My tech top 10

One of my favorite tech blog Apartment Therapy Tech (formerly known as unplggd) has an ongoing series where they feature a person and the top 10 technology related things that he or she owns. Each person's list sort of serves as a inner look into their daily lives because our generation is so intertwined with technology and gadgets.

Now the problem is, I am not big enough of a blip on the blogosphere radar to warrant a feature on that website. So to channel my inner Stephen Colbert, I would like to present my own tech top 10 list (and it is going to crush all other top 10 list.) In no particular order of significance:

1. Canon EOS 7D - My DSLR of choice. This 18 megapixel semi-pro photographing device is everything i need in a camera without robbing Peter to pay for it. Its magnesium body is practically indestructible, and with 19 cross focusing points, I might never have a shot out of focus ever again (haha!) The fact that it shoots video in HD 1080p is just icing on the cake. This thing will perform the bulk of my photographic assignments for years to come. 

2. Apple iPhone 4 16gb - What in the world would I do without my smartphone. It is definitely one of those things where before you had it, you cannot even imagine why you need it. Sure nobody makes phone calls anymore, but the ability to text, check social networks, and surf the web on the go is an enormous time saver (and the accompanying neck pain from looking down all the time.) The iPhone also has an awesome camera that will suffice for non-serious picture taking. I can't leave the house without it, heck I can't even roam within my house without it.

3. NEC LCD3090WQXi-BK 30in LCD Monitor - A photographer needs the largest and best monitor he can possibly afford in order to most efficiently (and accurately) edit his photos. I did just that by purchasing this 30 inch. 2560x1600 pixel monster. Having a such a large canvas makes editing photos a breeze - no need to zoom in and out or hover around in order to see every little detail. The fact that it is a display from NEC's professional line means quality will be top notch, colors will be accurate, and the thing will last. 

4. Corsair Vengeance K60 Mechanical Keyboard -  For Internet writers and bloggers like myself that have to hammer out 2,000 word articles on a regular basis, there is no peripheral more important than the keyboard. We need something sturdy, quick, accurate, and feels awesome to type on. Mechanical keyboards are the answer. Unlike the common keyboard, A mechanical keyboard uses actual, physical switches underneath the keys to determine when the user has pushed a key. The feel is much more tactile. I actually look forward to typing on the K60 because it a such a pleasure to use.

5. Apple iPad 16gb - It is against custom for me to purchase the first generation of anything (you know, let them test all the bugs out and wait for the second-gen), but the iPad absolutely suckered me in with all its "revoluationary-ness." The majority of what people use a computer for is now available in a one and half pound device. For me the main function of the iPad is book reading (thank you Amazon Kindle) and bedridden Internet surfing.

6. Sony Playstation 3 - I gave up PC gaming many many years ago due to the fact that chasing the lastest and greatest in computing/graphic technology in order to build PCs that can handle the games was just not financially feasible. Console gaming offers something more constant that therefore less draining on the pocketbooks (though price for games are still absurd - tip: buy used.) The reason I side with the Playstation colors instead of Xbox is due to one game franchise that is only available on the Sony console -Gran Turismo.

7. Sony NEX-5 + 16mm f/2.8 Prime - For those times when lugging around a five pound camera kit (plus another four pound worth of tripod) is just not feasible. This tiny camera allows me to take similar quality of shots as the bigger 7D (due to it having a DSLR sized sensor) and it fits in my (bigger) pocket. The NEX-5 has become my "point-and-shoot" camera that I take with me everywhere and anywhere I am not on photographic assignment. 

8. Sennheiser HD 555 Headphones - Being a nocturnal being and music lover like most of my peers, I needed headphones so I can listen my music at normal resonance without disturbing my neighbors during the evening hours. Of course, the headphones needed to be high quality and comfortable as well. These HD 555s are one of the best rated for the price point. Along with listening to music, I also use them to watch movies and play video games at night without awaking anyone. 

9. Apple Macbook Pro 13in Mid 2009 - If I had to choose a favorite out of the 10 things listed here, this Macbook Pro would be it. My entire digital lifestyle is sustained by this little five pound machine: web, music, movies, photos, and creative stuff. I may have another PC that is much faster, but this mac remains my main computing device. Not to mention I also take this to work with me so it pulls double duty and it never skips a beat. Admittedly it is a bit long in tooth, so I look to upgrade it later this year.

10. HiVi Swans M10 2.1 Speakers - These desktop speakers plug into my Mac for infinite amounts of aural pleasure during the day time hours. Supposedly built with high quality innards made in Germany (and you know the Germans make good stuff), but I didn't care because it looks so awesome. Honestly though these do sound great and I would recommend it to anyone who needs something compact for their desk.  

