I Upped My Game!

Okayyyyy, Sunday, My wife and I joined the 21st Century.....Yup, we upped our phone game...I got tired of this young girl who works in my building ,laughing at me because I was pulling out my flip phone to make calls.  She would look at me and giggle everytime I pulled it out...

That phone pictured above isn't exactly what my wife and I had, but it was close to it. I purchased it about three years ago and I actually thought it was pretty cool...I felt pretty cool pulling it out, flipping it open and making a call.Kind of felt like James Bond. It was only three years old and in just that short of time, it had become obsolete...The girl in my building said to me..."Mr. Keith, when you gonna up your phone game man?"  See, That right there is proof that I'm officially old....When people I work with start referring to me as Mister.   I am old enough to be her father...This girl in particular is a few years younger than my daughter...

So, after much hemming and hawwing and gnashing of the teeth...My wife and I enjoyed a delicious post anniversary brunch Sunday afternoon and then promptly walked across the street from the IHOP to our wireless provider....Wireless provider....Wasn't that long ago that it was Ma Bell and it was the phone store.
Was the 1980's and 1990's THAT long ago...I mean, for real???

Anyway....Long story short...We got some of the best customer service I've seen since I went to the car dealership and informed them that I was paying for my car lock stock and barrel in cash...That's a time , when I don't mind being called "Mister"   ("They CALLL ME MISTER TIBBS!" One of my favorite movie lines from back in the day.)


My wife and I wound up buying his and hers HTC-Androids , exactly like the one pictured above...We can go on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger....I'm writing this blogpost on it.(I'm kidding, no I'm not, but I could if I wanted to or had the patience, which I don't.) It even has You tube and Google...I get the time and the weather and of course I can download music and take photos and send photos....I can even Skype..

My wife and I are still learning the basics though and I'm sure we'll have it mastered in a few days...much to our daughter's amusement... I can remember when I was the hip one who was introducing new things to my amazed family, like the CD player, The DVD player, The Ipod....Okay, I talked about the last one, I didn't actually purchase it...Now I've appeared to have fallen off.

Today in the elevator, I showed off my new Android...I casually pulled it out and went to my Facebook page while we were going up....That smart alec girl got on and saw it and you should have seen how her eyes just lit up....

"Mr. Keith, you upped your phone game...You got a droid....alright!!!!!" she said..

I proudly smiled and showed it off....Sad thing....I know that in two or three years , this will be obsolete and I'm wondering will I accept an upgrade? Will I still want to learn a new thing?  Will I care?? Stay tuned.....You know, The Temptations had a song out called , "Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down"...It might be good for me to give that a listen.

Saturday Seven (7 hot new gadgets)

Hey techies and gadget heads out there...I'm hearing that these are the latest trends in all out gadgetry...check it outtttttttttt!


1. Tablet Frenzy.
Thanks to the success of the iPad, tablets will be the highest-selling consumer electronic devices of the year it's been said, with 40 to 80 new models being introduced this year .Apple has had a lot of success with the original iPad, and let's face it ,folks want electronics. The new Apple iPad 2 is expected to be released between the end of February and early April, and should have two cameras, an SD card slot, HDMI, and will be smaller. Samsung's Galaxy tablet is the only early competition for the iPad, but others such as Motorola, Asus, Blackberry, HP, HTC, Dell and LG are coming and many will offer new features such as high resolution displays, USB ports and carrier subsidies. Even the bargain TV manufacturer Vizeo is getting into the tablet game.

2.Windows 7 Phone.
These phones came out last year, but more models are coming out, especially if sales of current versions are good. Success will depend on size and quality of apps in their new app market and new hardware across carriers in the U.S.

3. Android Phones.
This will be the biggest mover and shaker for 2011, with the new dual-core powered phones and Android 3.0 Gingerbread for tablets. Such phones are making portable gaming systems such as the Sony PSP obsolete.


