Last week was like any normal week. Get to work by 8am, grab a quick workout over lunch, crush a protein/vegetable smoothie to get super cut, get home, eat dinner, wake up/surprise Baevita with a trip to the dog park, check emails, go to bed, do it all over again. A couple things happened, however, that have led me down this path, a path that will most likely lead to me becoming a very well known blogger and social media personality. Great!
My office consists of mostly older people (at least older than me) who, generally, do not follow technology trends with the same vigor with which I do. My household is the same way, as is my group of (admittedly few) friends. Now, I don't consider myself the next Zuckerberg, or really even that great with technology or its trends. Google or Apple would, at the very best, giggle me out of the room of any interview. My expertise consists mostly of low level tinkering such as installing new operating systems on my phone to prolong battery life (and avoid having to buy a new one), custom firmware flashes to my router for better performance, dabbling in the emerging "Smart Home" ecosystem of products, etc.
However, when chatting with people I encounter on a day to day basis, I realize my "low level tinkering" quickly becomes a fairly intelligent expertise. I see not everybody, and indeed very few people, know about the cult-ish T-Mobile $30 online only prepaid plan, instead spending far more on the same service. Many colleagues are buying new technology based on extremely limited understanding of the market, or continue to lock themselves into various cellular contracts without understand there are better, and far cheaper, methods.
I consistently try to offer my assistance to friends, family, and colleagues. However, I generally get the response of "oh, cool, will have to look into that", or "you're crazy, stop talking to me". The final straw last week, leading to this blog, was a work colleague and friend who I had heard bought a new TV. As the office's resident "tech guru", I casually approached and asked him about the purchase. Turns out this guy decided to head to Best Buy, chat with a seventeen year old expert, and ended up with a run of the mill LED TV. Of course he had no idea of the OLED technology boom, or even what it was (it's a vastly superior technology and television). Of course he missed the fact that the best TV ever tested by CNET was the same exact price as the one he had just purchased. Of course, he took my criticism as a joke, and laughed it off. I get this reaction too much. Probably not a great idea of how seriously I am taken as an "expert" in this respect, but I digress.
Well, I've had enough. No longer will I be the office goofball, silly fiance, or annoying brother that has ideas fit to be ignored. No, no more. Today, I am an internet blogger, whose opinion will be respected, since nobody gets an online presence without being an expert.
I will provide my readers with casual advice on how to get more from your technology while minimizing cost. I might dive into other passions, such as introductory lessons on credit card points, which ultimately leads to free/low cost travel. Certainly, there are larger, more "professional" websites out there with people paid to do this stuff. However, I follow most of them, and the larger/more influential they get, the more they turn to simply hawking items from various commercial partners. It's more difficult to identify useful information as it becomes interspersed with advertisements. As seen above, some don't have the interest or time, and simply head to the nearest big box ripoff.
Finally, an explanation offered as to the goal of the blog. First, a lesser benefit (hopefully), is to learn. I get some of the most valuable information from reading various tech message boards and comment sections. Maybe some commenters here will offer some interesting viewpoints I have never considered, which will improve my knowledge. Second, my writing could stand to improve, as I failed a certain employment test for the first time recently, specifically for poor writing. Third, as previously mentioned, I think the internet has gotten so big and convoluted that finding solid, sensical, money saving tips and advice can be difficult without looking carefully. And finally, I'm hoping those people in my life who so frequently disregard my tips will eventually realize the advice I am offering makes sense, and will benefit from some of the information. Just because I make a joke here or there, and that some of the advice is goofy (my obsession with bidets will be a future post), there is a method to the madness...The Moneda Madness!
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