Fads We've Ignored

We aren't slugs - we mostly know what's new and hot in technology. There are lots of cool innovations out there that will serve the public's well being for generations to come (have you seen the little fan you can run off your computer's USB port? How cool!). However, there are lots of things, that for many different reasons, we feel compelled to ignore. Here's our list, and our opinions on why.

Facebook

Yes, we've heard about it - connect with friends, find loved ones you've lost, meet people you never knew, play cute little farm games. We get it - yeah! But we don't get why. You were going along with your daily life, and you suddenly had this urge to raise virtual cattle and find friends you didn't want to hold on to in the first place? Really? Your life was so hectic checking email that you found spending 13 hours a day checking Facebook status to be a better, less time-consuming option? We didn't think so, but you've fallen through the door, and now you're hooked - just like an addict, you can't put it down. Stop and step back. What were you doing before Facebook? I bet you were keeping in contact with people that matter in real time - face to face (face, facebook - see the irony?). The people that matter, you'll find time to see. Letting them see you after an 11-hour happy hour isn't sharing - that's embarrassing.

Google+

Ditto - new face, same game.

World of Warcraft

Life is full of petty arguments, backstabbing, and boardroom battles. Do we really need to go to war with people we don't even know for reasons completely fictitious, all from the security of our darkened basement? Open the shades, look around, and go do battle with the front lawn. It's productive, rejuvenating, and actually burns calories as opposed to your retinas.

Wi

Really, we have to stoop to this level to get kids to exercise? Are you such an unmotivational person that you can't convince your kid that a stick from the back yard is more exciting that bowling with an invisible ball on a lane that doesn't exist? Visit your library - they have books that will help you be more fun and more involved with your kids. And the memories will last longer than the one of them unwrapping that replacement remote.

Online Backup

While practical, it seems like such a shallow effort in relation to the data you're trying to preserve. You plug and unplug things all the time. You click for hours while trying to do battle with angry birds. Can't you manage to one after the other once a month in a productive manner? Plug in a thumbdrive, copy over your files (or better yet, write a simple script) and back up your own data. You don't know where it's going, you don't know who has access to it, and you don't know just how safe it is unless you do it yourself.

Tablet PCs

These are neat little toys, but not very productive. They just aren't there yet to be productive in the traditional sense (yes, you can check your Facebook status on them, but is that really a measure of something "productive"? See note above). They lack applications that desktops still require, they lack the power to do things that we still rely on desktops and servers to do, and they lack the durability that desktops offer, yet they cost just as much as a desktop. Watching a movie or checking your email while mobile is bad for your health, especially when curbs, cars and light poles come into play. Sit down and work, then get up and play - make things simple again.

Instant Coffee

We're no connoisseurs of fine coffee (we actually prefer Coca-Cola), but there is something just plain wrong about instant coffee. Sure it's quick. Sure it's simple. Sure it tastes almost the same. But that's not the point - it's not the same, so why would you settle? Would your future wife settle for an almost-diamond ring? Would a man suffering from heatstroke settle for almost-shade? Buy the real thing! You had to buy a hot pot to boil the water for the fake coffee - you could've bought a coffee maker for the same price, and gotten the real deal!