Techie Life vs. Tequila

My barber is younger but unlike me he has been enjoying more his Tequila than a Techie Life.

After my trips last month to the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 in Las Vegas,  Nevada and the MACWORLD/iWorld Conference in San Francisco, California,  it looks like the interest to learn and make use of new gadgets  grew on him.

He already has a smartphone but has been seeing me with my iPad 2 not just in the barbershop but everywhere I go. He wants to know its features and uses as he also intends to buy one.

He offered me a bottle of Tequila to describe my chosen Techie Life.

My iPad 2 has a memory capacity of 64 GB (gigabytes) – the highest and most powerful among the iPad 2s. To appreciate this powerful and large capacity; if I put only eBooks/documents in the device, I could store more than 60 million pages of documents or eBooks. That’s the entire library of a school, college, or community.

But I do not do that. This is because I also download and store songs, videos, photos and applications to complete my personal library.

SONGS

As I write this article, I notice that I have 131 songs. I have downloaded or synced through ITunes with my MacBook Pro the songs of Frank Sinatra (Duets I & II), Tony Bennett, Julio Iglesias, Michael Buble, Harry Belafonte, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Of course, several albums of the Beatles are also stored and accessible. A new special album of budding young singer Jason Myles Goss is one that I play very often because it contains my favorite song, “Coffee in the Morning, Wine at Night”.  I also have varied versions from different artists of some Christmas songs like Jingle Bell Rock and Oh Holy Night and various interpretations of the U.S. National Anthem (like Marvin Gaye’s and his duet with his daughter), America the Beautiful and many more.

VIDEOS

I currently have 140 videos in my device.  They were mostly downloaded from You Tube, from TED, home movies taken from my video camera, from some selected TV shows and movies and some eHows and educational materials.

My iPad 2 has a built-in speaker, an audio player/recorder, a video player/recorder and 2 cameras that can take either still or moving pictures/videos. This means I can either listen and watch through the speaker and monitor or use an earphone/ear bud. I have several earphones but the most pleasing one with the most advanced sound technology for me is ClarityOne. I carry it with me.

PHOTOS

I have 152 photos and counting. They are mostly taken from my iPad 2 but some were downloaded from my MacBook that consist of family albums of special occasions.

I have special apps that could modify or improve the photos and edit and produce the videos.

APPLICATIONS

Currently in my device are 327 applications. I actually have more in my iTunes library but I decided to install only the said apps.

I have apps that allow me to store and access my contacts, calendars and my email messages.

Of course, my device has WiFi capability, which means that I can access the Internet anywhere there is a hot spot. In places where there are no hot spots, I subscribe to a data plan that still allows me to have Internet access. Safari is the built-in Internet browser of my iPad.

What this really means is that I can access the whole wide world.  Using search engines, I can find out any What, Where, Who, When, Why and How that are available in other computers and libraries in the world. It is about localizing global knowledge. I can easily transition from being an ignorant being to one that is learned and knowledgeable.

I have access to news in print, audio and video. I also blog and update my friends and relatives in real time, upload photos and videos also in real time.

My apps allow me to access Facebook and Twitter instantly and to communicate either with video or just plain audio with anybody anywhere for free via the Internet.

Offline, I have apps to take notes, to create documents either in word, spreadsheet, and presentation. I can do any of these either by writing using stylus, typing, touching the screen or even speaking or dictating.

I could convert documents into the iBook or eBook format. I could store, retrieve and search them speedily. I could create music regardless of quality.

I also have a software app that allows me through my iPad to access my other computers remotely.

Of course, I have embraced what Techies call the “Cloud”. Instead of storing my personal or business library of documents, photos, songs, videos and other files in an offline hard disk, I can now store them in the “Cloud” or online for easy retrieval through my device.

In my next columns, I will specify and describe these and more amazing apps that now occupy my Techie Life.

More apparent than real, their effects seem to becloud my vision of life. But this I am sure – the effect on my vision is not as “cloudy” as that of Tequila.