eGadgets

Once upon a time there lived an Industrial Designer named Sue. Like many designers Sue loved gadgets. Unfortunately this was before the digital age and before the invention of the GUI.

 

Nowadays Sue works as an eLibrarian, so when the new interactive whiteboard was installed in the library Sue’s eyes widened with glee.

 

What a fantastic tool these are for teachers. Utilising the functions for optimum success is a challenge for teachers, some of whom may only see them as expensive projection screens. Get hold of a light pen and play!! The possibilities are only limited by ones imagination. For an inspirational glimpse of the not-so-distant future watch Perceptive Pixel by Jeff Han.

 

This weekend I flew interstate with my husband to visit our son who turned 21 years of age. The egadgetry of commercial flying is outstanding and I love the whole experience.  I love jets and airports and taking off and landing and watching my own personal TV. I like to watch the progress of the plane on the diagram that shows the altitude and speed. I love looking out the window at the land formations below and the sun light illuminating the clouds inventing new colours and shapes. The organisation of moving masses of people and their luggage, thousands of miles every five minutes is amazing. Our flights were smooth and enjoyable and we were even put on an earlier flight home which was very convenient.

 

By The Way I saw another dolphin yesterday quite by chance in a completely different part of the world. Not this one standing beside my son but a real one in the marina entry just outside the restaurant.

Planning my trip

In three months I will visit Europe for the first time. It will be a three week whiz around Europe. I wish it could be longer.

In anticipation I have been using the web to look at the places I will be staying, the routes I will travel, and the places of interest I will visit.

Google Maps and Google Earth are fantastic tools for this task. How far is the Eiffel Tower from my hotel in Paris? Google Maps will tell me in a flash. What does the scenery look like from The Rialto Bridge in Venice? Google Earth offers great photos uploaded by other keen visitors.

I can plot my trip on Google Earth then fly around the route to gain a spatial awareness that will aid my navigation skills when I’m actually there in this unfamiliar territory.

The itinerary of my trip becomes enriched by this online research using these clever tools.

Others jokingly comment to me that I won’t need to go now as I’ve seen it all online. Well that’s where I clearly appreciate the difference between the online environment and the REAL world.

I long to submerge my physical being into other cultures. I crave hearing foreign languages as incomprehensible song. I want to be dwarfed inside historic cathedrals where light streams in from above illuminating art by the masters. I want to meander along cobblestone alleyways too narrow for cars. I want to be tempted by the smells of different foods that I am yet to taste. I want to get a real sense of my own insignificance in world history by standing in places where men and women stood, fought, died and left their marks. I want to soak in the richness of the colours and textures of beautiful European landscapes searching for the inspiration felt by the great artists. I long to gaze about in open-mouthed wonder.

I can’t do that sitting at my pc.

Meanwhile in anticipation, I can dream, imagine, and visualise the trip online, just to whet my appetite for the REAL thing.