The Summer of Technology

Over the last few years, I have had the growing sense that technology was passing me by. I have never been an “early adopter” or tech geek in the first place and increasingly felt like I was falling hopelessly behind in my already limited understanding. Therefore, this summer I have undertaken a major upgrade of my technological tools and knowledge. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

• Copied all CD’s to my iTunes library. I enlisted my younger son for part of this, paying him 25 cents per CD while he read or played on his iPod. He was happy to buy some new Legos with the money.
• Updated all the cover art and edited song information and groupings as necessary.
• Bought a 320GB G-Drive slim portable external hard drive and set it up to back up my computer with Mac Time Machine.
• Bought an iPod Nano, 16GB. I purchased at a good price via Amazon.com’s Warehouse Deals. I now have my entire music library on my Nano, which is small enough for easy use on my long runs. Dave got a new Nano as well.
• Upgraded my MacBook operating system to OS X 8.6 Snow Leopard in anticipation of upgrading to OS X Lion when it arrives later this month.
• Took the leap and bought an iPad2, 32GB black. Loving it so far and will elaborate on my decision process for this in a future post.
• Tricked out my iPad with a light blue Smart Cover for everyday use and a Logitech Keyboard Case by Zagg for travel and heavier text entry.
• Downloaded a bunch of new applications to my computer and/or iPad, including Evernote, Todo 4, Moneywell, and Feeddler Pro. This involved research regarding the best apps for my needs and a learning curve as I figured out how to use them.
• Downloaded CleanMyMac to delete unnecessary files and junk on my computer. I freed up several additional gigabytes.
• Created an account at WordPress.com and selected a blog template, then edited the CSS code for a customized look. I had taught myself the basics of HTML a few years ago using HTML, XHTML and CSS For Dummies. I am very pleased with the finished look of the blog.
• Created a new professional Facebook Page and linked my blog posts to my Facebook pages.
• Began posting to my new blog.

I have a few more projects left:

• Upgrade to OS X Lion when it becomes available (any day now!).
• Download Apple’s Keynote presentation software to my laptop and iPad — and learn how to use it.
• Create accounts at Dropbox and/or iCloud. I need to learn more about the pros and cons of each.
• Download iAnnotate for reading and editing PDF’s.

Whew, I think that’s all for now. As I’m sure you can tell, I am now totally hip with all the lingo, and caught up through the ’90s.

Any apps or devices you think I am still missing?