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Opinion
Low Tech, High Tech: An Old Convertible and a New Playlist Functionality
9/13/2006
By Terry Calhoun
A few days ago I spent an entire day using older technologies and then learning about an interesting application of newer technologies. I spent most of the day being an official for the U.S. Amateur Disc Golf Championships, riding my bicycle up and down the slopes of the challenging Toboggan Course north of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
I ended the day at an open house for All Media Guide (AMG), an Ann Arbor-based company and got to see some of their newest software, including Tapestry™, an intelligent play list selecting system that combines (a) the mass brain power of highly literate human music, video, and gaming experts with (b) a comprehensive database of content, quality, and other information about music, gaming, and video, and (c) some pretty nifty algorithms and a friendly interface.
Between the two events, I drove a 43-year old Chevy Corvair Monza convertible (red, of course) in heavy and fast freeway traffic, ran out of gas, and biked along the freeway with a gas can, empty one way and full the other.
On the Toboggan Course it felt like as technology-free an experience as possible. I was riding a bicycle of course, and carrying a digital camera and cell phone, but the course is like most – a majestic, beautiful outdoor walking experience. This one just happens to have a lot of uphill and downhill. I retired the bike after the second time that I succumbed to the temptation of riding down a 700-foot hill the brakes off and realized that (a) I could not resist doing it over and over and (b) that it was likely that I would injure myself on a third ride.
At the end of the day on the course, I received a call from my oldest daughter, Ruthy, asking me was I going to show up at her employer’s open house. Oops. It was 35 minutes away and started in 30 minutes.
So, I broke my own rule about taking my “new” red 1963 Chevy Corvair Monza on the freeway and discovered that it was okay. It kept right up with the best of the fast-moving traffic. Since I had the top down and my bike with me and the 43-year-old car d'es not have any safety devices except the seat belts that I just added (This is the car that made Ralph Nader’s career: Unsafe At Any Speed.) I decided that I might as well wear my helmet – which drew a few curious stares.
Zooming along, being very happy that my new acquisition could handle 70+ mph, I felt pretty cool until the motor died and I had to pull over. Since one of the things wrong with the car is that the fuel meter d'esn’t work, I had my fingers crossed that I had merely run out of gas – not destroyed the motor. That turned out to be the case!
Having once been an Eagle Scout, I was indeed prepared – with a bicycle and a small gasoline can. It was only a mile to the next exit, with a Shell station, and a mile back. I got to All Media Guide (AMG) in time to join one of the office tours.
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