Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.
I gripped the handset, twirling the coiled wire around my wrist, listening for a ring tone. Instead, a busy signal triggered an autonomous twitch reaction in my teenage hand: hang up, wait for dial tone, hit redial, listen for ring tone. Again. Again.
Filed under: Internet
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.
I'm hanging out in Atlanta right now, getting ready to speak at Digital Summit 2013 about things you're probably not terribly interested in. Most importantly, I'm sitting at a bar and just ordered what looks to be a monster of a burger called the "Hot Mess" at a place called Park Bar near my hotel. Despite my disdain for online review sites, it was either this via Yelp or the hotel bar and, well, I find hotel bars depressing.
It's also pretty clear that the only reason I ordered the Hot Mess is because my wife isn't here to give me a hard time about it. No, I'm not a kept man, but I respect her knowledge of health and try to let her guide me most of the time. But when I'm on the road, I sometimes let all bets fall to the floor so that daddy can dig into a burger uninterrupted.
Filed under: Misc
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.
So I was listening to Howard Stern on my way home from work the other night. Satellite radio came with my car and, whether you like him or not, Stern's a pretty good companion in LA traffic. I happen to like him. Anyway.
"You know Gary," he prodded, "I'm gonna use a horse and buggy instead of a car, just because it's cool."
Turns out he was giving Producer Gary Dell'Abate a hard time about his love for vinyl. Gary did his best to defend the hobby, saying it has been scientifically proven that analog sounds better than digital, that it's just something people do for fun and that it's a really interesting subculture.
Of course, he didn't win.
Filed under: Misc