4. Cloud Gaming.
While smartphones make gaming cheap -- a few dollars instead of $30 for a game -- the new trend of cloud gaming is picking up fast among gamers, You don't have to buy expensive hardware or software because the games are hosted on servers and will give you instant access to tons of titles. Services such as OnLive and Gaikai will steal some spotlight from the new Kinect and PS Move in 2011. It's like having Netflix for video games. My Daughter and Son and Law will love hearing this!


5. iPhone.
Once again, Apple's iPhone is grabbing big headlines. The white iPhone 4 is scheduled to be released in the spring, and Verizon(My provider..who I'm giving a shameless free plug to) is expected to add the iPhone to its network with CDMA technology to improve call quality and give iPhone owners a better option than AT&T. To add to that, the iPhone 5 is expected to be released in June.


6. Internet TV/Streaming Media.
Either via TV or set top box the Internet is coming back to the living room, according to experts. TVs will have fully-integrated apps, features, and Web. "Pretty much TVs are going to have all of the capabilities of a smartphone, but on your wall," he said. Expect new set-top boxes with Google TV, and other boxes with Android to hit the market in 2011. George Jetson ,Mr. Spacely and Cogsley Cogswell never figured on this!

7. Personal Home ATM! - This will dispense money to you from your home to enable you to pay for all of these things! A must have! Okay...I'm kidding about number seven, but it would be really cool wouldn't it?

You Might Want To Curb Your Speech

I wrote a post about cyberbullying the week before last. And then, racist comments I read on YouTube and several sports sites incensed me even more. I noticed that all of these folks used some kind of clever moniker that served to hide their real identity. I mused to myself that some of these racist writers probably work with and live right next door to Blacks, Hispanics, and even Arab people who they were taunting.

I thought about how someone once said that the internet creates "brave" people out of cowards. I wondered if these people would make such ignorant or hateful remarks if their real identity was suddenly put out there? No doubt, some would... but most would not. A landmark case that I read about recently has forced Google, to reveal the identity of three cyberbullies.

Carla Franklin, a former model who also has biology and psychology degrees from Duke, caused quite a stir this summer when she went after those she called cyberbullies: "JoeBloom08," "JimmyJean008," and "greyspector09". She said they posted "malicious and untrue" statements about her (like calling her a "whore") under what sounds like unauthorized promotional clips from Columbia, featuring a trip to Africa and Franklin addressing incoming MBA students, according to the New York Daily News.

It turns out that Franklin had reason to take the extreme measure of suing Google in Manhattan Supreme Court: She'd been the object of some real life stalking that carried over online. This is part of the statement she released on FreeSpeechv3.org:

"I have been dealing with ongoing obsessive and harassing behavior since 2006. Despite ignoring phone calls, emails, changing my number, trying to be nice, and hoping that the obsessive behavior would stop, the behavior continued over a four-year period. Last year, things escalated online. An anonymous YouTube account was created to make a channel or "shrine" dedicated to me, using video clips of me talking to a friend. The personal information that was included and the obsessive, "shrine-like" nature of this YouTube channel scared me."

Carla Franklin follows in the high heels of another model named Liskula Cohen, who last year was able to lobby successfully for Google to expose the trash talkers who had the audacity to call her a "skank" and an "old hag."

Such language is not civil and very hateful. Even though everyone has a right to free speech, I feel that we the public, who maybe offended by such speech, have the right to know who you are when you exercise your right to be ignorant.

I'm sure the offensive jerks will holler foul when they get ensnared, but if they know like I know, they might want to curb their speech.

Bully 4 U

Facebook is not where I usually go to start a really serious discussion. I know that's where a lot of people go to start one, but I like to flesh my ideas out... that's why the way I talk on FB is a 360 degree difference from the way I talk on this blog. Some people only know me through FB and if they read this blog, they wouldn't recognize me. I keep it 99% smurfy and light-hearted on FB and to an extent, on my other two blogs too. But, this blog is the closest thing you're going to get to who I really am. Now, with that said, let me say this...