Death, and Steve Jobs

It was a bit anti-climatic. Those of us who are familiar with the situation knew it was only a matter of time before the day would come. Major news publications were already waxing on endlessly about Steve Jobs’ legacy on the day he stepped down from the CEO position in Apple, as if the world was not going to see him for much longer. Indeed, Jobs’ passing last week did not come as a surprise to me. It has been known for a while now that despite the marvels of medicinal technology, Jobs’ battle with pancreatic cancer was going to end soon.

On the day of the announcement of Job’s resignation as CEO, I knew then that it meant bad news for his health (Jobs is a notorious hard worker, spending late nights at the Apple Campus regularly). Jobs has been losing weight and ghoulish looking for the past couple of years now, and pictures of him in the past month looked absolutely terrible. The consensus amongst Apple fans was that this was the look of a guy about to lose his battle with cancer. It was only time. 

Of course, even though the element of surprise was lacking, the news of Jobs’ death still hit with much enormity. Avid fans of the Apple was just as devastated with the news as Beatle fans were upon hearing about the assassination of john Lennon. The news hit me harder than I thought it would, even though I was as big an Apple fan as they come. After all, it is just one man’s passing - and a man I have never met at that. In a weird and cliche sort of way, the death of Steve Jobs has become one of those events you will remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news.

Thanks to the wonder of Internet and social media, news travels faster than even proper news agency can report them. I had just came home from work and was busy doing the great American past time of checking my Facebook when a post from a friend said that Steve Jobs is dead. My auto reflex was to check the major new sites to substantiate the claim (you know, not like I do not trust my friends or anything). To my surprise, nothing of the news was to be found for another 15 minutes. After that, all hell figuratively broke loose. news outlets of all kinds was reporting it, Twitter was over run (there was ~4.5 million tweets trending #thankyousteve in just a few hours), and posts with rest in peace wishes to Jobs started flooding my Facebook timeline. 

For the rest of that day and the day after, I soaked in all the tributes to Jobs, whether it be in pictures, the written word, or video. You have truly done something great when even the competitors of the company you created offers you respect at the time of your death. Clearly what Jobs has done with his short life has managed to touch just about everyone in a positive way, the world over.

ME, AND APPLE

I was relatively late to the party - I’ve only began being a fan of Apple products with the introduction of the iPod in the early 2000’s. It was during what was the early stage of the Apple renaissance, with Steve’s second go around with the company. Of course I have used Apple Mac products before, but that was only in the academic arena, as most educational institutions used prefer the Macintosh system over Windows PC. Back then I was still very much a PC user, as the gaming possibilities on that platform was many miles ahead of what Mac’s were capable of. Not to mention, you can build your own PC. 

For many of my generation, the iPod changed everything. Not only in the way we listen to music, but our perception of Apple - it was no longer that funky computer you only use at school. For many, the iPod was the gateway drug for Apple products. Never before had I use something so technologically advanced (slogan or not, 1,000 songs in your pocket at that time was simply amazing), simple to use, and most importantly, beautiful. Before the current state of Apple, the leader in consumer electronics design in the late 90’s was Sony. Their line of computers, CD players, Televisions, and other products all had an additional design quality that no other competitor can match (there is a reason Chinese people, a culture very conscious about image, have preferred Sony products for the longest time.)

Attention to beautiful design and aesthetics in practically everything is the biggest attribute of Steve Jobs I admire. All the products he put out since his return to Apple in 1997 all looked as beautiful as they are simple and powerful. With him it was paying attention to all the details and a perfectionism attitude. Jobs was so meticulous with the overall presentation of everything that he even had a strong part in how Apple retail stores should look. His belief that just because something is a mere “tool’ or "appliance” does not mean that it should look terrible revolutionized an industry that was once filled with much beige and plastic. It was due to Apple’s design philosophies that other companies in the tech world follow suit, realizing that consumers want things that work but look good doing it as well. 

As a person who always had a quirk for how things appeals to the eyes (I am a photographer, after all), Apple products was the natural fit. The first iPod (3rd generation) snowballed into a second iPod (5th generation), and eventually to my first Macintosh computer (2008 Macbook) when I started my collegiate undergrad career. I chose it because nothing in the PC world came close to the aesthetics of a Macbook laptop. The Macbook became my full time computer, and hence forth never looked back at the PC platform. From an everyday usage point of view, the Mac operating system is much more simple and intuitive. Not to mention, for photography and digital design work Mac it is the de-facto platform of choice.

