Techno-geek envy, and other cravings

I have looked at Ipads and Kindles, Kobos and other devices that promise technological advancement at my fingertips. I have wandered through the aisles of computer stores where pimple pocked youth spout nano-second treatise laden with techno-speak I cannot understand.

And I have hesitated. Is it just the fascination with the latest and greatest I seek? Is it just for the sake of consumerism that I buy? Is it geek envy that compels me to purchase the latest gizmo?

I mean, seriously. If I'm left behind in cyberdust will I vanish in a cloud of bits and bytes consuming all memory of my passing through this world?

Then again, maybe, I just need the technology. Maybe I need the fastest, bestest, most gigabyte loaded, app laden gizmo to ensure I am at the head of the pack, leading the way to the second generation of the coming of CPU performance enhanced graphics that give me virtual reality in an unreal world of technology.

Huh?

D'ya think it's so?

Me. I don't know. I do know I spent fifteen minutes in an Apple store test fingering smoothened keypads and fingertip smeared touchscreens and felt the craving for more. Not the 'gimme the techno-buzz' more kind of crave, hell I wouldn't know an INTEL 4GB RAM harddrive (or whatever it's called) if it bit me in the you know where!. No my acquisition angst is more the ooohhhh, this is so fresh and cool and with it and shiny. Oh yes. Shiny and glittery and all smooth and clean. Oooohhh. It's groovy man. Grrooooovy!

And I resist. I walk out of the store after the fresh-faced, young, did I mention really young, sales clerk reassured me that, "We don't work on commission at Apple so you don't have to worry about buying from me, right now.", I walked out and felt relieved.

Another bullet dodged. Another techno-acquisitive laden moment released without fulfillment into the atmosphere of unrequited consumerist cyberspace.

Freed of my inner drive to acquire, I wandered the mall resisting the urge to buy. Okay, so I did pick up that cute pair of black pumps I've been craving. And a new pair of pants that I really, really need. Oh, and I did...

No I Didn't!

I did not buy.

I will not buy.

I am an anti-consumer driven weapon of buying non-conformity. I do not NEED those shoes. I simply want them.

And I am free of wanting what I do not need.

Yup. That's me.

Though... I may have to acquire a Kindle. Ever since I tried to purchase 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake, Written by ' Our Man in Abiko (@ourmaninabiko)', a British resident of Japan who felt helpless to help those caught up in the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of March 11, it is meant to support quake victims in Japan. Published in just two weeks using tweets and blogs and other electronically enhanced media, it is available online at Amazon.

And there's my dilemma

The only way to acquire it is .... on an electronic reader. Yup. It is sold only through Amazon and can only be downloaded to a Kindle or KOBE or some such device with a peculiar name I cannot remember.

I learned about it through the amazing Maureen, over at Writing without Paper, She wrote extensively about it this morning. And it is well worth the $9.99 -- all proceeds from its sale go to victim relief.

But, you do need an electronic reader.

I've been resisting.

Who needs more technology?

But... it is the new wave. The next generation. The future.

And I gotta get me on that ride!

Oh well. Back to the electronics store to be bedazzled by technology. Back to acquiring some new technology.

(And she sighs in relief.) See, it's not because I'm experiencing techno-envy. It's because I need it. I really, really need it!

Gotta go. Gotta unplug and get plugged in over at the electronics shop so I can relieve my techno-cravings with the pleasure of bits and bytes that will rock my world and connect me to virtual reality in dizzying speed.

I hope.