Earlier today, Techcitement published part one of what some of our staff is thankful for. More of the staff has their say on what tech items and ideas make them particularly happy in this second installment.
Paul Hurwitz: Dropbox and LogMeIn
I’m grateful for LogMeIn and LogMeInRescue for allowing me to do the same amount of night and weekends tech support for family and friends, but allowing me to do it much faster. It’s much easier to do something yourself, than trying to tell non-computer savvy people what to open and where to click the mouse.
I love DropBox. I have it installed on every computer I use at home and at work (and soon on a Sprint iPhone 4S) and it’s amazing that I can keep all of my files in one place, knowing that I can access them from anywhere. I’m grateful to DropBox for creating referring links that have allowed me to increase my free account from 2 GB to 1 GB. It also doesn’t hurt that grateful Google gave me free AdWords credit to allow me to create pay-per-click adds to get strangers to use my DropBox referral link.
Nick Kask: AppleTV
I was given an AppleTV last Christmas. It has been on my Amazon Wish List but I wasn’t very serious about it; I didn’t think I’d need it or want it, really. It was just a gadget— and an Apple one, at that — so I thought I should have it. But I couldn’t be more glad to have it now. With its connectivity to my iTunes and its ability to play Netflix, I use it daily. For one, it has finally made my Netflix subscription worthwhile. That in and of itself would be enough for the $99 investment. Even though I have an Xbox and a PlayStation 3, I prefer the Apple TV interface for Netflix.
And never have I had such an organized and useful iTunes movie library than since I got the Apple TV. It encouraged me to get everything under control and accessible. I went from having a handful of movies in there — mostly snippets of many different things — to a library of about 50 full movies: some purchased, some ripped from DVDs, some as digital copies I get from buying BluRay, etc. And AppleTV’s small stature and easy portability means I can move it between TVs in my house, and even take it to a friend’s if I want. Plus, I can control it easily with my iPhone or iPad.
So this Thanksgiving, I’m sure one thing I’ll be firing up — and thankful for — will be my Apple TV!
Reuven Shechter: Spotify and Streaming Music
Spotify has been one of the most life-altering technological advances I can remember recently. Instead of constantly purchasing or otherwise obtaining interesting music, I have can listen to whatever I want, free of charge. The social aspect of Spotify is simply spectacular, especially in a college or work environment. Sharing music tastes with friends (except the ones you need to hide) brings new music into my life: up and coming artists, top songs, great playlists. Spotify also makes it possible to satisfy everyone’s music tastes in any given environment without needing to harness the power (and excessive bandwidth) of YouTube. Spotify, Pandora, Rdio, and Slacker have invariably altered the music landscape and way I live my life; something I am truly thankful for.
Daniela Weiss-Bronstein: External Storage and TiVo
I’m grateful for TiVos, which let me watch shows when my kids are sleeping and have a constant supply of non-irritating shows for them to watch while awake. And to external hard drives, which neatly solve the problem of losing all of our pictures and video after leaving our laptop on a street in Manhattan — twice.
Tom Wyrick: GPS and Square Card Readers
Really, there are so many aspects of technology I’m grateful for, but GPS systems have to rank high on my list. Whether I’m trying to get to one of my customers to provide them with some computer help or we’re just trying to get to a birthday party one of the kids got invited to, I count on my GPS to get me there.
Another great little piece of technology is the card reader from Square. Thanks to their service, I can accept payments from all major credit cards and simply swipe them, on location, using my Android phone or iPad and their attached reader. The customer simply signs right on my touchscreen, and Square even optionally emails them a receipt. They provide the reader free of charge, and they have no monthly merchant fees or minimum usage requirements.
Justin Davis: Many Types of Instant Messaging and Texting
I’m a busy guy. Besides acting as the editor-in-chief of Techcitement, I also have a full-time day job as a marketing writer and I’m a regularly-performing improviser. That means, I have my hands in a lot of pots in a lot of different kitchens, and sometimes I need help making sure I can keep things cooking. I’m not one of those guys who answers Outlook emails about work on my phone (work is for during work time), but I do regularly have other Techcitement staff members contacting me through instant messaging apps like Facebook Messenger. I can respond immediately to inquiries about the site, article ideas, or to shame Mordechai for misspelling a word. Recently, I used the Text Easy app on my Android phone to contact everyone in a show I created and direct called The Professor: Improv Inspired By Doctor Who to have them fill me in on how the final show of our first run went because I couldn’t be there in person. I received multiple responses (some trying to prank me into thinking it went horribly when it went beautifully) in text messages and Gmail alerts that I had new comments on my Facebook wall. At any one moment, I can be having a conversation through text messaging, Facebook Messenger, and Google Talk on my phone, all while talking on the computer with people over Google Chat and using Trillian: The Ultimate Chat Program to talk to others using multiple different types of instant messaging programs. To some people, being this accessible is one of the downfalls of modern technology. To me, it’s a godsend. Also, I can still turn it off whenever I want. I’m thankful for that too.
Mordechai Luchins: Homebrew (Jailbreaking, rooting, whatever)
I can’t stop modding. I don’t care if you call it homebrew, jailbreaking, rooting or whatever else. One of the first things I do when I get a device is find out how to really make it “mine”. Back when I had Windows Mobile, it wasn’t uncommon for me to rebuild my phone OS once a week. I even did it with Palm OS. Nowadays, with dedicated teams like webOS Internals, WPChevron, XDAdevelopers, and Cynogen, it’s even easier to find a way to get your device to do things it’s not “supposed to do.” A toast then, to geeks.
That almost wraps up what Techcitement is thankful for this year. We have one more thing we ant to give thanks for.
You.
Yes, thank you, readers. We launched our site back in May and saw the responses come in quickly to let us know we had made the right choice. Every day, we grow a little more, and every day, we’re thankful to have you there with us.
We’d love to hear what you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving in the comments section below.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Comments are closed.