Today I posted a serious question on Facebook. I was halfway joking about this, but I asked how is it possible for a person to be cyber-bullied? I read an article (see, I do read) about all of these kids who committed suicide this past year over things people were saying to them on line and I just couldn't understand it. One of my FB friends, who is also a fellow blogger, said that these kids today are just soft... which is a position I myself took at first.

It took a young woman (I've known since she was about 11 years old) who has grown into a beautiful and intelligent mother, school teacher, and mentor to young children to set us both straight on this issue. She told me some things I didn't know. She said (and I'll quote her), "Keith, cyber-bullying is real. All of the lies posted on Facebook (Twitter, Skype, My Space, YouTube) and texts can make gossip travel faster than it ever could when we were young. Kids have taken cruelty to a new level. That's why schools have to be proactive. Now, people posts pictures they've doctored using Photoshop and all kinds of mess. Sticks and stones work for whatever you said in passing, but the cyber-bullying thing is bullying exponentially."

This was a whole new spin on it. I didn't think about the new technology and things kids have at their disposal now that I didn't have in the mid-1970's and early 1980s when I was in high school and college. People at that age are cruel anyway and with the new technology, I guess they have taken being an asshole to a whole notha level, just like she said. She also went on to say, "You remember getting dressed for gym? Now, you have to worry if someone snapped your photo on a camera phone and posted it somewhere or sent it to everyone in their address book. I talk to my kids about their technology use and what is and isn't appropriate. I understand what kids are capable of because I taught school. It's a brave new world!"

I thanked her on Facebook for her insights. I told my cousin's wife that this is why I ask questions when I don't know something... so I can find out things. In this case, I was glad to find out about this. I can't pretend to have an answer to just what you can do about this, but parents and teachers have to be there for the children they are responsible for, they have to believe them and, most importantly, do something about the situation.

In many of the cases where bullied kids have either killed themselves or come back to school with a gun and mowed down others, the kids often felt as though they were in a hopeless situation. No one was listening to them, no one was willing to go to bat for them. The bullies have to see that their foolishness will not be tolerated. The parents of a bully have to send this message... (In most cases, they won't because, after all, Little Johnny or Little Shaniqua is an angel.)

How many more Columbines will it take to bring this message home?

iPad, Therefore, I Kindle

I don't have an iPad yet or a Kindle. My daughter recently bought a Kindle and I haven't talked to her to see how she likes it or if she's even using it. What, with her hectic life? Work, gym, and raising two children. A lot of my friends are still reading books the traditional way, as am I... but I'm always interested in new technology. I was reading up on both of them today and here are some things I found out...

According to writer Suzzanne Choney, "Owners of Apple's iPad tend to "skew younger and more male," while those who have Amazon's Kindle e-reader "tend to be wealthier" and more educated, according to a new study from The Nielsen Co. Hmmm, since I'm neither young nor wealthy, I wonder where that puts me? Ironically enough, I think the Kindle tends to be a little cheaper than the iPad. Surprisingly, I have yet to see an actual Kindle, while some of my younger and female co-workers have iPads. I've seen that in action and it's amazing. So, check this out...

According to what I read, Kindle owners "tend to be wealthier," with 44% of them making "more than $80,000/year, as compared to 39% of iPad owners and 37% of iPhone owners. They also tend to have more education: 27% of Kindle owners have Master’s degrees or Doctorates." Is that right? They are probably wealthier because it's cheaper.

iPad owners are supposedly more receptive to advertising on their touchscreen tablets than say, the owners of the other devices. Thirty-nine percent of iPad owners say ads on their connected devices are (get this) "new and interesting", as compared to 19% of all connected device owners. And, 46% say they "enjoy ads with interactive features compared to 27% of all connected device owners." I could care less. I really just want to be able to blog and Facebook while on the move. This might make me go back to riding the train to work instead of driving.

Anyway, Nielsen noted... "Perhaps most important to advertisers, iPad owners are also the most likely to have made a purchase as a result of seeing an ad on their connected device."I saw both ads on television myself.

