The Reinvention of Everything

OK so I know that the technological revolution is plowing ahead at full steam.  There are more gadgets now to keep us distracted from doing real work than ever before.  I mean Apple has the market cornered when it comes to tablets, portable music devices and laptops.  I think though that the more advanced we get, the more we keep reinventing the wheel.

For instance, the tablet is a marvel of engineering.  Merging the technologies of the cellular phone, PDA, the computer, the portable music device and the handheld videogame (which is what most tablets are) is a great feat.  Considering that many of them cannot be used to make calls, they are more similar to juiced up laptops...which is what they become when you purchase a small keyboard to go with them!  Why in the world would you buy a keyboard for a tablet when the purpose of said tablet is to move us away from the laptop?  Can you say Laptop part Deux?

Next on the list is the i-pod docking station.  A handheld music player that fits in a shirt pocket is pretty cool.  Add a "docking" station complete with speakers and a plug and you've just reinvented the boom box, which costs around $30 at Wal-Mart.  Sure, you may have 2000 songs on your ipod, BUT you could just as easily load up the boom box with a CD full of MP3 files, which many of them are able to play, and viola- you have the music sans the docking station and have saved about $300 smackeroos.

Finally, the retro Air Jordan dilemma.  Why would anyone pay double what the shoes were worth in 1988 or in 1993 or in 1999?  Nike is making a killing reissuing shoes that they simply could have left on the market.  But they are smart because the second they go off market, people start salivating even though they had plenty of time to buy them when they were in stores.  I don't buy Jordans.  I have several pairs but they are all gifts from others.  They are too expensive and they are NOT comfortable at all.  To top it off, just like other Nikes, they are usually made from cheap material that does not last very long and they want $200 for them!  I can't see it.

I guess the old saying is true, the more things change, the more they stay the same.