Green
Topic: Gadgets/Gizmos
I'm unreasonable. Possibly just silly. I think it's because I'm so addicted to gadgets.

I have an iPod Shuffle. It holds 512 Mb of data. I can hold a lot of music on it; it is more than enough for my needs. I've never filled it and gone through every song on it in one sitting. I like it very, very much.

I finally got my wife something for Christmas. We've been waiting for a bonus to come in, and it did, so we got her what she wanted. She could have had a PSP, or a new video card, but she chose over those an iPod Nano. It's a very nice gadget. She could have got the 2 gig Nano, but for only 50 dollars more, she opted for the 4 Gb. It holds her music and her audio books. It's black, sleek, small, and she even bought a carrying case with a belt clip on it. She can carry it with her everywhere. She loves it.

Functionally, it's identical to my Shuffle, except it holds 8 times more music than my Shuffle. Which means it holds 8 times more than all the music space I need. Hells; she could put all her favorite songs on it, still have plenty of room left over, and only hook it up to her PC to recharge it now and then. It's better than mine, but functionally, it's identical in every respect but one, and that one respect is inconsequential; more storage space than I'll ever need is, in practical terms, just as useful to me as 8 times more storage space than I'll ever need.

And that's why I'm unreasonable, or possibly just silly. Despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, we both have exactly the same thing, I'm envious of her technology. She's been very wonderful and understanding about my computer's clocks, vid, and RAM capabilities, and here I am jealous of her iPod. I really don't know why. I think it's a technogeek thing.

I'm very happy for her. I'm glad whenever she gets what she really wants, because I do not believe she's good enough to herself, and she earns every respite from the stresses of work and modern life that she can get. Having her music stored on a device that's smaller than a pack of Trident gum is a great thing; she can take it fishing, or shopping, or wherever she wants to take it. I wanted her to have it, and I'm glad she went all out and got what she wanted, and what she deserved. I really am.

But I'm envious. I don't know if that makes me a bad person or not, but at least I can admit I'm envious, and move on. I'm sure in time my envy will be replaced by common sense, probably the next time I get something really cool for myself. So, with that in mind, I say this from myself, to myself... "Self, she's happy, that's what counts. Get over it."

I feel better already.