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Entry: Free the Cognitive Dissidents Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/free_the_cognitive_dissidents#32848 Post contents: Of all the people I know, I'm the most intrasigent to accept new technology... not because I see myself as a bohemian or a neo-Luddite purist, but because technology intimidates me. There is a tipping point where some new wonder box stops being a gimcrack for mallrats and turns into an <i>indispensible</i> part of our lives. Computers and cell phones are no longer luxuries - they're near-necessities. A few years ago, I sent someone a packet of crucial documents and thought: "How did we ever get along without fax machines?" Now we scan documents and shoot them off via email; faxes are going the way of telegrams and the Victrolas. The unfortunate left-behinds in this light-speed future shock - like <i>me</i> bucket along, crippled by our eight-track minds in a CD world. Convenience is a drug, baby. But one thing I've learned: <i>Never</i> buy early. Prices fall on new technology as it grows in popularity. I learned this the hard way when I made a rare jump and bought a new offering early - a VCR in <i>1978</i>. It cost $650, could not be programmed and was the size of a steamer trunk. A few years later, home video units could be had for around $100, and were of a size and weight a talented three-year-old could work into a juggling routine with some oranges and a few Indian clubs. We Live. Learn. ...And learn to program. Sent at: 2008 12 02