Some people have all the (bad) luck when it comes to technology. Today, Ponzi vents about today’s frustrating adventures as a mini-geek.

Dang it! Dang all the hardware that is supposed to be “user” friendly. Those of you who know me know I’m not the geekiest of all geeks. I’m maybe a mini-geek, by default, which in turn means I like technology. I’m not afraid of technology and I want to include it in all aspects of my life - at a fair cost.

Fair cost in my mind doesn’t have much to do with dollars and cents; it mainly just has to make sense - in my non-technical mind. It has to be friendly and useful, not take too much time during the learning curve, and must be intuitive to my next desires should I make a mistake. This is where it would pay for all you smart “marketing gurus” to listen.

I’ll say it again: Fair cost to me doesn’t have so much to do with money as it does ease of use. I’m willing to pay for something I think is better quality, which equals “smarter.” Lucky for me I have a true geek in the house who is concerned with my payouts when it comes to tech stuff and he helps guide my decision making. Today I got cornered and didn’t end up a happy camper. Here’s the lowdown on what happened:

No less than three devices let me down today. Thank goodness I only paid for one of the three, otherwise I’d be even more upset. Picture it. It’s 2 pm and I have a crapload of paperwork that needs to go to the accountant. This means I’ve got a solid two hours at Kinko’s ahead of me. So I think, “Perfect, I can catch up on some podcasts or, better yet, a book from Audible.” Here’s where the tech breakdown begins. I want to be at the local Kinko’s by 3 to ensure getting home by 5:20 to take off to a dinner with friends at 6 pm. So - that means I have half an hour to get the information from my computer to my device and in my pocket before I leave the house. I try to get the info to no less than three different devices - to no avail. First, I try the iPod Shuffle - it syncs the easiest with iTunes without delay in a matter of around two minutes. Cool, until I decide to pull my audiobook from Audible’s Manager into iTunes. It won’t have it. I try to click and drop. Ha… right. Then I try to get Audible to “recognize” the device. It pulls up lots of options, but not the Shuffle that’s sticking out of my USB port. Okay - so I look at the clock and make an executive decision. I’ll just listen to the music on the Shuffle (since it’s already synced) and I’ll listen to my podcasts and audiobooks on the Creative Zen.

So I try and sync the audiobook. Audible says I need to update to the latest version of whatever for my Creative to work. Yada, yada, yada. I press “yes, download” (just work, already) and then it prompts that it was successful, and that I need to restart or shutdown. Yes, yes, whatever the software/hardware demigods say (just make it work.) I restart everything, go to Audible Manager, open it, and it says I don’t have the latest whatever.

Oh, My God! Now I’m pissed. Do I do all this again? (it’s 2:45) I know I need to leave. Last ditch effort - I will give this try five minutes, max. I’ll use my Pocket PC phone. I try to load a new device and I see it on the approved list - thank goodness. I go through the whole nine again for the Pocket PC and then it says it doesn’t recognize my device and asks me if I have everything plugged in correctly. I take a deep breath and wiggle all my wires to make sure everything is plugged in. Yes, it is. Do it all again. Same message.

If I was merely pissed before, I’m on the borderline of outrage, now! I’m already into precious photocopying time and I’m wondering why I am in this position.

1. I usually listen to all my audio files through my computer with my cordless headphones. I walk around the house and listen to either Napster To Go, podcasts, or audiobooks with no problem and I get to do chores, etc. while I’m listening.

2. I don’t like to read any kind of tech manual. I’ve tried. The outcome is always the same. I end up mind-wandering and not remembering what I just read. Then I start over only to mind-wander again. I’m never going to get through a 50 page manual at that rate.
3. I depend wholly too much on Chris to set up and help service my tech stuff. I need to start watching him do it at the very least. (He says he would rather just set it up for me because it’s easier and faster than explaining in detail all along the way.) Well, I need to get lessons - so either from him or someone. I’m facing the facts here. I need person-to-person instruction.
4. The last and most important reason I’m in this position is crappy hardware and software design that is not user friendly or intuitive of my mistakes and how to guide me to fix them.

The story ends up with me listening to my Shuffle of music and happily copying all that needed to be copied. I will have to catch up on the latest podcasts and audiobooks from my computer at home until I figure out the problem. I will confess for a split second thinking. “Dang, if I still had a CD player I could have burned the audiobook to a disc and listened to it that way.” OMG how awful was that? I have three of the latest devices and I’m thinking of burning a CD. Now think about my poor Mom, how would she deal with all this tech drama. I’ll tell you how, she wouldn’t “fool around with it” until it was one button sync and play, a better alternative than whatever she uses now for music and more reliable with more features. If you find that device and the software that runs it please forward me the info. I need it. What devices do you use and how easy are they to work with?