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Strategy and Spectrum

Charter Communications, better known as Spectrum, is doing well. They have a strategy in place for growth, even if there are a few major obstacles.

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Strategy and Spectrum

Charter Communications, better known as Spectrum, is doing well, all things considered.

True, the State of New York is waffling on whether to allow the merger between Charter Communications and Time Warner to stand. And they’re also working to oust the cable provider from the state itself.

This comes after the state’s Public Service Commission declared that Charter was moving too slowly in fulfilling its promises.

As a result, they slapped the ISP (internet service provider) with a hefty fine and declared they had thirty days to move out of the state. While this may seem extreme, Charter is still in New York as the wheels of politics are slow at best. On August 21st, 2018, it was declared they had a two-week extension. No new news has surfaced after that.

As the dispute drags out, frustrating Spectrum customers, the company itself, and still raising questions over the Time Warner-Charter Communications merger, we can look to an odd source for guidance in this situation.

The game of Risk.

World Domination in Two Dimensions

Risk is a classic board game that allows players to attempt to take over the world. The first edition of the game was your basic map of the world. Most of the countries and nations were simplified into general territories. Each continent was turned into its own entity and there were set paths for entrance.

The goal was simple- control as much of the board as possible. Take out your “friends,” and make sure your armies were everywhere.

Risk has taken on many different versions over the years.

Variations

The ones that I’m most fond of are the Lord of the Rings, Halo, and Legacy editions. These take the basic concept of Risk and apply it to a new map with a few exclusive perks.

For example; Risk: Legacy had some of the oddest armies involved, such as the Enclave of the Bear. This army of genetically altered humans looked the Doth Raki from Game of Thrones. But they came with a unique bonus. More than that, bonuses could be added during each game.

Every time you played Risk: Legacy, the board changed. It would remain that way for the next game and change some more.

One principle remained in all versions of the game- dice rolling.

For each attack, the attacking player got up to three dice. This is where it got tricky for me- if I had more than three armies, I got three die. Two armies= two dice, and one army= one die. In the heat of trying to take a country, I usually forgot this and just kept throwing dice.

The defender, if that person had two armies, got two dice. And, of course, one die= one army.

Both sides would roll.

Your highest dice roll would be matched up the highest dice roll of your opponent. The second-highest to their second highest.

If you had higher dice rolls than theirs, then you won that attack. They’d lose two armies and you’d roll again until you either decimated them, or you were decimated.

It was a little confusing for me at first, and to be honest, it still is. I need constant reminders when I play.

Anyway, you may have a ton of armies, but a few bad dice rolls may derail any visions of swift and decisive victory.

I can recall the ONE time that I won at Risk.

My ONE Victory

It was 2010 and I was still looking for a steady job. My best friend still had the Lord of the Rings Risk that he had “borrowed” from another friend back in college.

About four of us came to his apartment on a Saturday and instead of just watching TV all day, we decided to play Risk.

Up to that point, I had lost every time I played. Most of the time it was a solid and humiliating defeat. But being the good sport that I am, I decided I would play yet again. After all, I was among friends and they so enjoyed the feeling of success when they soundly pummeled me in a game that had no real-life application.

But I read more books than them, so I’m the real winner here.

Anyway, the game got started as it usually did and I worked my normal strategy- expand as fast as possible. In hindsight, this is a severely flawed strategy. No matter how much space you occupy on the board, you leave yourself open to attack from multiple fronts. Then again, if you fortify and make them come to you, you don’t expand and score more territories. You just spend the game sitting in a corner and waiting for someone to come to play with you.

In this specific instance, I had the dice rolls on my side. I won a few early victories. These victories lead to control of key regions. And with these regions, I got the extra armies I always so desperately needed.

With the extra armies, I was able to ride out a few losses and keep expanding.

Soon the board was controlled by a vastly more intelligent and benevolent ruler.

Me.

This day has been marked in history so that none of my friends forget it. I also make sure to remind my wife regularly as well.

Now, if only I could take what I’d learned in this game and apply it to real-life somehow?

Risk and Spectrum

Okay, so let’s apply this analogy to Spectrum.

They’re working to expand their footprint everywhere in the nation. They’re not some army bent on controlling the world. No, instead they’re working hard to connect as many people as possible.

To do this they need to move into new territories and establish roots.

So, in a sense, they do act like the little figurines in a game of Risk.

