Though I appreciate art in all of its possible expressions, I am a practical guy who likes useful things. I do not know where I keep all the silver spoons that were given me at my 2002 graduation (read: useless), but I still use the camping gear that was given me in the same occasion (read: useful).
To me the line between useful and useless is clear. Such a practical guy I am.
Though technologically slow (I opened my twitter account only because it is part of my performance evaluation at work…), I can easily apply this distinction also to the internet.
A demonstration? In its new devises, Apple will include a heartbeat-sharing app, so that you can share your heartbeat with another person. The new frontier for sex-ting, they say ( whatever that means). But so utterly useless! What purpose does it serve: communicating to a new lover your level of excitement or revealing a chronic condition? Not to mention the superlative levels of other intelligent apps, likeCute Watching Girl (a young, discreet Japanese lady who watches you 24/7) or Zips, which displays a zipper that you get zip and unzip. WOW. Tremendously useful, in case you forget the traditional motion.
Maybe I am also socially inept, because I do not see the utility of this new technology. Well, perhaps it is kind of reassuring knowing that a Japanese lady is constantly looking at you, but well…. because I am a very-married man (yes, wife, I know you are reading!), I do not see the point of buying and using these apps.
However, recently I discovered a whole new world of water-related useful apps that made me drink more (water!), and taking shorter showers. Do you know all possible ways you can conserve water? Do you feel the urge to calculate water conductivity, resistivity, and flow ? Or do you simply want to stay on top of the important issues affecting the water, wastewater, industrial water and stormwater industries?
In addition, we usually associate technology to Silicon valley, innovative Start-ups full of young people. What if we could use mobile device technology to improve water operator’s efficiency, let’s say allowing consumers topay for their services as they go. Sounds crazy sci-fi right? Or … letting the operator know when there are leakages in the network to avoid useless water waste… More in future posts, but for now, Just stop unzipping, and download some useful apps!
PS: As I write this blog, I am virtually redesigning my bathroom with my new app. So cool. So useful?
Photo credits: The best phone ever by Alex Chen under license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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