Brain Calcification

So, the iPad is finally here - or at least the cheap one sans GPS and 3G is here. I'm still waiting on the good one. The release of the iPad has reminded me of this one hypothesis of mine: that brains completely calcify to new ideas after a certain age; and that this is a process that progresses (in the bad sense) over many years. Clark's 2nd law paints the picture nicely.

There is this one exception: this father of a friend of mine who is in his 80's. He has Bluetooth equipped hearing aides that allow him to use his phone (his iPhone) and his television all while the room around him remains silent, which is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen. And for an old person to readily employ such technology.... I contrast this with my grandfather, who tried to deafen the rest of us with the tv by turning the volume up high enough that he could hear it. But I digress.

When I think about the JooJoo tablet, the HP Slate, Windows 7, non-iPod mp3 players - well, that's the thing. I don't think about those things. They're about as relevant to my day-to-day goings-on as is the electrical grid capacity in Kenya. I certainly don't get mad that other people use them. Or even like them. With effort I could possibly dig up some pity. Maybe.

And then there are - and I love this label - the iHaters. Why does it bother them so much that some people have found some thing that they like? Jealously of happiness from a childhood deprived of the things they want? For some, perhaps. Others, I'm convinced, are unable to grasp how something new might integrate into their present understanding of life and work; to have to undo a rigid, molded process and possibly optimize it with a new idea. I expect that this has happened to a larger degree in past generations:

First there was radio, and everyone was happy.
Along came silent movies, and some undoubtedly objected that it was a poor imitation of its predecessor.
And then non-silent movies came along
And then color movies
And then 3D movies

Coincidentally, I think I might be running into some of the brain calcification when it comes to 3D movies, but that's for another time.

I'm not sure how to conclude this other than to suggest that the iHaters get a constructive hobby. Or learn something new. Possibly by reading their newspaper.