far as I am concerned. I'm nearly over youtube. I typically watch clips of professional video, not the cat stuff. Example is that video from the TV chopper of those cops chasing a dog in Sacramento.

You're an obsolete dinosaur, this social media stuff is still embryonic, yo u ain't seen nothing yet. Even the drama queen criminals and lunatics are m aking facebook posts in the very commission of their crimes and misdeeds. T hen there is no shortage of sub-intelligent humanoids who document their vi sit to a fast food restaurant, comment on the long lines, crowds, traffic, you name it...some kind of obsession with thinking out loud.

Actually they are, the "PCs" are being abandoned for tablets or whatever those minimal things are that connect to the web, display video and multimedia, and store unbelievably huge amounts of data.

Why don't you once, just once, say something friendly, or funny, or positive?

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

To be honest, I don't need to see anything more.

Yeah, I know. Social media has turned lots of people who used to be normal into hardcore narcissists.

Unfortunately that has already resulted in lasting damage to society. I've never seen as many obese kids as these days. Because of the exodus from California most of my clients are now east. So I have to get up early but that opens up time to do occasional mountain biking later in the afternoon. Many years ago there'd be lots of kids out there on self-made BMX tracks. I am too old for riding those plus my bike is an XC version, but I come by several while on my rides. Nowadays ... no kids riding there anymore. Not one.

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Those are mainly toys. It results in users becoming passive. Heck, you can't even do a decent simulation on them.

I would have become a later adopter of smart phones if they had decent GPS mapping capabilities. But the stuff quits working once you get out of range of a data-capable tower. Useless.

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

The GPS work just fine without network, just like any other GPS

you may have to pay a little for an app that can pre-downloaded maps if you want it for navigation

-Lasse

Yes, I'd want it for navigation out in the bush where there is often no cell connection. I know many who have tried, with apps and all that. It never worked well so they all had to carry a smart phone plus a Garmin.

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Youtube videos from amateurs are fantastic. I used to buy books to learn how to do stuff like replacing the rotors and brake pads in my wife's car or taping drywall.

Now, most likely, somebody has done a video, often with the exact thing you want to do, where they natter on about the mistakes they made and how to avoid them. All free. You just have to put up with the funny accents and the bad camera work and lighting. No problem. It's just wonderful, *especially* for physical things where seeing things move and fit together is important... hit with a hammer- how hard? Oh, that hard!

The exact companies involved and the form social media will take in the future is hard to predict- twitter, for example, could be dead in short order- but the concept and value proposition is sound, and they'll be around permanently, barring catastrophe.

It even lets you see patterns that were there all the time-- you'd never have found out that friend A knows friend B unless it happened to come up by chance.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

you can get Garmin for android phones

John Smith?

-Lasse

Fully agree. But lately most Youtube videos no longer start for me. I am on AT&T. Maybe one of those pay-to-play traffic volume spats?

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/