Gadgets, shiny and most often expensive little doodads that kick people in the face with their awesomeness and cause strife between angsty teenagers and their "just squeaking by" parents. For some people the latest release of a gadget means improved response, better software, and more functionality. For others it's simply a way to say "look how great I am, and how poorly I manage my finances". For those of you in the former, I applaud you. For those in the latter, leave now or I can't be held responsible for any realizations of personal worthlessness you may feel.

I have no idea how much money people spend per year on Treos, Blackberrys, and now the ever metro-sexual Iphone, but my guess is that it's a freaking lot. For the sake of argument we'll say it's a 400 Trillion dollar (and change!) industry. I guess this isn't a bad thing, it's America after all, and business is business. My only gripe would have to be against those who shell out the big bucks on "internet communication devices" and have absolutely no real need to have one besides the pressing urge to listen to emo-screamer music and download stuff while sitting on a bus. Actually, I guess I have two gripes, because I do not terribly love those who have no idea how to use their own gadgets beyond the aforementioned playing of emo music and downloading stuff.

Send and receive email from my company exchange server? No thanks, that’s too complicated to setup.

Get RSS feeds from my favorite website about crap I like? No sir, not my style.

Stand around talking loudly on my $600 phone in public places so people turn and see how awesome my super-expensive phone is and automatically assume that since I have one I too must be awesome? Now that’s just my game, no fancy-schmancy buttons or “click here” crap for me to deal with there.

I think I should point out that I like Treos and such; I think they’re very useful to SOME people. These people are what I call “people who have important jobs and need to manage their crap”. These days most of these people are ISSUED a Treo or Blackberry in order to manage their affairs (they don’t issue Iphones because of their inherent Mac-related stupidity and uselessness, more on that in another rant).  If you are issued such a device the likelihood that you will actually make good use of it is substantially higher, not necessarily absolute, but higher. If you ran out and bought such a device and then had to ask your brother-in-law who works “with computers” how to use it, not just how to set it up, how to USE it, then chances are you fail at technology, possibly at life, and will likely find yourself only using your $600 internet communication device as a very cumbersome cell phone that plays MP3s. Oh, by the way, my $50 cell phone plays MP3s just fine.