INNOVATION

Sometimes humanity’s innovative advancements amaze me. I marvel at the amazing things that handheld devices or machines or apparatuses can achieve. You need only take a step back and tune out the critical complaints about signal attenuation issues, or how a camera lens isn’t sharp enough at certain ISO levels, or how a certain car doesn’t make the grade on MPG, or whatever and just appreciate the creation for its capabilities to realize how much we have achieved as a race.

Three particular innovations have been on my “mind grapes” lately. Bikes, cameras, and mobile phones.

Sometimes I wonder if I get carried away in my marveling (e.g. I dreamt about buying an expensive DSLR camera last night) and if it’s inappropriate to consider the creations of man’s hands with such awe and respect. Should I renounce manmade innovations and modern innovations and spend my energy reading, or conversing, or contemplating nature? I say no. While there is always the risk of becoming too extreme in my affection for innovations, on balance most of these items, and particularly the 3 listed above, if anything help to accentuate and facilitate these more virtuous acts. I’ll spare you specific examples of how this is the case.

Bike
With bikes, I’m not really sure why I’ve been so impressed with them. I have been riding my bike a lot more lately I guess and one day I just realized that they are really great. My bike enables me to use native energy and inputs to get from one place to another. It helps me to slow life down (relative to the car) and appreciate my surroundings and be more aware of the sun and wind and rain. Yet it doesn’t force me to slow life down so much (see walking: boring) that I get hot and bothered, and frustrated at the slow speed.

I own the Specialized Crosstrail which you can get for like $500. It’s a hybrid which means it has shocks on the front wheels and it seats you more erect than you would be on a road bike. But it also has road bike features and can go faster than a mountain bike on pavement and is good for commuting. If you live in an area where work is relatively close and the city has set up bike paths or there are trails nearby then I would definitely recommend getting a decent bike.

Camera
My super slim Sony Cybershot T7 fell out of my pocket and died on me on a recent trip to Israel. I was a bit sad but I like to reflect more on the good times we had together. R.I.P. T7, or at least until I sell you for parts on ebay. We had a good run but now I’m pretty excited as I shop for a new camera. Do I go with a big DSLR and risk looking like a dweeb when I carry it around my neck? Do I go with a more compact camera and sacrifice those really cool action shots? We’re expecting a girl in October and I want to be well equipped to capture the moments. I saw this picture the other day on wsj.com and it got me thinking, how do I manage to get a picture like that?

I’ve been doing some research and I’m leaning towards the Canon Powershot S90 ($350) since it got very high marks on cnet.com and it was recommended by Ken Rockwell as “The World’s Best Digital Pocket Camera.” If I don’t go with that one I might go with the Nikon D5000 DSLR ($650). One other question I have is should I be worried about buying a refurbished camera?

Whatever I decide, I’m glad to live in a time when cameras are as available as they are and are by and large all capable of capturing powerful, memorable, emotional images that can be enjoyed for years to come. I just need to learn how to take such pictures…

Mobile Phone
Coming from a guy who didn’t own his first mobile phone until February 19, 2005 as a senior in college, I am a big proponent of owning a high quality cell phone. I am also a big proponent of not taking on fixed monthly bills when you haven’t first satisfied the more primary concerns: rent, food, gas, etc., which is why I don’t see the previous sentence as inconsistent or ironic. I recently paid $20 or so for a prepaid in Guatemala with a couple hundred minutes and then threw the phone away when the trip was over. Who would have ever thought a cellular phone would be so expendable?

After owning the very reliable Sanyo MM-8300 - red (Sprint) for about 2 years I upgraded to the iPhone when it first came out. I loved it so much that I didn’t even care that they overcharged me by like $200 when they first sold it—but I didn’t complain when they gave me a $200 certificate either. Since then I’ve upgraded a time or two and now own the iPhone 4. Of all the innovations I am amazed by, this one takes the cake. The iPhone is not only a product of creative genius it is also a source and a platform for it thanks to the countless apps and open software developer kits so that all can contribute. The designers at Apple may be a bit eccentric and arrogant or whatever but the fusion of technologies both digital (phone, computer, camera, iPod, compass, voice recorder, and on and on) and analog (bullet proof glass, touch screen with heat and tactile sensors, smart antenna, retina display, etc.) is a modern day masterpiece. I have had little or no reception issues with my iPhone 4 and whatever problems it may have are vastly outweighed by the conveniences it offers.

Here are some reasons why you must own an iPhone (budget permitting):

• iBooks (as well as the Gospel Library app) paired with the retina display resolution is quite good and I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I have enjoyed reading on the iPhone as a sort of handheld kindle.
• You’ll always have a high quality camera and an HD video recorder in your pocket.
• You can fill all your down time with either entertainment (card games, web browsing, social media, podcasts and other multimedia, etc.) or something productive (read books, scriptures, write emails, language training, etc.).
• The Voice Command function has proved to be very useful as I’ve learned to wield it to make calls and play specific music while it stays in my pocket (great for biking or running or for wearing skinny jeans).
• It doubles as a mirror.
• It’s just a fun experience and it enriches life.

If humanity stretches roughly from 3000 BC to 2000 AD it’s pretty fascinating to think that these 3 innovations (bikes, cameras, and mobile phones) didn’t show up until early 1800’s, early 1800’s, and late 1900’s, respectively.
Of all the eras I could have been born in, I’m glad I was born in an era where I can own a bike, camera, and iPhone.