As they work to move into a new space, they’re essentially rolling die to see how smoothly the process goes. The defender die could be anything from bureaucratic red tape to rival companies trying to force them out.

In the case of New York State, they didn’t have the dice rolls on their side.

Now they’re having to retreat.

Risk and the Bigger Picture

I admit this is a simplistic way of looking at the current state of ISPs, especially Spectrum.

It does make it easier for me to figure out what’s going on though.

Anyway, Spectrum is working to resolve the issue with New York State, as well as ensure that the merger with Time Warner stands. With those two obstacles holding them up, Spectrum is going to have trouble implementing other initiatives that could help more and more customers.

That’s kind of ironic when you think about it.

It’s also frustrating when you realize that Spectrum is one of the better ISPs out there.

By the Numbers

Spectrum is one of the faster providers out there.

This is proven thanks to the Netflix ISP speed index.

Netflix regularly monitors the various ISPs they partner with. During peak viewing hours, that is, the hours between 5 pm and 10 pm, Netflix is monitoring how fast ISPs can stream their content.

From August 2017 to August 2018, Spectrum averaged 3.95 Mbps.

That’s a good number.

Even better is that, despite having issues in New York, Spectrum is available in 48 states, and 9,179 zip codes across the nation. This puts them in the second spot for largest ISP in the nation.

Spectrum, like many other ISPs, offers internet through cable and fiber. They also have voice and cable TV services as well.

So make sure to check out Spectrum internet and cable deals. Not only are they a fast and reliable ISP, but they can also bundle a lot of services for you. This will, in turn, save you money and time.

Winning the Game of Risk

While Spectrum works to resolve the issue with New York, that still leaves about 47 states that they can still help. Which is good news for most of the country.

If you’re in New York though, sorry.

They might get it cleared up soon enough and you can see if they provide internet to your home.

In the meantime, pull out your Risk board game and get playing.

If you don’t have one, then you need to get to your nearest retailer and get one. I’m not saying this because I get a cut of the profits. Instead, I’m advising you to play a game that’s a lot of fun and just once, just once, you might get the chance to rule the world.

Are the Emmy's Relevant Anymore?

Every year there is a big spectacle of which TV shows are the best of the best. This is called the Emmy's. But are these awards relevant anymore?

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Are the Emmy's Relevant Anymore?
Every year there’s a big display of awards and speeches for television. It’s called the Emmy’s. This year, so as not to compete with football, the broadcast was shifted to Monday night. The goal here was to make sure those who also wanted to watch football would not have to make a choice between the two. Hopefully, the numbers would go up this year. They didn’t. Viewership for the annual spectacle was about the same as it had been for the last two years at 11.4 million. And that’s lower than five years ago. I’ll admit, I wasn’t one of those 11.4 million. But I did read about it in the news afterward. And that reading was interesting for two reasons.

Ties

Back in July, HBO received only 108 nominations while Netflix garnered 112. This seemed to signal a significant shift in the TV industry. For one, Netflix has been throwing barrels of money into their content production and it seemed to have paid off. Second, it made the long-running Emmy champion, HBO, look like it was past its prime, no pun intended. Yet, when the awards were finally presented, HBO and Netflix walked away with the same amount. So what does this mean? It could mean that HBO isn’t quite out of the game. Or it could mean that there’s still the “old guard” hanging on and they’re not about to let the upstart Netflix steal their money-making machine. Or it could mean that Netflix just hasn’t built up enough cred yet. Who knows. But back in July, this writer was ready to concede that HBO was no longer going to be the reigning king of television. It appears I was wrong. That stings a little bit. It doesn’t matter if you’re an HBO fan, a Netflix fan, a fan of some other streaming service, make sure you have the best internet bundles and deals. This way you at least save some money. Then you’ll get a front row seat for what’s coming next.

Are the Emmy’s Relevant Anymore?

While I noticed the tie between HBO and Netflix, a piece from The Verge caught my eye- “Hollywood had a Breakdown Trying to Justify Itself at the 2018 Emmy’s.” The author, Devon Maloney, argues that the Emmy celebration was an indication of how behind Hollywood is. They don’t seem to be moving forward or embracing any of the changes happening in society at large. Nor does it seem that the winners of this year’s awards are any more diverse than the previous years. Overall, Maloney argues that Hollywood is irrelevant. Maloney’s arguments are indeed valid.

