Giving in to temptation

I have finally succumbed. I should have known it was coming. It's only been acts of supreme will power that have seen me last this long. Perhaps that was why I could never quite kick my cola addiction, I was diverting some of my self-will into avoiding the moment when I would give in. But it's happened. Sometime last week, I caved in and by the end of Monday, I was holding it in my hot little hand.

Yes, I have once again admitted that I am a super nerd, and jumped back on the Apple bandwagon. I am now the proud owner of an iPhone.

Of course, if I was a true nerd, I would have painstakingly typed this blog post into my phone, just to get the little message on the bottom that tells you I have sent this from my iPhone. Because you need to know that I am online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, where ever I may roam, whatever I may do. I can be switched on all the time. But sadly, my hands, hot as they may be, are not really that small. I have yet to master the art of typing with reasonable accuracy and something vaguely resembling speed. So I'm on my trusty laptop.

Only recently, the laptop hasn't been terribly trusty. So now that I've given in to the iPhone urge, to match my 2 iPods, the thoughts are starting to creep in. Damn those new iMacs look good. I could really use a 27 inch screen. And since my poor baby PC is riddled with viruses that no bloody virus checker seems able to eradicate, the pressure is mounting. I want one. I can already see the arguments building about why I need one. It will be like the iPhone, which I kidded myself was a necessity because my old phone was starting to freeze and was losing some of its functions. Of course, the iPhone doesn't necessarily have the lost functions, but it was necessary, in spite of that. And I got such a good deal. I really would have been almost negligent to leave it there, to have missed the opportunity to buy what, by all accounts, is the most troubled Apple release to date.

Sure, I know the problems. I knew them before I spent 4 days solid playing with the damned thing, meaning that every night it needs to be re-charged. I knew that the App Store would be my downfall. And yet I bought it. Because I am a nerd. Because it has the shiny Apple logo on it. Because it's just. So. Damned. Pretty.

Yep, the temptation is mounting. And, as Alfie Doolittle sang in My Fair Lady, "With a little bit o' luck/ When temptation comes you'll give right in". Then again, Alfie was a 'natural philosopher' in the original version of the play; he knew enough to add another verse which, for me at any rate, usually follows the temptation - "With a little bit o' luck/ You can have it all and not get hooked." Except that's the problem with Apple products. Once you've had one, you are - well, I am - often exactly that. Hooked. Perhaps I'd best put the phone out of sight for now...

Geek by numbers

I am a self-confessed geek. Notice, I've even got those link things sorted now. Hell, I write a blog on a scarily regular basis. There's no denying it. But now, I'm a geek obsessed with numbers.

There's the stat counter that I run on this blog. I got very excited today, thinking that I'd had a load more visitors than normal. Turns out it was just 2 people discovering me for the first time - thanks for looking, folks. My handy little counter tells me where people have gone on my blog. It also tells me about something called page loads. It was the page load figure that had me excited. Whilst I love that there are people out there who've now read more than the most recent post - and yeah, I adore the idea of having an audience - I wasn't as excited when it turned out to only be two people.

And I'm still paying attention to the world of internet dating. I've hit a point where quantity far outstrips quality. I feel a thrill when I see how many people have read my profile. They haven't necessarily contacted me after they've looked, but the initial hook is enough.

The number of emails I get a day, the number of twitter followers I have...It's all about validation through numbers. And the internet, handy as it is, can tell me just how many people do - or don't, if you take a negative view - pay attention to little old me. I'm not exactly an extrovert in the real world (hell, I was voted person most likely to become a spy by my high school teachers, and that wasn't because of my athleticism or my skill with gadgets). But on the internet? Sure, I crave the attention in what could become a very unhealthy way. Notice, I'm even referencing myself here. 

I could blame the number of accountants I have in my life for the sudden fixation on numbers, but I know it's a lie. So instead, I'm just going to have to hope that the attention keeps up, or I don't know what I'll do. I might even have to make an effort in reality. And we all know that could end badly indeed.