I’m surrounded by tech. Actually, it’s slightly more nuanced than that. I personally don’t have all that much tech compared to many of the people I know, but it’s everywhere in my life, in other people’s houses, in my own, or out in the wider world.
I get quite excited when I see knew tech coming on to the market. I read quite a lot about how it works, and how it might alter my life.
Usually, the excitement dies down pretty quickly as I realise that I’d never really make much use of whatever it is, perhaps it’s too expensive, or too niche to be worthwhile for me.
However, there’s three pieces of tech that I’ve invested in that I use habitually. These three things go everywhere with me. I make sure that they’re in my bag if I’m going out of the house for anything more than a few minutes.
I’ll list them here and then explain why they’re occupying such an important place in my life.
In no order, the three things are:
- ebook reader with a back lit screen
- DSLR camera
- pair of wireless over-ear headphones
ebook reader
I love to read. I always have. If there’s nothing else occupying my attention, then I’m likely to be reading. My ebook reader hold thousands of books and is about the width of a mobile phone. It’s small enough to put in the pocket of a backpack and means that I’m entertained / educated wherever I go.
The back lit screen means that I can read in the dark without the need for a torch, or external light on. It won’t destroy the sleep of others around you.
DSLR camera
I don’t have any pretensions of being a good photographer, but ever since I decided to get a good(ish) camera, I’m obsessed by taking many pictures everyday.
This may not seem obvious, but this is what I’ve noticed about how my interactions have been modified as I navigate the world.
I look at the world more. If you’re feeling willing, please read the previous sentence again and think about it. When was the last time that you thought about what you’re looking at? Perhaps you do, but I know that I did not. I passed through the world in a more or less appreciative way, but never really stopped to examine what I was taking in. Now I do.
Now I look at the light, stare at the flower, the leaf, the pond surface, trying to see if there’s a picture worth taking there.
It’s not a ‘front of mind’, conscious, kind of attention. I’m not actually thinking, “is there a picture worth taking here”, yet somehow I am. There’s a new aspect to my attention, and it’s an improvement to my moment-by-moment experiences. The greater attention to the present moment is just wonderful.
Wireless over-ear headphones
I wrote a previous post about how I love sound just as much as music. The sound of water, wind, and of course music.
Having the ability to modify the background track of your life is remarkable. I typically turn on the noise cancelling so that I’m really able to experience what’s coming out of the headphones exclusively.
I’ve taken to wearing headphones almost every waking minute of my life, if I’m alone. I remove them when other people are around because the noise cancelling is so effective that it’ll remove conversations entirely, which is not what I want.
Of the three things listed here, headphones are the one that I’m using more than any other. Because the headphones are passive, whilst the camera and ebook are active, they can be on most of the day. Headphones don’t require my attention, whereas reading and operating the camera do.
If you’ve read this far, I’d be curious to know if you have a similar tech set up in your life. Comments are on below.
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