I'd like a calculator that plays music, please

Everything keeps getting more and more complex even at the same time as technology is meant to make our lives easier.

Compare the TV remote control you use today to the earliest ones you remember.  Today's remotes have enough buttons and functions to select, pause, rewind, fast forward, slow mo, super slo mo, record, mute, and probably a dozen more things I can't remember. And that is just for the TV itself.  

The latest in remote control technology, such as the Logitech Harmony One, can support up to 15 separate devices, 'making it easy to control even the most complex home entertainment systems'.

That's pretty cool, I guess.  I mean who really wants 15 separate remotes scattered about.  Let's not quibble over the details like what happens if the 'can control 15 different devices' remote malfunctions, or goes missing, or the dog chews it up and chaos ensures when you can't access your recorded TV shows, play tunes, or close the garage door. And is there anyone that actually has 15 separate devices that could stand remote controlling anyway?  No you can't count your kids/animals/in-laws in that reckoning.

But cynicism aside, we know that technological advances in consumer as well as enterprise technology generally do make our lives easier and more enjoyable even while introducing progressively more of a burden on our capacity to understand and adopt to them.

Having access to the controls of 15 different devices at once is truly fantastic but if all you do with that power and capability is tune into the latest installment in the misadventures of The Situation and Snooki, then the promise of the technology is largely wasted, and you likely overpaid to boot.

But the problem is that simpler is not always better. Having to get up off the sofa to change the TV channel was a royal pain, and arguments to my 9 year old to the contrary, it did not make us better people.  

As KD pointed out today on the HR Capitalist, more and better technology doesn't always deliver the kind of essential capability that the organization requires. The technologies certainly help us and the organization 'do' things better, more efficiently, etc, but we still need to know what things to do in the first place. 

The real innovation in remote technology won't just control more and more devices, it will help bubble the best shows up to the top of the list, and not just the ones I have watched in the past, but maybe the ones I could use to round out my overall game.

Once again, a post without a real point, but I can't take the time to sort one out.  I think my smartphone is finally charged back up and I need to get back to email, texting, Tweeting, reading the news, and watching a few YouTube videos.

As for the title of this post - it was inspired by the image on the left, proving that as far back as the 70s we wanted our gadgets to do more and more. 

Comments

[Michael Krupa]

Dude. The fact that I can play music (wireless) through my stereo from iTunes (via an Airport Express attached to the stereo) and control the entire thing from the the "Remote" App on my iPhone tells me that mobile rules. Oh by the way I have a calculator on my iPhone so I guess I do have have a calculator that plays music. How's that Blackberry working out for you by the way?

[Steve]

Mike - you rock man. I have to muddle along with the BB (at least for a while). We need to cook up something cool at HR Tech. Let's make some plans.

[rocks.benton]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful article which gives information about music.Here we found all information about the musice and entertainment. Thank you for this blog..
Excellent and nice blog

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[Christine Collins]

Download spotify at https://androidrub.com/en/spotify-premium/ to listen to the best songs in high quality.

[arman]

سفره‌های یکبار مصرف از هر نوعی که باشند بسیار پرکاربرد و محبوب هستند. استفاده از قیمت ظروف یکبار مصرف این سفره‌ها در سال‌های اخیر در میان ایرانیان بسیار رواج یافته است. کاربرد سفره یکبار مصرف بسیار زیاد است و از انواع آن‌ می‌توان در موارد مختلفی استفاده کرد. موارد استفاده سفره یکبار مصرف می‌تواند در مواردی مانند مجالس و مهمانی‌ها، منازل، برای غذا خوردن، پاک کردن مواد غذایی و… باشد.
کاربرد سفره یکبار مصرف
به طور کل سفره یکبار مصرف در موارد بسیاری کاربرد دارند. مانند: دانشجویان، کارمندان، خانم‌های خانه دار و شاغل و به طور کل تمام افرادی که نیاز به صرفه جویی در زمان دارند، استفاده از سفره‌های یکبار مصرف را به نوع دائمی سفره ترجیح می‌دهند.
در مهمانی‌هایی که پرجمعیت است، افراد استفاده از این سفره‌ها را به دلیل سهولت در جمع آوری ترجیح می‌دهند.
در انواع سفرها و پیک نیک‌ها استفاده از سفره یکبار مصرف راحت‌تر و بهداشتی‌تر است.
موارد استفاده سفره یکبار مصرف در رستوران‌ها و تالارها بسیار زیاد است؛ زیرا نیازی به تمیز کردن ندارند و باعث افزایش سهولت و سرعت کار می‌شوند.