September 22, 2012 editorial: comments

Dear Fellow Audiofanziners!

I decided to upgrade my phone to a smart one.  I resisted long enough and now I need to take the plunge.  Searching various models I thought, OK let’s go for the best.  I thought about the iPhone since I am used to the iPad OS and find apps very useful for anything in the world I can imagine.  Luckily, my search coincided with the iPhone 5 launch.  Albeit, I am not so thrilled about such a huge phone the size of half an iPad…. So then I thought about getting the rival Samsung Galaxy S3 which got great reviews and some actually prefer it to the iPhone, but then I got cold feet.

Will my life be over once I get one of these gadgets?  Will I have the discipline to not check my emails, not surf online, not tweet, Facebook or whatever when I am outside.  Will waiting for anything be over?  If I have a mini-pc in my pocket why leaf through magazines at the doctor’s office?   With my head buried in a smart phone how many chance encounters will I miss?  I am reminded of a stellar song by Arcade Fire We Used to Wait:  “It seems strange how we used to wait for letters to arrive…” .

Ironically enough, the iPhone 5 launch promoted an old fashioned return to waiting, with some people camping out for 6 days!

But maybe again the problem is not with the machine but with the user.  Like with anything moderation is key and I need to filter just the stuff that I need.   I can be strong.  I think….

Somebody from the forums I manage contacted me to delete his account.  When I asked him why he said, “please do it, my life is over, I am addicted to this site”.  As flattered as I was, I deleted his account.  Now maybe he can get down to the business of making music.

Chater-La