Great news for those who are struggling to save up for the latest ipad, Wii thing or Shoot You Really Dead computer game for their three year olds.
Hang on five minutes and they won’t want it any more. The one thing I find comforting about today’s technology is that it advances quicker than I can write about it. By the time I put pen to paper (metaphorically speaking obviously; even I’m not that much of a Luddite), it’s no longer an issue.
By the time the kids get to Game Station on January 5th with their Christmas vouchers, the Bloody War thing you didn’t want them to have has been consigned to the charity shops where you can get it for 50p if you’re that uncool. Which they’re not, of course. Crisis averted.
Technology today moves so fast that the revolutionary iphone 4 is already a bit passé, long before most people have finished saving up for one.
The next thing that will ‘absolutely transform the way you live’ makes the original, old-fashioned iphone look like a Neanderthal brick. Facebook on your phone? Old hat. This next generation will replace your credit cards, get you on the Tube and open your front door.
You think I’m joking. Apparently a tiny chip will be integrated into SIM cards issued by mobile networks and – wait for it - can be added to your existing phone. These providers will be able to lease space on the chip to other businesses like banks, travel agents or supermarkets.
Suddenly writing ‘Bit tired’ on your Facebook status while walking upstairs doesn’t seem quite so Bladerunner.
You’ll be able to sell blue chip shares or buy frozen chips at the local shop just by scanning your phone.
You’ll be able to sell blue chip shares or buy frozen chips at the local shop just by scanning your phone.
Fantastic. Can’t wait. But guess what? It’s taken me three weeks from receiving the press release about all this to get it online as ‘an area cable has become unplugged’.
The washing machine leaks and has decided it only washes at 30°. And I still can’t change the integral light bulb in my ceiling fan so my conservatory is only useful during daylight hours.
The farm shop down the road where I get my veg hasn’t even begun to accept cheques yet and they’ve almost been abolished.
I don’t want to piss on anyone’s parade, but maybe if we stuck with things for more than a few minutes, we might actually make them work properly before we bin them and move on to the next exciting development.
