Every year at this time I get excited. That is because this is the time of year that new phones get announced. There is the Samsung Note, the Google Pixel and my favorite, the Apple iPhone. I love shiny new things and I love electronic new things.
I’m not exactly sure why these things get me so pumped. I mean, after all, it’s not like I have to have the newest, latest, coolest, greatest next gadget to perform my job. Or that I don’t have a perfectly reliable and functioning iPhone (in fact I do). When it gets right down to it, my 7 plus is still awesome…but it’s not new and shiny.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved the latest technology. From the wrist calculator to a Palm Pilot, I always imagine myself having it in my hands, doing the most incredible things. Maybe it’s the endless possibilities that draw me, or the simple tactile act of holding them in my hands, or maybe it’s the quest of new knowledge about the new “toy” that drives me wild.
When it comes to phones, there are multiple things I desire. From the Samsung Note, I dream of the stylus and the great notes I could take. The Google Pixel has an amazing camera and the “clean” Android experience. With Apple, it’s part ecosystem, part camera and part it just works.
In reality, when it gets down to it, my current iPhone is still awesome. It takes great pictures, it has good battery life and it does all of the things I ask it to do. But it’s not new. It doesn’t have two or three cameras. It doesn’t have a stylus. It doesn’t have a dazzling display. It doesn’t shoot 4k video.
The question becomes, does it need those things? Does it need the prospect of doing and being all of the things I imagine, or does my dull, perfectly functioning (and at one time the latest, greatest) 7 Plus still get it done for me.
In reality, I probably will never become an award winning photographer. Or an outstanding cinematographer. Heck, I still have home movies I have never watched and pictures in boxes that haven’t been opened in years. But deep down inside, I want to. I want to watch those home movies, catalog those old pictures and create amazing things.
Just like I want to write more, I want to look through a lens and see art, or at the very least the possibility of creating it. Just like my writing, in order to ‘create’ more, I need to do more. Do more photography. Do more video. Do more editing. Do more everything.
Now that I think about it, that sounds strenuous. Or at the least, time consuming. Time is limited and I do seem to waste a lot of it.
So what’s the verdict? Do I need that new shiny object? No, I don’t need it. To tell you the truth, until I show a greater propensity to create more, I really don’t need it. But I do want it.
Hill, Mr. Hill 