The least expensive model of the iPad is $499.00 for a Wi-Fi only version. The latest version of the Kindle, also Wi-Fi only, costs $139.00 I figure if I wait around another five or ten years, the price on both will have dropped and maybe I'll be the first in my neighborhood to own both. Stay tuned...

The Coming Of The iPAD

iPad Official Website

Okay, this is a "Keith does a post that is finally not about sports" day. Today, a new gadget was released to the public that (they say) will revolutionize reading. It's called the iPAD. In the past few weeks, I've seen demonstrations for the Kindle, the Nook, and the Sony Reader. So now, I breathlessly await this new gadget but, I'm not alarmed.

One day soon, my friends will be reading "Keith's Space", "Escapades", and maybe my first novel on one of these new items. I may be sitting in my living room reading the next Walter Mosley novel on it, while navigating back and forth to my Facebook page. Who knows?

While every other attempt to make a popular flat computer has fallen (eh, flat), even conservative estimates predict millions of iPads will be sold this year alone. But, because there are few precedents with tablets, almost no one has any experience with how everyday consumers will use a thin slab of glass and aluminum that happens to be a blisteringly fast computer. After seeing demonstrations of the iPad for the last week or so, I'm clear that one area that will be transformed is reading.

The Amazon Kindle, as Steve Jobs acknowledged when announcing the iPad, began the revolution of electronic books. But, where Amazon went to great lengths to replicate the best of the traditional print reading experience, Apple has opted for a device that more closely resembles a small, flat-panel TV. When reading a novel or "Keith's Space" (shameless plug). the differences aren't dramatic. The Kindle is lighter and easier to hold with one hand. The iPad, on the other hand, has beautiful visual effects for turning pages. Books with illustrations, like Dr. Seuss (for instance), shine on the iPad's stunning color screen, but still only hint at the full potential of marrying a high-powered microchip with the oldest mass medium.

Am I excited? Well, uh...YEAH! I love new technology that actually makes life easier and interesting. This may even inspire more kids to read and check out great literature. Okay, probably not, unless Shakesphere and Chaucer can be illustrated and animated (which I see no reason, why they can't be).

Look what Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter have already done! This is one future I can look into with excitement and positivity, rather than dread.

Text Addict

Call me what you will but, I don't like driving on the road with someone while they are busy yakking on a cell phone. People call me from time to time when I'm driving and I admit that I'll pick the phone up and answer it... but, I try to keep the conversation short and to the point. I also tell the caller that I'm driving and that I'll call them back when I'm not driving.

The only exception I make to this rule is when I'm wearing a Blue Tooth (but, I don't have one anymore... I misplaced it). I'll talk then, because both of my hands are on the wheel and I'm watching the road. But, even then, you run the risk of losing your concentration, depending on what is being said. Suppose you get in an argument, like the one I got into with a now ex-friend on the phone. I would hate to be in an enraged state like that and driving. I could easily run into someone's back, off the road, or through a red light. No, I'm glad I was out of my car and sitting in a cool office.

Talking on a phone is bad enough, but now I hear that people are texting while driving! You have got to be kidding me! I've never actually seen anybody doing this but, I hear it's the new thing. Here's one issue in these contentious times that I'm certain almost everyone appears to agree on: Driving while typing out text messages on a cell phone is just dumb, potentially deadly, and should be banned. It's just not safe... not safe at all.

Later this month the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to convene a "summit" on "distracted driving." The issue of driving while texting or DWT (Oh, brother!), will be high on the agenda. For the first time, it appears that most major interest groups involved are for doing something to make DWT illegal. (How about making driving because I'm stupid illegal?)

The wireless phone industry's main Washington lobbying arm, CTIA-The Wireless Association, once opposed bans on using cell phones to talk or text. Now, the Association supports bans on texting and is officially neutral on other limits to cell phone, Iphone, and BlackBerry use. It notably didn't object when Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, said that if it were up to him alone (which it is not), he'd institute a federal ban on DWT. CTIA is also working with the National Safety Council on a series of advertisements warning of the dangers of on-road texting. CTIA would prefer one nationwide law on the matter, says John Walls, a spokesman for the Association.

