I started this holiday season by re-watching the Story of Stuff. It relies a little heavily on populist anger and oversimplifies a few points (not nearly as badly as their cap-n-trade bit) but the message is more or less accurate.
One of the reasons I think I’m pretty baller is because I don’t do obsolete. Exhibit A: the image above is how I listen to music in the shower—an 11-year-old laptop hooked up via a thrown-out tape deck adaptor to a 13-year-old boom box with a broken CD player.
That Wall Street G3 has OS 10.4 and Wireless-n. I stream music to it via Airfoil Speakers. Hit play on the boom box, and presto—remote sound from anywhere on the network. Most of the time, the laptop and stereo are alseep/off, consuming a mere trickle of the electricity an always-on AirPort would.
So, how did I get a modern OS and a not-yet-finalized wireless protocol on a decade-old computer? That’s where the World’s Toughest part comes in.
Is that the one that James and I dumpster dove for?
