Help my device has Dissociative Identity Disorder

Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities or personalities (known as alter egos or alters), each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment. - Wikipedia


It appears that there are a lot of devices out in the world that need some psychiatric help.  Lately there all coming down with multiple personalities. From home appliances to mobile devices they all seem to have multiple personalities. 
Lets take a look at some of these devices.

The Playstation Phone is going to be primarily a gaming device, but its also a phone.  With the slue of Smartphones on the market, does Sony really believe that someone will want a portable gaming device and a phone built into the same device?  There was nothing wrong with the Sony PSP other than the fact that Nintendo was more dominant in the market.  Lets stick with either a really good gaming device or a better phone.


Apple is no stranger to the multiple purpose devices. The iPod was fine as a music player, but then it grew up to be a music player, camera (mostly for Facetime) Internet capable device, and with the help form Skype is a phone of sorts. The iPhone (as the name suggests) is a phone, with a camera, and a music player that is Internet capable. I don't think it does any one thing poorly and I can't think of anything else it should do, so as long as all of its personalities play nice together, these devices are probably the gold standard.

Then of course there is the three gaming systems form Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.  Each started off as great gaming systems in their own right.  But as time went on they gained Internet capability and other applications started creeping in that allowed them to do other tasks.  The biggest one is as a streaming movie player thanks to Netflix, but since they are Internet capable one can check the weather, read email and surf the net.  I haven't found the need to do anything other than play games and stream movies and they should just stick with that.


Another device that started off with only one function has also developed multiple personalities; the Internet capable television.  Here is a device that for decades did one thing really well.  It brought the world into people homes and was the center of entertainment. Now a new breed of televisions have come out that are Internet cable permitting Internet surfing while watch television.  Some even interrupt the television show to alert you to a new facebook or Twitter post (similar to the way they inform you of a phone call).  Do we really need a television that tells us this?


The most interesting home appliance I have seen is the coffee maker - toaster. I am not sure why anyone would want to combine these two appliances and I would be concerned that together they don't do as good a job as they do when there apart.  Other than saving some counter space, is there a real need for this type of appliance.

Now I realize there are several great multiple purpose devices on the market that do a great service to humanity, for example the toaster oven.  Here is a home appliance that does two things really well - toast and cook.  My mother cooks almost everything in her toaster oven and I am sure she could not do with out it. However, these are far and few between.


My father-in-law always told me "the right tool for the right job."  Through experience I have come to agree with him.  Nothing ever turned out good using the hammer-wrench or the tong-spatula.  They are simply the wrong tools for the job. My point here is lets stop making devices that do multiple tasks poorly and concentrate on devices that do one or two things really well.


Had experience with a device or appliance that originally sounded good, but turned out to be a bust. Email them to me or comment on this blog and one day I will post them all.

zzzzz Is Tech Sleeping zzzzz

shhhh, there sleeping out in Silicon Valley. Where has all the high tech been lately. The only thing in the tech news is the Verizon iPhone 4, the rumored iPhone 5 and the rumored iPad 2. Are there no other companies other than Apple? And if I have to hear about 3D or 4G anymore I might have to SCREAM. WAKE UP SILICON VALLEY and innovate something new.

It's 2011 and we certainly aren't any closer to Staney Kubrick 2001 a Space Odyssey or the Jetsons or anything from the movie trilogy Back to the Future (I really wanted a hover board). I was 13 when I saw 2001 A Space Odyssey and remember thinking wow is that what it will be like; I was sure disappointed. Yes, there have been some really great innovation over the years, but lately it seems there is no real excitement in technology.

Rosie The Maid - Jetsons

I recently read a tech blogs, from a fairly respected technologist, and the author said that the three biggest technologies for 2013 (not 2011 or 2012) will be 3D, 3G and robotics. You have to be kidding me. It's the same old thing; 3D, faster networks, robotics, yawn. Tell me about 3D when I don't need the silly glasses and it's broadcast on more than ESPN and Discovery Channel. We're always going to be talking about faster networks, because as soon as 4G is out people will think its slow and want something faster. As for Robotics, call me when I can get something better than a Rumba.

Star Trek Food Replicator

I would have thought by now we would begin to see more of the technologies seen on Star Trek.  Yes, I know we have the cell phone and the bluetooth headset, but that's old school.  When are we going to see technologies like highly intelligent computers or food replicators or holo-decks? Okay maybe that's too far fetched, but how about some exciting innovations similar to those of the last century.  It was a real big deal when homes first got microwaves and home computers. Remember when AOL first came out and people could email and chat (yes it was dial up) but it was exciting and it changed the way people communicated.  We haven't had a revolutionary new innovation in quite some time. (Please do not tell me facebook is revolutionary, although it did help to start a revolution recently).  I am talking about life changing technologies.


Let's wake up innovators of the technology world. Stop telling us about smart phones and applications for our Android's, iPhones and Blackberry's and get to work on something big that will revolutionize the world.

              Courtesy of Worldchanging.com