My Rad and Sad Gadget Experiences of 2009 Part One
Rad – Monster Beats Studio By Dr. Dre (Price Paid: $175 CDN)
I don’t “like” music. I would never sit down and listen to an album as I would sit down and watch a movie. I like songs. I was the first of my friends to get an iPod many many years ago, and I think my iTunes library has increased by about, hmmm, 300 songs since then. Why then, you say, did I purchase a $350 set of headphones?
Because they were on sale for 50% off.
Not being accustomed to noise canceling devices, I first fired up an audio book that I was listening to. It was pretty rad only hearing the content of the recording rather than the drone of the skytrain and pedestrians. The only downside is that at one point in the story someone unexpectedly draws a gun and shoots another character, and I jumped so hard I bashed my head into the glass window.
At first I burned a set of AAA batteries because I was not accustomed to turning my headphones off, and being able to disconnect the cable for easy portability. Once I got into the habit of switching the power down, it’s been smooth sailing.
For the most part.
A few weeks ago while waiting for my bus, I had my headphones on and decided to be cool and do a little flick move to get my hoodie on my head. Little did I know that my hoodie flick would jettison my Beats off my head and careening towards the road where the bus would come.
As they flew forward in slow mo, I reached for the cord connecting them to my iPhone and yanked. Once my feline fast reflexes grabbed the cable, the headphones kept going as they detached from the forward velocity. As I picked them up in front of everyone waiting for the bus, the girl next to me goes, “Those look expensive.”
Would I buy them again had I destroyed them? Probably not, unless they were on sale. Would I have bought them in the first place if I was an avid music listener? Absolutely.
Sad – Blue Snowball Mic (Price Paid: $260 CDN for two)
There was a time when a few friends of mine created a podcast. It was a bunch of rambling about local events that no one except for the people involved with would care about, but I listened anyway. So came my desire to make my own podcast. Without even a name or any idea of content, but as I once purchased Super Mario 64 before I even owned a Nintendo 64, my mic’s were purchased on a mental promise to use them.
Knowing that I wanted my first podcast to be a magical moment of my life, I decided to get the best of the best within my price range. The Snowball Mic’s by Blue seemed the right fit. After a few tests in GarageBand in regards to track separation and sound compensation, the stage was set.
A general idea of the podcast came together, I found some partners to work with, and after a few conversations we hashed out a general plan of attack. A silly argument postponed the first session, but we finally settled on a night to get things under way.
I waited a while, but after all the prep, planning, set up and pent up anticipation, I got a phone call that they were unable to come over. Ultimately, the plan fell through, and all I was left with was a pair of Blue balls.
Rad – iPhone 3GS (Price Paid: $0.00)
Waiting in line at the Rogers kiosk since 6:00 AM for the launch of the iPhone 3GS was the start of a rocky relationship with my phone.
I was ineligible for the upgrade price of $299, so that meant $799 charged to my account for me to pay off as I saw fit.
After the paperwork was complete and the phone was activated, I looked at my new commitment and realized the Rep absolutely butchered my current contract to the point it was unrecognizable without dental records. When I brought this to his attention, he informed me their systems had just crashed due to the overwhelming demand for the phone, so he gave me the customer sevice number to try later. This was the ensuing conversation:
Me: Can you switch back to my old plan, but keep the new phone please?
Nice young Indian man: New phone?
Me: Yes, the iPhone 3GS I just upgraded on my account. When can I expect that charge to show on my account?
Nice young Indian man: I’m afraid I don’t see any new phones on your account, sir.
Me: Really? I just did a hardware upgrade at a Rogers kiosk.
Nice young Indian man: Well sir, the systems did just crash, but all these changes happened just before, and I don’t see any history or pending phones on your account, and I don’t suggest you ask about the phone ever again.
Me: Oooookay. (Followed by many silent fist pumps.)
I have yet to see a bill for the phone. I did, however, once drop it down an elevator shaft.
More on that next week, in Part Two of My Rad and Sad Gadget Experiences of 2009
