New iPad comes out tomorrow, maybe — hard to believe it’s only been a year. I still like the things, they just don’t quite work out for me at current size. I’m actually looking forward to hearing about something new with the Apple cloud service. Maybe they’ll be moving a little toward my grand idea, though I’m sure they don’t have the copyright issues solved yet.
I bought a paper book the other day and immediately lent it to Julie/Gaia. When it gets back I’m looking forward to reading it. Maybe I do like reading printed word a little better still — if only because I think it tends to make me slow down and enjoy it more.
The more I think about it, the less I actually want to own anything. I’d rather just pay by the use. Music, movies, TV shows, books. A subscription would work nearly as well or better — pay per use for minimal uses, then subscription for frequent use, like listening to music all day. But unlike Sirius, I’d like to listen to “my” music: items from a collection I’ve marked, or optionally suggestions based on that. Items I haven’t heard yet or haven’t listened to lately.
One of the benefits of a versatile engineer is that they can pick up any project — including one in an environment, language, or pattern they’re not familiar with — and “figure it out.” That’s useful to a company but doesn’t seem like good long-term business practice, since the project will tend to work faster, better, and cleaner if an “expert” is available instead, even just to direct the novice and answer the occasional question.