He rocks in the tree-tops all day long
Hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singin’ this song
All the little birds on Jaybird Street
Love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet. – Leon René, “Rockin’ Robin”
I’m not a Luddite by any stretch of the imagination; I have nothing against new technology when it offers a definite advantage over the old. But I also believe in the adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and I refuse to run out and buy or try every new craze simply because it’s new. I’m perfectly happy with paper books, and I don’t see any pressing need to replace my CDs and DVDs with “files” in a player. My computer components are connected to one another by wires, and my cell phone is just a phone; when we switched carriers in 2008 and I was forced to give up the old Nextel phone I had used since 2001, the (extremely young) sales people acted like I had plopped an old candlestick telephone on the counter. And my car…as Kelly Michaels can attest, the youngest part of it was designed in 1972. If I’m comfortable with something the way it is, I’m simply not interested in replacing it, and I’m not likely to try new technology unless it fulfills some need of mine.
That’s why up until recently, I never bothered with Twitter; I couldn’t see a real use for it, and as my readers may suspect the idea of limiting myself to 140 characters fills me with a sort of vague horror. As I said in “Extra, Extra!”:
I run this blog much more like a newspaper than like a TV broadcast; that is, I don’t generally worry too much about getting there “first with the most”, but rather on examining a story through the lens of harlotry. In other words, The Honest Courtesan may not be the first place you encounter a new story, but you probably won’t encounter my spin on that story in many other places.
However, there are times when I urgently want to call my readers’ attention to something, such as an online article whose comment thread has been invaded by prohibitionists in need of immediate countering. At other times, there are items I really don’t feel a need to write about, but still would like to call attention to. And then there are the articles which capture my attention and may interest some of my readers, yet don’t fit the format of my blog. A few months ago, I realized that Twitter would provide a useful way of calling attention to all of these things, but I just couldn’t get motivated to drag myself over to Twitter.com to figure it out. Then around Yule regular reader Amazing Susan convinced me to take the leap, and showed me how to sign up; I started “tweeting” on December 23rd and a few of you may have noticed the new “Maggie on Twitter” box on the right. But if you didn’t, and you’d like to receive “tweets” from me, you can click on this link to “follow” me. Don’t worry, I’m not going to flood you with inane “status reports” about what I had for breakfast or cute things my cat just did; I set up WordPress to send out an automatic “tweet” when my column posts every morning, and other than that most of what I’ve done with it so far (and most of what I’m likely to do in the future) is to “retweet” stuff I find interesting or post links to stories as I mentioned above. Once I get a lot of followers I’ll probably use it to mobilize comment campaigns against those who spread disinformation as well, and even now I’ll call attention to such opportunities when they arise.
So, there you have it; I’ve just taken one more baby step into the 21st century. Don’t worry about my getting carried away, though; I’m not going to buy a plasma TV until they’re cheap and my old (c. 2000) set goes kaput. And I’ve seen enough of my husband’s iPhone to conclude that it’s far more trouble than it’s worth.
One Year Ago Today
“Acting and Activism” discusses empty-headed celebrity activists and describes the rude, ignorant and childish behavior of Mira Sorvino toward Laura Agustín. Incidentally, the column contains my very first mention of Ashton Kutcher, who repeatedly made a fool of himself so many times last year.
Am I the only one among the readers here that is somewhat envious of that kitten’s work station?
On the other hand, from the position of productivity…
LOL! That picture was taken in 2004; she’s far too big (and fat) to fit there now! 🙂
Hi, Maggie,
I’ll be following you, though I will have you in my “rss reader.” I hate the twitter interface, so here is the rss feed for those who want your timeline as data for their rss feed readers…
http://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.rss?screen_name=Maggie_McNeill
(PS: I also get your blog this way, http://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/feed/ and if anybody wants a feed of people mentioning you on twitter, it’s https://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=Maggie%20McNeill)
Thanks for the specialized links, Deep Geek! 🙂
” […]
And I’ve seen enough of my husband’s iPhone to conclude that it’s far more trouble than it’s worth.”
