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07/22/09
Nothing I do and no email or tweet is important to the world at large, but in a world where my office is 12 feet from my bedroom and clients expect work turned around within a few hours, yes, those emails are important to me. I applaud anyone who is trying harder than average in a world full of laziness.
But also, as Lisa attributes to Brian, when I'm on the internet, I feel like I'm meeting friends. They are scattered around town and around the world, and my work and social life are often happening somewhere other than in my living room while I watch TV with my wife. So when I get a new mail, I'm likely to check it. I try to keep it brief and subtle in social situations, but it's my reality. Do I have to? No. But running a business as well as I can means being on top of things and so does running this blog. We all love to squat in the comments and bitch at how Gizmodo is run, but I love this place, and I'm glad that Brian cares enough to keep on top of things all the time.
But man, really, I don't need to be in your bedroom with you. For me, that's the boundary for my iPhone. I might facebook on the pot, but I don't love and tweet.
07/21/09
As for all the other times we check email, I think most are unnecessary. The world isn't going to end if we don't check our email every half hour. And the only reason we do it is because we're essentially addicted to it, and because we have come to think that everyone else demands immediate response. That's the real problem with txt, email and twitter - this feeling that we have to be connected all the time, not for our own benefit but because everyone else expects it (or at least we think they do).
Most damaging is the idea that it's only "5% of your idle clock cycles" because it's not. Even if it's only 1 minute out of twenty, it means we're not fully in the moment - not fully engaged with the activity at hand. We cannot really multitask, and checking our email or whatever just pulls our attention away just enough that we're never really there. That's what really pisses girlfriends off, I've found. And I can't say that they're wrong, really.
07/21/09
07/21/09
However, sometimes other things are more important than your work no matter how much you enjoy it. It's your call and you may change your mind (or she hers), but this is probably a good time to drag out the old chestnut about nobody on their deathbed wishing they spent more time at the office.
07/21/09
Keep your lady as happy as you can and she'll return the favor, regardless of your proclivities.
I know your work is important, but the lowdown on that new helmet-cam doesn't compare with the special moments with your lady.
(Moments you could be parleying into OTHER moments, if you know what I mean -nudge nudge)
Say no more!
07/21/09
07/21/09
I know a guy who wants to win a Nobel prize. His work is important. He works late in the lab, most days. That is fine. What is not okay, would be if he brought his physics research home with him, and busted it out at the kitchen table as soon as their was a lull in the conversation. This is exactly what Brian is doing, and what his girlfriend is rightly calling bullshit on.
07/21/09
Maybe another solution is for him to take a night off a week for the two of them. On that night, he let's someone else (obviously a close friend he trusts) keep track of his emails. If something needs to be published to Giz, it gets published with a basic line and general information, with a "more to come later." If that doesn't work, he could actually have somebody call him if he gets any important mail.
Is it a perfect solution? Not even close. But something along these lines shows he's making an effort. I piss my girl off pretty regularly (hell, I piss off a lot of people pretty regularly!), but I can usually slide because I may not budge on one thing, but I can totally compromise on the other.
07/21/09
You also have to consider that when it comes to your girlfriend, you aren't just talking about being rude or not. What might just be kind of rude in a normal context becomes really hurtful in a relationship context. I'm basically cool with indicating to a check-out person that I find waiting in their line supremely uninteresting, but I'm not going to do the same to my boyfriend over dinner even when my brain is melting during his detailed account of what he and "the guys" did over their lunch break.
Bottom line - feeling second to something else, anything else, makes a person feel insecure. Even if your reason isn't, like for many of us, boredom, the end result is the same. Insecurity breeds discontent, and discontent ends relationships. Which is probably cool when you're talking about a salesperson or someone else you barely know, but should make you think twice when it comes to people you love.
07/21/09
You said you don't usually comment on Giz...I don't either and I think there's a few other who have commented here who usually don't. Personally, I'm a Lifehacker guy (even though I comment way more on Kotaku, for some reason). Giz strikes me as, I don't know, too dry sometimes. I'm not just attacking Giz, I'm going somewhere with this.
"Blam Blows Up"
This is for everyone....How about once a week, we get an article like this on Brian's mind? Why does everyone hate the iPhone? What's with all the fanboy hate? Blu-ray: A waste of money! Whatever the hell he feels like saying.
You can agree with him, or disagree or whatever, but it's not a news item. It's a once a week chance for him to let off some steam and for us to have more of a social talk with one of the bigger names at Giz that stays hopefully relatively troll-free.
So, what does everybody think? Brian?
07/21/09
ok, bottom line is your friends and family know who you are and what you need to do. they will recognize your responsibilities and when and where you need to stay connected. BLam and all the other guys at Giz, i am sure, have loved ones who understand it's their JOB! don't knock the editors because they share what their life is like and it's happens to be different than yours. do i need to check my e-mail 24/7? no, i don't. my friends know that and if i did check it they would think me rude. but if you have a legit reason to stay connected everywhere (competing with another gadget blog for internet superiority qualifies) than whip your phone out at the table and the people who know you, the people that matter won't give a hoot. those who seem offended obviously aren't someone who needs to be important to you. battery dying -- end rant.
07/21/09
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07/21/09
On your side of things, life has a lot of boring moments. If I'm in line at a grocery store, I go ahead and check my email. If I'm at the bar or a friends house and others are preocccupied, I'll bring out. If someone is annoying or boring me, I'll check it.
All of that said, I have to say something; you keep brushing off anybody who thinks it's rude with a "you don't know what it's like to work here." Well, that's 100% true for most people, but if your going to post an editorial on a public forum, you should probably not criticize them for responding.
Disagreeing is one thing; comparing the use of the phone with the "powder break" or the "smoke break" is completely acceptable use of argument. Studying how times have changed is completely intelligent. Saying "you don't know what it's like" multiple times seems to discourage the point of a comments section entirely.
Look, I'm going to assume you enjoy the job, so quitting it would not be logical. I assume your relationship hasn't come down to "quit checking your mail or I leave." If it's something the two of you are going to constantly argue about, I imagine the relationship is going to suck. If it's a minor quibble, then just agree to disagree.
The problem is that you're complaining about something that half the readers would give their left nut for; a girlfriend....just kidding! I of course meant the job with Gawker Media. You have a dream job that you're complaining about, and you expect sympathy. I have no clue what you make, but I'm betting it's more than the majority of the readers. That alone makes the whole "you don't know what it's like" a psuedo-insult.
Anyway, I've said more than enough. There you go, it's my take, for what it's worth.
07/21/09
07/21/09
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07/21/09
and if the day comes where i can't poop and read a magazine or my cell phone than i don't wanna keep on living.
07/21/09
I have to admit, you guys do a much finer job than Wired's Gadget Lab of NYT's Gadgetwise, thanks for all your sacrifices!
07/21/09
07/21/09
/end mini-rant
Ps: Eh Brian, just wondering, was it you who starred me?
07/21/09