Garoo

Did I tell you I was unlucky with technology purchases? I’ve had to go through three Dartys (those are large, cheap electronics stores) before someone told me the V200 and P400 weren’t quite available any more and I was unlikely to find them anywhere (thank you very much to the Darty website, which claims that “The information about model availability is updated permanently. A model that is specified as available in a store actually is at the time of your connection.”). Once I’m at the Madeleine Darty, I choose the X600, which is a bit more expensive but has a few more functions and a nicer interface. Let’s not care too much about the fact that the box was open and the battery was precharged, so I’m probably not the first one using this phone, but everything seems to work, it’s clean, there’s nothing to complain about. Except for the fact that I had to go through three more Dartys for someone to tell me that the connection kit doesn’t exist in USB and won’t be available anywhere (contrary to what one of the first salesmen had told me).

Result: the phone looks much more modern and nice than the one I intended to buy, but it’s one hundred euros more expensive when you include the PC connection kit (which I knew before I bought it — it just happens to be the cheapest acceptable model); it makes 640x480 photos but insists on beeping even in silent mode (damn recent cameraphones); I haven’t got enough serial ports to plug in the modem, the Wacom tablet and the phone; for fifty more euros I could order on Sony’s webiste a Clié TJ37 with a camera and wifi access.

I’m tired of technology. I’m tired of people, too, especially on Saturdays in malls. I’m tired of technology and people, which makes perfect sense since technology is designed and realized by people. I can’t wait for second-generation robots.