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The Engadget Podcast Ep 33: Losing My Edge
Managing editor Dana Wollman and host Terrence O'Brien are joined by a new face on this week's episode: social media manager Evan Rodgers. They'll talk about Engadget's Adult Week -- a collection of articles about growing up in the digital age. Sure, we all know that what you say on social media can really come back to bite you in the ass (and possibly cost you a job). But, the internet is both an obstacle that needs to be navigated and a powerful tool that can teach you to be an independent and self sufficient adult. Without it Terrence and Evan would have never learned how to properly invoice companies during their freelancing days. And Dana has turned to the web to learn how to cook. They grow up so fast... sniff.
I love my child too much to put her on the internet
If I've done my job right, by the time my daughter leaves for college she'll have a digital footprint measured in millimeters. That's not because I want to erase her from public life, but because nothing good comes from being online. Having lived the majority of my life wired into the internet, I've realized that you should keep as much of your information away from it as possible.
I don't know how to drive and I may never have to learn
Whenever I'm hanging out with friends from out of state and I pull out my New York state ID, there's always a bit of confusion: "What is that? Is it like a driver's license? Is that valid? Can you fly with that? Why don't you just get a real license?" And I have to give the same list of explanations: It's just a good as a driver's license for ID, since I have to provide the same level of documentation to the DMV to get one. I can use it to fly and get into bars. And, well, I don't have a driver's license because ... I don't know how to drive. I've never needed to. And, as I approach my fourth decade on this earth, I might never need to, because the world is increasingly made for people like me.
The life-changing magic of tidying up (your computer)
Someone once told me that consumerism is the process whereby our happiness is ripped from us so that it can be sold back to us at a profit. It's the sort of thing you don't think about when you're a kid, but gradually hits you as an adult. After all, three decades of constant consumption, retail therapy and 24-hour supermarkets takes its toll. I've reached a place where I'm being slowly suffocated by my possessions, both real and imaginary, and it's time to make a change.