Sometimes I wonder why we have to have a law for everything. I know now that we have to protect people from themselves. People who are texting and talking on cell phones while driving are not only a danger to themselves but, a danger to other drivers. This is the most disturbingly selfish and self-absorbed thing a person could do. Where does common sense kick in here? Do I really need to communicate with someone THATmuch? THAT often?

I have been in public restrooms and heard people on the toilet talking. I've been in a crowded club, trying to have a conversation with someone who was talking to me and texting at the same time. I've been in church and heard the pastor tell people to stop texting and to silence their cell phones. Now, I've got to text someone something while I'm driving? It's that urgent, that it can't wait? Hmmmm... I wonder if people text while they are having sex? You may laugh but, I know that somewhere... somebody is doing just that.

What Happened To Our Freedom Of Choice?

I knew that we were in trouble the day I went to the record store (oh, excuse me… I mean music or multi-media store, as it is called today) and I was told that I could no longer buy a record (which, at the time, was my format of choice) and I HAD to buy a CD. I personally love CDs now but, the rebel in me back then just didn't like being told what I HAD to do.

I started buying records as a child with my allowance money. Every Saturday, I got my $ 3.00 a week (don’t laugh, that was a lot of money back then) after doing my chores and headed straight for the neighborhood record store. (Remember those?) I was in the 6th grade when I bought my first two 45 rpms (Remember those?)… “I Want You Back” by the Jackson Five and “Psychedelic Shack” by the Temptations.

When I finished school and started working, the first thing I bought on lay-a-way (Remember that?) with my first couple of paychecks was a stereo system. I was making my own money so, I could then afford to buy full-length albums at will. It was nothing for me to drop $ 75.00 - $ 80.00 bi-weekly in a record store and come home with a bag full of albums and 12 inch singles. (Remember those?) Music was my passion so, from childhood to adulthood, I established quite an extensive record collection. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I was buying cassette tapes throughout these years too. For some reason, I never cared too much for 8-track tapes (Remember those?) so, I only bought about 4 of them when I was in junior high school and I couldn’t tell you whatever became of them.

So, there I was… standing in front of shelves and shelves of records in my house and calculating all of the money I had invested in them since the 6th grade and I was ANGRY! At the time, the fact that CDs sounded a lot better offered little comfort. I guess what bothered me most about the transition to CDs is the fact that I never quite understood why they had to do away with records. I argued that there was no reason why both formats couldn't co-exist at the same time so that individual consumers could "choose" which one they wanted to buy because it was their money.

Well, here we are years later and this scenario has repeated itself many times over with cassettes (audio and video), lazer discs (Did anybody buy those?), mini discs (although, I’ve heard that these sell like crazy over in the UK but, they just never caught on over here for some reason), and look out DVDs 'cause here come Blue Rays! So now, after I have invested much time and money replacing my records with CDs, it looks like they are on the verge of being replaced by MP3s and downloaded music. (I do have an MP3 player.) At this point, I guess I don’t have to tell you that I feel like somebody owes me some money and I’m about ready to kill that somebody!

Then, there’s all the different changes over the past 20-25 years in the equipment that you need to stay current, just so you can play your music. I remember when guys, in particular, took great pride in building their stereo systems piece by piece. Girls usually bought something called "component sets" (Remember those?), which were much like the all-in-one type systems they sell today... and, I must admit, they do sound much better now. But, trust me... if you were a guy back in the day, you wouldn't want to be caught dead with one of those systems-lol! (Remember?) However, I did understand at the time that, in most cases, girls preferred component sets because they were less complicated and more affordable. Somtimes, guys "went for broke" trying to build their stereo systems but, we felt we had a standard to maintain when it came to the "sound" of our music.

