Brain explosions in the 21st century

Ultimament quan no treballo, estic pensant - pensant i treient profit de l'internet. Tot comença per no haver seguit el ritme dels canvis tecnologics del segle 21, basicament perque són de la vella escola - aquells que pensen, si funciona, no ho canvies, i si no ho necessites, no ho compres.

Per tant, tenim televisor del 1996, fins fa 4 dies gravabem en VHS, escolto cassettes, tenim equip de música del 1993, l'ordenador ja té un edat. No tinc tablet ni res que comença amb la lletra "i",i de smartphones ja en parlarem un altre dia.

Llavors arriba el dia que t'has de posar al dia, i simplement no saps per on començar ja que hi ha tanta informació. Em recorda el cas del cafe - fa 20 anys a Anglaterra deies, "Un café per favor" i et donaven un cafe amb llet i va que xuta. Ara has de saber si és capuccino, expresso, americano, macchiato... si ho vols descafeinat o no, quin tipus de llet, de sucre, la mida del got...

Per tant, aqui em veieu, trencant el cap mirant les ofertes del Fusion TV i intentant esbrinar com gravarem coses de la tele, i com la gent ho fa avui en dia per veure internet per la tele (tot s'ha de dir, també soc de Yorkshire i tenim una certa reticencia de gastar diners sense saber exactament el que tindrem i quina és la millor opció). L'equip de musica comença a fer aigues - ho reparem, o canviem? Canviem components o comencem de zero? Hi ha manera de escoltar la musica que tens al disc dur de l'ordenador a traves d'un sistema de musica normal? Hi ha amplificadors que llegeixen pen-drives?

De cara a nadal... fa 30 anys vaig comprar un console de video-jocs, Atari. Ara he de fer un curs accelerat de quina és la millor opció pels nostres xiquets, que si PS4, PS3, Wii... i quins jocs, i quins accessoris...

Per més inri, intento seguir el que volen fer els xiquets amb l'ordenador - ara un blog, ara busca aixo, ara instalar mods i mapes al Minecraft.

En fi, molta informació i poc temps per a assimilar-ho tot!

.....

When I'm not working, recently I've been spending most of my time thinking - thinking, and taking notes from friends' advice and the internet. Up to the point that my brain might explode soon.

It all starts out due to the fact that we've got behind with the question of technological developments - basically as I'm a firm believer in the old saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it - and if you don't need it, don't buy it.

So, here we are with a 1996 TV, and still using a video recorder up to last year, and a 1993 music system. The computer is also old in most people's eyes, I have no tablet or other gadget beginning with the letter "i", and as for smartphones..., well, they deserve their own post which I may or may not write soon.

So, anyway, we've decided to go for one of these TV-phone-internet packages but we're inundated with special offers and information on which to choose. As if that weren't bad enough, I'm trying to work out what kind of gadgets allow you to record from TV in the 21st century, and - in for a penny, in for a pound - how people go about seeing internet on their TV. Apart from the information overload, another factor to bear in mind is that I was born in Yorkshire and we are not known for jumping in and spending money haphazardly.

The music system is starting to cause problems - what to do, fix it, change components, start again with a new one? Are their gadgets which allow you to hear your computer's music through your normal hi fi system?

Christmas is coming. Last video game console I bought was an Atari in 1982. So now, another crash course (late nights shared with Mr Google and a glass of the hard stuff) in what each new game (PS4, PS3, Wii...) does, and which would be most suitable for our kids, and what you need - games, accessories etc.

On top of it all, trying to keep up with the kids and their computer use, and helping them out, setting up blogs, preparing things for school, installing gimmicks on the Minecraft game...

To cut a long story short, too much information and too little time. It all reminds me of coffee. Twenty years ago, you'd go into a café and say "Can I have a coffee please?", and you'd get a cup of white coffee. Now, you get half a dozen Italian names thrown at you, and then have to choose if it's decaf or not, what kind of milk or sugar you want, even the size of your bloody cup (or plastified paper beaker)!