On Standing In Line and Being First

[wyld_dandelyon]

I recently dropped everything to drive to Chicago through a dark night filled with more traffic than I had hoped for so my sister could wake me earlier than I used to get up to get to the 8:00 a.m. job to go stand in a cold wind on a bridge behind the Chicago Civic Opera. Yes, in line. I wish my sister had woken me a lot earlier, both because I'd have been waiting on a relatively warm street (rivers let the wind pick up coolth and speed), and because the sale would have been less picked over had we arrived earlier.

But cool opera costumes are cool, and if they don't fit right, I can fix that.

In contrast, I had no temptation whatsoever to stand in line for the new iphone. Sure, it can be fun to have a cool new thing before your friends acquire it--but new computers are all the same. Buggy. And a new phone or new computer isn't just something to dance around a con in, it's a day-to-day (and night-to-night) tool. It's there to let me check up on my elderly mother, who moved to the-middle-of-nowhere Oregon, and to let me get where I'm going on time and safely, and to remind me of doctors' appointments, and to let me write the stories I dream of sharing with all of you. And if something goes wrong, all I can do is call tech support and hope they can fix it fast.

Some things are worth waiting in line for. Some aren't.

I love living in the future. I love having computers and other geeky gadgets. But when it comes to tools I rely on, I'll let the rest of you find the bugs for me.

Oh, and thanks! Seriously. You make my life a little better eery time you help my tech work reliably before I get it.

Comments

[shamshir-tin.livejournal.com]

Sounds totally badass. I should totally get back into filk.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Those sentiments make sense to me.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Besides not generally having the money to be an early adopter, this pretty much sums up my feelings about being an early adopter. My current computer, for example, was one of the last models you could buy running Windows 7 and I love it - it runs like a dream. By that time, all the bugs of Windows 7 had been worked out, and the new bugs of Windows 8 had yet to be introduced.

The opera costume sale sounds awesome. I often find myself looking at the pictures in Opera News and wishing people dressed more like opera characters.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

The costume sale was awesome, though my petite niece found lots more to fit her than I did.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

But she "found lots more" implies you found something, yes? *fingers crossed*

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I did!

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

My thoughts on tech run roughly along these lines. Even when the new developments are something I'm salivating for, it's worth my time to wait until the bugs are known and either fixed, or known to be something I can live with.

An iPhone finally came within my reach this summer and some of my friends were like "oh, don't you want to wait until the iPhone 6 comes out in the fall?" Nope. I'll buy at the tail end of the wave, thanks. But you go ahead--I will rejoice with you when you're happy with it and commiserate with you when you're not.

This is similar to why I Luuuurves me some Apple gadgets but both respect and am deeply grateful to the people who buy from their competitors. Without competition companies become more stagnant and abusive, so by all means, let a thousand--or at least a dozen--flowers grow!

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I feel much the same way about new medications.

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

Of course, if you wait in line to live in the future,
it won't be the future by the time you get there.
OTOH, if you stand in line to live in the past,
you'll have more to live for.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I'm very happy to live in the future. I just don't want to get cut on the edge.

[acmespaceship.livejournal.com]

Well? What did you get? We tried to attend a Lyric costume sale many years ago at the south side warehouse they were vacating (hence the sale). As we drove up, we saw a line stretching out the warehouse, down the block, down the next block, around the corner and down more blocks. We did not actually see the end of the line. We bailed and went to the Medici for coffee.

Like you, I am grateful to early adopters for spending money and time I won't have to spend later ;-)

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I can see I need to write a post about the costume stuff, though I'm still pondering alterations and additions to most of it. I did post a picture of the brocade robe from the gotterdamerung on Facebook.

[jarrellwoods.livejournal.com]

This was joy to read.
As an aside, this comment is my first use of my autumn raccoon avatar this year. It's my favorite time of year! ^.^