Too tempting not to comment on:
Oh you simple women.
.
Joke aside, good move 🙂
Though I barely comment at all, I do still and always enjoy your blog, keep it up and don’t be too afraid of our brave new world 😉
Oh, I’m not afraid of it; I’m just not thrilled by new things simply because they’re new.
Your kitty is so cute!
I was on the Twitter but I grew tired of it. The only thing that got me to sign in again was the email message I got that you’re following my Tweets. If only I could have animated tumbleweed on my Twitter page! LOL
I don’t do Twitter, and I only have a Facebook because too many in my family seem to have forgotten how to use ordinary e-mail once they started the whole Facebook thing. I keep getting these things from various cousins and such (my sisters and parents have learned better) asking me to play this game, open this or that virtual gift, attend this or that birthday app, blah blah frikkin’ blah. I don’t. I always post the same thing when this happens: It wants my information. It can’t have my information.
I tried RSS and it was like Greek to me. Ancient future Greek from an alternate universe. I may try it again some time, if I can every figure out how… and what it’s good for.
Laura is selling me her old .mp3 player. She got a better one, I broke my old one, and if I want to carry a couple of hundred tunes with me, I need the player. Also, I don’t know what CD store I’m supposed to step into and ask: “Excuse me, but do you have the Swedish, German, Italian, and Japanese Sailor Moon opening themes?”
I’ve realized for a while that if I did get one of those iPhones or comparable device, I’d have to take a course to use it effectively.
Hey, Sailor Barsoom,
Just a note about RSS: All it does is convert webpage stuff into email stuff. So you get just text. You then can quickly skim the text and decide if you want to read the webpage it came from. I skim about 400 articles, tweets, and news headlines (from google, who have a service that allows you to make a custom search as rss feed) per week this way.
Don’t try to just go to an rss feed with your web browser, but rather give the rss feed to you email client or get a dedicated rss program or you can even use the web-based “google reader” to bring a world of different sources together for quick skimming.
Hope this helps,
—
Deepgeek
Ah, OK. Well, I already get an e-mail every time Maggie posts a new essay, and every time anybody comments on one.
It sounds a little like the Google news alert. Ah, well.
I’ll help you find your songs!
Above was to Sailor Barsoom.
Thanks, Hot Stuff, but I’ve got them now. As files. It’s the only way.
Well, maybe I could hunt down and buy a few dozen CDs from around the world (finding somebody to translate to and from the various languages). But I’ll stick with my .mp3s.
Here it is in German. Some jerk made a slideshow for a video.
Um, I mean SOME WONDERFUL PERSON made a slideshow for a video!! Yeah, that’s what I meant. heh heh…
A car from 1972? Please tell me it’s something cool like an old muscle car and not something like a Country Squire. My most prized possession is my ’71 442 Convertible I’ve had since high school. Early on there were several times I thought I’d have to sell it, but I’ve held on. The best is pulling up next to some guy in a Porsche or Ferrari and the look on their faces when they realize that no one’s looking at their car any more.
Oh, no, only the newest part of my car (the engine) was designed in ’72. Most of it was designed much, much earlier.
If it’s any consolation, I’m still in my mid-20’s and I still refuse to use a phone to do anything but talk, and don’t do the Twitter thing.
I -do- own a Nook, for the simple fact that I’m at a sort of transitional period in my life, and moving around and packing up easier easier to do when my (considerable) collection of books is in a tiny little box, instead of straining the shelves on multiple book cases. Though once I’m in an established, long-term home (like yours), I’d rather have the tangible books lining walls in a library. But that’s a distant dream at the moment.
I think that’s wise; I remember how hard it was to move after my divorce, knowing I was moving into a tiny apartment and having to decide which half of my books to get rid of. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.