I think we all saw this coming. How long could I sustain so much intake of technology articles and independent YouTube videos and cute cat videos and Tumblr GIFs? My first blog was published in 1999. I get emails from young guys who read this blog with birthdays in ’99. I’m an old-timer and I just can’t deal with the cycle anymore of being all blogger or all independent content that I take in. My blog has been so quiet because I’ve been trying to find a balance of my new style of content intake. The last 30 days?
- Subscribed to CableTV
- Picked up a Home Phone that plugs into the wall
- Upgraded to the iPad 3
- Subscribed to New York Times. Tried to get home delivery but they don’t deliver here. So went for mobile edition tablet+phone
- Re-Subscribed to The new Yorker
- Expanded my subscription to Audible to support more books per month.
What did I get rid of in the last 30 days?
- Completely ditched RSS feeds (Reeder, Google Reader, email notifications of new blog posts)
- Unfollowed on Twitter a few hundred more people most of which ONLY talk about technology. I now follow 42 people
- Removed more things from Facebook. Now, it’s only status updates. No location, likes, photos or anything there.
- Deleted my YFrog and TwitPic accounts. I now use only Tumblr and Flickr for photo sharing
- Moved 1100 of my 1200 Facebook friends to the Acquaintances group meaning I don’t see their updates anymore. This was easier than unfriending them.
- Got rid of my Boxee Box
- Cancelled my Usenet subscription
- Made a promise to no longer read comments on blogs or click links I see on Twitter and Facebook.
Holy Hell, that’s a lot of changes.
It’s been amazing. I don’t have any more free time but, when I think about watching a YouTube video, I open the New York Times instead. I read The paper on the treadmill instead of gaming videos. I watch well produced documentaries and movies instead of watching YouTube comment from amateurs. I choose now to spend an hour reading about the world than seeing what celebrities are doing (something I never really did anyway). I have no idea what Apple is up to. Their next product announcement won’t hit me until I see an email from Apple announcing it. Since ’99, I’ve watched every Apple announcement unfold live. Now, I get an email just like everyone else.
On the flip-side, I can talk to you about things beyond technology. I’m reading long-form books and news articles. I’m amazed at how great television shows are in their production value. Game of Thrones on HBO Go is really awesome compared to an hour of FailBlog videos.
I am happy with my decision but I don’t know yet how it will affect me. It’s too early to tell how this shift will affect me in my job or among my geek friends. Forgoing Podcasts, youtube and blogs for polished but corporate backed content that is loaded with ads well…I don’t know. We’ll see. For now, it’s a lot of fun!