Even radio has changed. Now, there’s satellite radio... which is great but, I'm still trying to decide if I like not knowing the name of the song and artist that is playing because, at times, they are no DJs. And, in 2009, TV as we know it will change forever. The worst case scenario... some people will have to go out (if they haven't already) and get themselves a converter or their TV will become a worthless box, just taking up space. In most cases, the people who have TVs that will need a converter were not warned about this conversion when they bought it but, who cares about that, right? And, while we're on the subject of TVs, who decided that I need to hang it on the wall? Maybe I do... maybe I don't... but, I want to make that decision. (One day, I know that I'll probably wind up getting one of these too.)

I deliberately tried to be humorous and have some fun with this post but, seriously, I am beginning to feel frustrated with all of this because the “powers that be” forgot to factor in one little thing regarding all these advances in technology. The average person’s paycheck is NOT keeping up with all of these changes so, they might just outsmart themselves because I predict that some of this stuff is going to start sitting on store shelves collecting dust very soon. Once upon a time, you only had to buy something if you never had it to begin with and you only needed to replace something when you lost it or it stopped working. (Remember those days?) Apparently, somebody decided that forcing consumers into "repetative buying" was the better way to go.

You might find this hard to believe but, I felt that we were destined for a collapse in our economy just from all of the changes in technology alone... and, long before we were hit with this economic crisis caused by the Bush administration. If people aren’t working and getting paid enough money to buy all of these new things, they can invent whatever they want but, there will come a time when no one will be able to buy it. As the current economic crisis looms over us and most people are watching their pennies more than ever before and making conscious decisions to spend only when needed, I often think back to how I felt when I was standing in the music store and could no longer buy a record.

We have all kinds of people in the world who need to feel included… young, old, rich, strugglin', poor, etc. This also means that there are a lot of different "comfort zones" out there that need to be considered and respected. The “powers that be” have quietly eliminated our freedom to choose what is best for ourselves as individuals and we are literally being “told” and “forced” into just about everything now. I'm still trying to figure out why my cell phone really needs to take pictures if I'm also expected to buy a digital camera? (Yes, I have these too.) I actually saw a commercial on TV the other night for some type of phone that can track the location of all the contacts in the phone. Now, that is down right scary! Maybe I don't want you to know where I am! My life experience tells me that such an existence is in fact a “dictatorship” so, I feel that our so-called “freedom” is being threatened more and more with each passing day (and, I don’t necessarily mean by terrorists).

The advances in technology regarding music and its equipment is just one simple scenario that I’m using to paint a larger picture. Just think… if all of the different formats of music were still out there and you only had $ 3.00 to spend on music after paying all of your bills and getting other necessities, wouldn’t it be nice to at least have the option of going to the music store and getting a record, if that’s all you could afford? Not to mention, some of the music that is being released today is only worth the $ 3.00 you would pay for a record. And, if God blessed you to reach the ripe old age of 80 years, why should you be forced to learn how to download music and/or use an MP3 player? Let them enjoy their remaining years playing records, tapes, or whatever floats their boat... they've earned it! My mother-in-law still has records that are 78's (And, believe me, I'll understand if you don't remember those!) and hasn't been able to play them for years because that speed was eliminated from turntables a long time ago and now, turntables themselves are practically extinct. I've heard that there are still a few die-hard DJs who continue to use them for "scratching". (Remember that?)

Don't get me wrong... advances in technology are great and that is exactly what we are supposed to do... ADVANCE (unlike the image you see above that I used strictly for comic relief). I am in no way suggesting that we live in the past or stand still and not progress. However, I do want to go back to the days when "I" decide what I need based on who I am, what I like, and what I can afford. I don't feel that anyone has the right to make-up my mind for me when I'm spending my hard-earned money. Some of the things that are being replaced now days are being "eliminated" unnecessarily because of nothing more than just plain ol' GREED. Well, when they start paying me more money to afford these new things or offering refunds for what they deem as being "obsolete" (Don'tcha just hate that word?), then they can tell me what to buy!

