I've been reading other blogs lately, notably Raymond Chen's Old New Thing, and one thing is clear:
Real bloggers write. A lot.
So, I figure, If I want to be read, I need to write. A lot. Actually, a lot more. But there are two problems.
The first is that I don't seem to have a lot of extra time to devote to a blog. But when I think about that objectively, that's really a crock - I've got plenty of time I waste every day, most of it watching television (yes, I'm a TV baby, and a TV adult as well). I've been wanting to break that habit lately - hell, I quit smoking, why not quit TV as well...
The second is that I don't have a lot to say about XPE anymore. It's not that there's nothing to say - there's lots to say, but others are saying it, and better than I.
So, we'll take a slight change of tack here, and make this blog nominally about XPE, but also about technology in general, and my views on some of it.
First stop - the Zune.
Don't get me wrong - the Zune is a very cool device. My daughter has one, we have never owned an iPod, and I want one myself (once my wife releases the funds for one). I actually have no problems with the device or anyone who owns one - my problem is the entire marketing campaign that states the Zune is a "social" device.
You see, when I was a teenager in the early 80's, there was this really cool device called a Sony Walkman - for you young'un's out there, it was an MP3 player that played cassette tapes. I had one, and used it all the time. The Walkman - and it's distant ancestor the Zune - is not social device. It's actually an anti-social device. When you have one on, you're not being social - you're tuning out. Being social is getting on a bus or a plane and saying to the person sitting next to you, "Hey, how are you? Good to see you! I like the outfit - where did you get it?" Putting on headphones is saying, "I'm in my own world, do not bother me." You might even cap off your anti-social attitude by burying your nose in a book or a magazine - I do this a lot when I'm eating lunch alone.
The point is that putting on a pair of headphones to listen to your own personal life soundtrack is not a social activity, no matter what the marketers would have you believe. Buy a Zune because it's cool, not because you want to be social.
For those of you wanting something about Embedded - we're working on February package. It's a beast as far as the engineering work goes, but it's moving forward.
