It MUST Be Better!

I noticed something today. Nothing new. In fact it's been staring me in the face for quite a while, however I was missing a vital piece of the puzzle. One cogent thought that brought the whole situation into focus and sent me into a thought-stupor so great that the immediate area around me became a whirling vortex of unstable time-space energies. What thought you may ask? (Or may not ask, but for this exercise I'm going to assume you did). The thought was this; "If I fitted a camera to a potato, I'm fairly sure I could sell it...".

In this age it seems that it is a widely held belief that ANYTHING, no matter how small, useless, or mundane, can be made infinitely better with the simple addition of a camera. Mobile phones have cameras, hand-held gaming systems have cameras, even CAMERAS have cameras...However that may just be a coincidence. It seems these days you can market almost anything, even if it's otherwise exactly the same as the "last generation model", as a completely new product as long as you've somehow integrated a camera into it.

Are we so easily bedazzled? Or is it simply the flock mentality that tells us that because someone is selling it and calling it new, that it must be the next best thing and hence we must obtain it? Has our society has become so consumer driven that we allow ourselves to be 'tricked' into buying the newest, the shiniest, the most compact, even though in many occasions we already own something that has the same functions minus a superfluous one that we don't even need?

I understand that some would argue the point of convenience. And sure, having a camera built into your phone may be useful on a few occasions when you see something amazing and wouldn't otherwise have had a means to record it visually, but I don't understand how it has now become a staple component of technology. Phones I can sort of understand, in a "I can see how it would be useful to some people" kind of way, but why are they suddenly popping up everywhere? Why do you need a camera in an iPod for example? A device solely created for the enjoyment of music (and later video) does not need a camera built into it, be it still-frame or otherwise.

An average person of my generation will most likely have on them, at any given time, a mobile phone, an MP3 device of some sort, and possibly a hand-held gaming console (depending on available pocket/bag space and location/destination). If you narrow that down to specifically ANY mobile phone created in the last 3-4 years, a newer iPod and a Nintendo DSi, that person is now walking around carrying THREE cameras! Without having an actual camera on their person! WHY?!

The unfortunate truth is that until all technology eventually amalgamates into one device that does it all, which of course it is slowly deviating towards, we will be constantly bombarded by "New" products that are simply slightly different versions of things we already own. In the mean time I'll just be happy if my phone receives/distributes phone conversation and text messages, my MP3 player plays music, my games play games, and my camera takes pictures. Sure it means I have a particular device for any given circumstances, but until they create a Star Trek'esque Triquarter that does almost anything I don't see the point of updating every 6 months.


- For Sanity's Sake

New Beginnings

Yes. This is just another one of those blogs. One of millions scattered throughout the Internet, mostly ignored by the populace, but produced none-the-less out of peoples need to be heard above the din of life. Some write for the love of the written word, some for the passion of the subject matter, others write for the attention their pieces will bring them. We all write and create for a reason, mine is fairly simple; I write to cling to my remaining sanity and to express myself.

If you've stumbled upon this blog for whatever reason, or by whatever means, I thank you for having taken the time to read this far, and if you continue from this point I hope that what you find beyond will vindicate your decision to spend whatever time you do reading it, however it isn't written for you. It's written for my own piece of mind. Much of it may not make sense to the outside observer, and even more will probably be quite random, but if you manage to hold on tight, then you are more than welcome to come along for the ride.

Any of you that may have known me for any length of time will most likely be aware of my eclectic need to express myself creatively. I've written/created everything from poetry to song lyrics to a novel that I've been halfway through for over 3 years now, I even ran my own webcomic for a year until I ran out of time and energy to keep up with the update schedule. While the medium may change, the need for expression remains as constant as Paris Hilton's need to abuse small animals by stuffing them into accessory laden handbags and forcing her vacuous presence upon them. And thus this blog comes into being as a place for me to voice my cunningly crafted opinions and views on the world.

My current occupation is within the public sector, dealing with public transport, here in Australia. I am in a customer service position, on the front lines, dealing with the population at large in their never-ending quest to get from A to B, and sometimes to call me a C when the opportunity arises. This affords me with some unique and wonderful opportunities to view and analyze the world around me, and to be honest reality continues to confound me. Coming from a scientific background, with a very logical point of view and outlook on the world around me, I sometimes find it very difficult to understand exactly how other people live their lives. Mathematics/Science tends to deal in absolutes. If X occurs then Y will also occur, A + B = C, if you insist on dunking a cat in the bath you will be left with an agitated, furry harbinger of death etc etc. A logical series of events will lead to a logical conclusion. The unfortunate truth about the world, society and indeed reality at large is that it often isn't logical.

This of course leads me to the title and topic of this blog. Every day I am forced to interact with society, and attempt to clear away the layers of tasty human-flavoured cake to reveal the creamy sense-filled centre, and as a scrumptious play on words, my handle in this electronic wonderland also happens to be Paradox. Clever huh? I thought so.


- For sanity's sake