I Can't Live Without My Cell Phone

Most of my friends text. They have Blackberrys, iPhones, and they probably are candidates for carpal tonal syndrome in their thumbs from texting so much. They're on the bus texting, the subway texting, sitting next to me in my car texting, at the bar texting and laughing to themselves. They used to text me but, since I never text back, they stopped.

Me, I talk on my cell phone... not a lot and certainly not as much as some people but, enough. Which brings me to my real topic… brain tumors and cell phones! I was watching Larry King earlier tonight and they had a panel of "experts" on talking about a possible link between cell phone usage and brain tumors.

This is a prime example of the kind of foolishness that gets passed for "news" on a slow news day. They have been talking about this for 7 years now and no study has really said that there is conclusive evidence that there is a link.

One expert said that when this study was initially started, they were talking about analog cell phones, which nobody uses anymore. He said that practically all cell phones on the market now are digital and give off a burst of radiation too low to concern anyone. (I was concerned that any radiation at all might be near my head.)

A doctor remarked that brain tumors have been around long before cell phones and that they, more than likely, will be around when something new comes along. (Wow, I'll bet he sat at the head of HIS class!)

Some woman from one of those "red states" that elected George W. Bush called in and asked if, the fact that she lives near a cell tower puts her in any danger of getting a brain tumor. I wanted to say, "Yeah, it puts you in danger of letting the Martians know how stupid you are."

Larry King asked if there was any documented cases of someone developing a brain tumor from cell phone usage. The doctor said, "There is no more proof that using a cell phone causes brain tumors than there is that not using one causes them."

At that point, I had enough of the foolishness. I turned the TV off and came in my study to write this post. Uh... oh, I gotta go... my cell phone is ringing!

To Be Young, Black, & Electronic

Sometimes on Saturdays, I like to get up early and drive to my favorite coffee shop. Here I can sip coffee and browse through my favorite magazines and newspapers. My favorite reading material tends to be VIBE, ESSENCE (I like to know what's on my sistas' minds), ESQUIRE, GQ, NEWSWEEK, BLACK ENTERPRISE, and occasionally JET. The coffee shop I patronize is in a part of Philly called Manayunk, where you get a cross section of people both black and white, young and old. It used to be that all of the patrons were doing the same thing I was doing... sipping coffee and reading. Now days, I notice that the patrons are younger, and the black patrons tend to be the very educated bohemian types. Even more noticeable is that there is less reading going on.

You see, my coffee shop has become "Wifi-compatible" now. Practically all of the patrons are now hooking up their laptops or sipping coffee while feverishly sending and receiving text messages on their cell phones or Blackberrys. Women are chatting on cell phones and teenagers are listening to iPods. (Amazing how fast CD's have become almost obsolete isn't it?). There's also a satellite radio station that plays a cross section of Neo Soul and Hip Hop over the speakers (which I find is much better than the dry classical music they used to play).

The last time I was at my coffee shop, my friend had his laptop hooked up and was checking out the sports scores from the night before. Me, I was still fumbling through the sports section of the local newspaper.

I look on all this with bemused amazement. I believe there is at least one laptop in my house and I may be taking that with me the next time I visit my favorite coffee shop and write this post from there. I'll be feverishly taking cell phone and text messages that day too. I do have an MP3 player with Jay Z's Black Album downloaded on it but, I haven't used it in a year (I gotta get reacquainted with it). Is there an I-Pod in my future? Sooner or later, I'm sure it will be.

I'm also amazed at how Blackberry's, cell phones, and iPods have become almost part of the modern wardrobe. Tell me, when is the last time you saw anybody in public without some type of electronic device attached to them? How many of you have ever walked out of your house without at least your cell phone? You felt kind of naked, didn't you? It was as though you left home without your pants on, wasn't it? (And, believe it or not, I have done both in my lifetime!)

These are really signs of our times... we have become "electronic". It's cool... I've just got to get on board. I will say that a laptop and a Blackberry takes up a lot less space than all my magazines and newspapers. Maybe then, I would have enough room to order another coffee and actually eat something!