In additional to the products looking great, Jobs also required them to perform its function in the most elegant and simplistic fashion. Keeping things to its absolute simplest form is something I also come to admire about him. Being once the minimalist hippy (there is a famous picture of him sitting on the wooden floor of his living room with nothing but a lamp), Jobs hated clutter and anything that is unnecessary. He also famously required things to “just work”. It made perfect sense: all consumers ever want from the products they buy is it functioning correctly in the least amount of time and hassle possible. 

STEVE JOBS, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

It was not until I started the business entrepreneurship part of college that I took to Steve Jobs as role model figure. He and Apple together was so successful that it was something to be studied and emulated. Questions like “what would Jobs/Apple do?” came up frequently in the process applying Steve’s entrepreneurial philosophy into planning my own entrepreneurial exploits. For example, the Apple design language has been so well received and universally acclaimed that everybody and the mother in the design world wants to to copy the “Apple look” into everything they make. You really can’t study entrepreneurship without looking at what Steve has done so brilliantly with two companies (the other being Pixar) 

A big part of any business is selling. While being the tech product genius that he was, Jobs also did one thing extremely well - the ability to sell. The so called “reality distortion field” and the keynote address Jobs is famous for was some of the finest examples on how to drive up demand and make consumers want a product so badly that they will line up by the droves at ungodly hours to get their hands on it. Having a beautiful product that can do the equivalent of a swiss army knife will do a company no good if they do zero marketing. As I have learn from business school, the mantra of “build it and they will come” is patently false. Jobs’ style of selling was very effective for the kind of products Apple was making; the company’s stock prices and record profits quarter after quarter reflect this.  

One way to increase revenue and profits for any company is to introduce new products, and almost no one does it better than Jobs and his team at Apple. In a tech industry where product innovation was the inverse of the speed that computing power is progressing, Apple bucked the trend by coming out with one product revolution after another. The iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Macbook Air took a product segments that already existed and yet so completely changed the paradigm that it practically evolved into a new segment. There were mp3 players before the iPod, smartphones before the iPhone, tablets before the iPad, and ultra portable computers before the Macbook Air, but those product segments were forever changed after the introduction of those products by Apple.  

It was Wayne Gretzky who famously said: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” Steve Jobs took this notion with him at Apple and made products that consumers did not even think they needed until it came out. The innovations that came from this kind of thinking has been astounding, and it is something that entrepreneurs and business should strive to do.

ME, AND STEVE JOBS

It is hard to predict what Apple and the rest of the computer tech industry will be like now that Jobs is gone. There is a bit of fear inside me that wonders if the kind of product innovation and pushing the bar will now be gone along with Jobs. Apple is supposedly in very good hands, and Steve even outline the product strategy for the next four years before he left. As a fan of Apple, I hope for nothing but the best in Apple continuing to its upward trend. It would do Jobs proud.

As for me, aside from the attention to detail, keeping things simple, and the entrepreneurial arts, the thing from Jobs’ legacy I will take with me is summed up in his 2005 Stanford Commencement speech:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. … Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

Technology is great

Recently I performed open heart surgery to my PC as the five years old parts that were in it finally decided to go kaput and not work on me. Now I would say it is quite an accomplishment seeing as the average PC only last about two years for the average person due to various reasons (your operating system clogging up is a major contributor). Me getting five years out of it then means I actually got my moneys worth. But sadly it came to a crashing halt a couple of weeks ago when my PC no longer boot into windows in a stable manner, even when I reinstalled Windows cleanly.

So I rip out all the old computer chip, motherboard, and memory and replaced it with brand new, state of the art ones from Intel, Intel, and Kingston, respectively. Everything else I just reused with the new components as they were still in good shape (not to mention, high quality parts that were not cheap back when I first bought them). A man, what a difference five years make in terms of performance! I was seeing almost 7 times the performance while ripping videos. With new technology also came efficiency, and I bet my newly reconstructed computer probably suck more than half as much power from the grid (hehe, TRON). I mean the exhausted air sure feels much cooler (though I can no longer use it as a space heater).

Feels productive to have my PC running again, as I can schedule tasks for it to do while I am away from home with my mac laptop. And when I am home, having a second computer increases multitasking on so many levels (because there comes a limit where you just can't play a video while photo editing at the same time on one computer). Plus, there is one thing a PC does better than a Mac - being a media center. Hence my PC is also my media center PC thus all my media files go through it, and not my macbook. It is hard to explain to people why having an extra computer on hand is such a boost (much a kin to having a second or third monitor). It is one of those things where you just have to try for yourself. Once you do, you can't go back.

