Finally shelled out money for a phone

In February, I bought a new phone after talking about it for some time. My then current phone was dropping calls, turning off at random and looking awfully shabby. Ordinarily these would not be good enough reasons to change my phone.

Infact, I have owned only 2 phones in my life before this one and the only reason I changed the first one was because I moved to the United States, well, and because I seemed to have misplaced it 1 month before the move. I had that phone for about 6 years. My policy with regards to cell phones has always been, aim for the cheapest and most durable. Camera phone? No need for that. Colored screen? What for? I didnt care much for polyphonic ringtones much less mp3 based ringtones. All my phone needs to do is to make and take calls and send text messages. And maybe also fit in my pocket.

But, despite all of this, for phone number 3, I ended up buying a T-mobile G1. This is by far the most expensive phone I have every bought. I got my previous phone for free and the one before that was probably quarter the cost of the G1, even in 1999 dollars.

The G1 has a camera, mp3 playback support, a touch screen, 3G internet, GPS and compass, accelerometer, bluetooth and wifi support. It has a maps application, a desktop, and it has a google search box on the desktop. I dont really consider this phone a phone at all, it is more like a pocket computer.

The other day, I took a walk with my new phone and it dawned on me, what it means to be constantly connected to the internet. If I was hungry, I could do a location search to see where I could go to eat and get turn by turn directions of how to get there. I could find a nice tree to sit under, turn on some good music and read the news or a book. If I wanted a particular song and didnt have it, I could go online, purchase and download it (almost, the G1 is limited to only being able to dl music over wifi). If I caught sight of some interesting fauna (I saw an aligator and a snake once), I could snap a photo and upload it to my favourite picture sharing service, picasa, flickr, facebook or even twitter. This I gather is the motivating factor behind me finally becoming an semi-early adopter. The value-add and the potential disruption of life as we know it is profound, interesting and even sometimes disturbing.

Of course, not everyone sees owning such a powerful device worth the money. I can understand that, I was in a similar position for many years. Many people worry that being always connected to the net is a bad thing. I agree! and I also disagree! What I agree with, is that it is disruptive but like it or not, it is the emergent trend, which I think will continue to emerge and grow. The prices will come down, it will get more secure. Being constantly connected to the net, I believe will become second nature in a future world. It's a bad thing and its a great thing. I would love to get into more specifics about what I mean by this, but that will require multiple blog posts. I may just spell out my thoughts as time goes by.

I think some of the hottest new technologies are the location based (tom-tom), touch based(microsoft surface), space based applications (Wii). I think that the combination of these technologies and others will lead to increasingly natural form factors. Think no more sitting down, hunkered over a keyboard, peering at a computer screen. I can't wait to get completely free of the computer as we know it. It has done its time.

Buying the G1, for me was like a dream come true. To me it represents the beginning of the kind of technology I was excited about when I was aged 8. This is the future I envisioned I would one day be able to see.

First mobile post

Well, here goes. I am blogging for the first time from my phone. I didn't realise that it would be this easy. Apparently, all I have to do is send an email to go@blogger.com and Voila! Here is to hopping this works as promised.

Celine Dion live

She drove all night, said Celine Dion as she stepped unto the stage last night at the Bank Atlantic Center in Surise, FL. There she was, right there, singing in her almost unmistakable flavor. "I drove all night", she sang, "To get to you". I imagine she said and will say the same thing at every location that she performs, but I truly believed that she was happy to be there singing specifically for this crowd, singing specifically for me.

My wife loves Celine Dion. When I first met my wife almost 10 years ago, she would play Celine Dion all day. And she knew so many of her songs word for word. She still does! As we walked through Sawgrass Mills last year and saw the posters announcing the concert, I was sure to make a mental note to purchase them as I figured my wife would be thrilled. And thrilled she was!

They say its a special thing when you can make a black women smile, well my wife was all smiles last night. Her face was glowing in a way that is still imprinted in my mind. I got my money's worth, not only from the concert experience, but even more importantly from the reaction that I got from my wife. She completed the entertainment package for me.

Not to say that Celine herself wasn't fantastic. Celine exceeded my expectations. At 41, she is still working that stage. Wow! She has incredible energy and even though the age is showing a bit in her face, that's about the only place that it shows, and just a little. Her voice is still superb! She is truly a spectacular performer.

I was struck with the sincerity of her performance. In between songs, she would talk with the crowd and tell us how happy she is to perform for us. She told us about when she opened the Bank Atlantic Center 10 years ago, and how much that meant to her. Of course, I am not that gullible to believe her just because she said it, but I admit I am inclined to, because of how she said it. She comes across as such a sincere individual. It could be clever acting, but I appreciated it none the less.

She did a number of her popular songs including "The Prayer" and of course "My Heart will go on". Her voice really does elevate you to a new place. The guy sitting to my wife's left, although looking like the tough type, broke down crying in the middle of one of her performances in french. For the rest of the concert his tough exterior had melted away and he was totally into the music.

Music is such a powerful medium. Last night I was reminded of how powerful it truly is. The amount of energy I had at the end of that concert was astounding to me. If she would have sang for another hour I would have been right there with her.

All the best for rest of your music career, Celine, you have definitely left your mark on our musical history and you continue to do so.