I was just tweeting the other day about how weird it is that I have 8gb of memory on both my computers and yet my first computer back in 1999 barely have 6gb in hard drive space (there was also one picture where it showed an iPhone 4 of today is more powerful than the first colored iMacs). It is during these moments where you think to yourself just how the heck did you live with it back then (Sim City 2000 was the shit). But of course I was not nearly productive with a computer as I was back when I was I think 13? Back then it was all about games and surfing the web. While today it is still about games and surfing the web, the digital artist side of me realizes that the computer and the internet are powerful tools to create and publish my ideas.

My first PC's screen was 13in (one of those ginormous CRT monitors no less), and now I stare at a 30in screen everyday (I had a 20in also, and back then I thought IT was huge). What a difference a decade makes. 

Of course with the rapid pace of advancement in technology comes the great wallet drain also - for those people that choose to chase it. Do I want to be that person? Maybe, I mean who does not want the latest and greatest. However my poor (in monetary terms) upbringing taught me to be (somewhat) frugal, so no I don't go after what is new all the time (still happily tapping away on my original iPad). My Macbook Pro is now two years old, not going to upgrade it any time soon unless my creative software no longer run at a pace that is satisfactory. I think unless something new is so revolutionary that it changes the game, there is just no need for me to upgrade (hey, I held off on upgrading my PC for 5 years did I not?). The last time this happened was when Apple introduced the aluminum unibody Macbook Pros with glass screen and LED backlit LCD. It was so much better compared to my white plastic macbook that I literally just dumped it to my little brother and bought the new one. 

Technology may advance in a fast pace, but it is too expensive to run along with it. 

Case in point for me is when it comes to phones. I am generally one revolution behind everybody else. Remember when color screens first came to cell phones? I was a year behind everybody in getting that. Texting phones? A good two years behind. I still have yet to upgrade to a smart phone, which is already on its next revolution with computing power that rivals small PCs (iPhone 5, come soon please). Of course when it is me that is not paying the bills, I cannot really complain now can I. Though when I get a smart phone the one footing the bill will be me. That is why I welcome the end of unlimited data plans and the introduction of cheaper entry level ones. I probably don't use that much data (in fact as of right now I don't use ANY!), and wifi is so abundant that there is not reason not to use it. The cost savings, extrapolated over a two year contract is substantial. 

Speaking of smart phones as powerful as computers, I think that is where the future is heading. The computer industry have already transitions pretty much from the desktop to the laptop (more laptops are sold than desktops). Even creative professionals can live off of a laptop because computing power are no longer exclusive to non mobile platforms as thermal efficiency in chips improves. Heck I hardly know anybody that don't do there computing on a laptop. Well, the next transition is from laptops to tablets and smart phones. I mean, it is all about getting smaller, and being portable (before that happens, laptops will getting lighter and thinner). But what about actual work? You seriously can't expect to type the great American novel on a smart phone! Actually I think you can, as all you need to add to it is a connection to a monitor and a keyboard. When it comes down to it, the major things we do with computers boils down to these things - internet, games, media, office suites. I can see all this migrating to the smart phone package. In fact, it has already begun. 

One thing technology has destroyed in the process of being great is the enjoyment of music. Don't get me wrong, without the mp3 revolution, I would not have 10% of the music I have now. The accessibility and potential exposure to all types of music is one thing mp3s brought to the table. But I think the essence of music have lost some of its luster with the breaking down of albums into individual songs for sale. Albums used to tell stories, and the order of songs is something artist put a lot of thought into. Nowadays they just lump songs together and call it an album. Heck over in Asia, many artists don't even put out albums anymore, instead putting out singles or mini albums. Leave it to the indie artist to still put together albums that have meanings and interconnections between songs.

And when is the last time you actually listened to an album from beginning to end? Radio and per song purchasing has allowed us to pick apart album and just get the songs we want (not to say that is not GOOD). I remember it was still cassettes and CDs, I would buy an album and actually listen to the whole thing. I still try to do this with my digital music when I can, as for sure I don't always buy the whole album for an artist. Enjoy music for what is, because it is not something to listen to while you are doing other things. The meaning, the vocals, the instruments, the production, etc, these things in an album need to be enjoyed in a quiet environment, sitting down, and a pair of headphones on (of course, the highest quality of mp3 you can get haha). Then again, artist needs to put the same thought back into music, and not just cobble some beats and call it a hit just because it is catchy.  

So yes, technology is great. The best thing you can do is leverage it, and not let it go to waste.