Lack of Change

Recent reports have pointed out that although there has been more of a push for diverse actors and stories, this hasn’t translated to much change across the industry. If any at all. The Emmy Broadcast, from her point of view, appeared stunted and forced. Since I didn’t watch it myself, I’ll have to take her word for it. And given she’s been covering the subject much longer than I have, I’m happy to do so. But there’s one point I’ll have to disagree with. Hollywood may be irrelevant, but it’s so entrenched that we cannot simply remove it. As with any system that’s been allowed to build up over time, Hollywood has solidified itself in the socio-political environment. Think of it as a tree-stump; the branches and trunk can be removed, but the roots are still there. Removing the stump itself is the hardest part. Without expert help, you’ll more than likely make a bigger mess than what’s necessary.

The Right Skills for the Job

For example; back in college I helped a friend clean out his grandparent’s house and make it ready for sale. To do this, we needed to remove a large, and very dead, tree from the front yard. Of course, this was a task given to a bunch of college sophomores who grew up in the city. But three of those present had trucks. The common thought we all had was, “Hey, it's a truck, it’s strong. We just hook up a chain and pull and the stump should go pretty easily, right?” Luckily no trucks, or people, were hurt in the course of extracting the stump. But there was quite a mess when we were done. One college student tried and the stump didn’t budge. Another “wiser” student tried, and again, the stump remained unmoved. Although dead and irrelevant to the yard, and the house, the roots ran deep and refused to pack up and leave. After the third truck failed to move the stump, we pulled out the shovels and the axes and tried to cut every root that we could find. When we were done there was a huge hole with the stump in the middle. A lot of the roots jutted out from the ground, catching everyone’s feet as they tried to pass. But the stump was out.

What Are the Right Skills?

According to Maloney, Hollywood is irrelevant. Whether it should be removed or not, she’s yet to stand on that. But it’s clear that change must happen. Unfortunately, it’s an old tree that’s created roots in more than one layer of the environment. It’s not entirely dead though. I would argue that some parts need to go, but on the whole, the system still has some usefulness. It just needs the right watering and nutrition. But what? From my vantage point in San Antonio, TX, I have a few opinions on how to do that. I’m sure there are others, spread out all over the country, who have opinions as well. And as arrogant as I can be, I have to humbly accept that my opinions aren’t always right. So who’s to say which ones are the right ones? And which are the ones we should follow? There’s also the minor detail that those running Hollywood will not willingly give up the power, money, and comfort they’ve long been enjoying. So what’s the right way to change Hollywood? And if so, who’s going to lead that movement?

Moving In San Antonio; No Magic Needed

Moving into a new house is a stressful process. But with these tips and advice, you'll be able to smooth out the process and get into your new home faster.

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Moving In San Antonio; No Magic Needed

It’s no use lying, moving is difficult. More than difficult, it’s stressful. Changing addresses and physically moving from one location to another is one of the most stressful things that Americans can do. It’s the second one in fact. The first is losing a member within your immediate family and the third is losing your job. The good news is that unlike the first and third options, when you complete the process of buying a new house, it’s something to be happy about. You have succeeded! There’s a home and you have the key. This a place where you’ll find solace. A place to celebrate good times with your family and friends. And it’ll be attached to your name too. Getting into that house, however, is a challenging task.

A simple way would be to don a magical item and “will” your way into the house. Wave your fingers and create a mystical portal to take you from having no house into a house of your own. Sigh. That’d be nice. Even then, however, such trickery would be blocked by other forces. For example; Dr. Strange trying to move from one house to another, without getting killed by the bad guys. (Warning, there is a little language at the beginning of the clip)


House Hunting for Sorcerers

Dr. Strange, the 2016 sci-fi/action flick from Marvel, centers on Dr. Stephen Strange. He’s a gifted surgeon who loses the use of his hands. In his search to regain use of them, he gets involved in a rather confusing war between mystical forces. The good guys want to protect earth from entities that want to consume it. The bad guys want to offer up earth to these entities in hopes of gaining immortality. One of the main tools they use is the Sling Ring. To use this ring, the wearer needs to wave their hands and think of a destination. Abracadabra! There’s a portal taking you to your desired destination. This little ring becomes a plot point in the film, helping both Dr. Strange and his enemies to move freely in and out of structures. If one of these were to fall into the hands of a real estate agent, I can imagine the process of buying and selling real estate would be much, much, easier. Touring new homes would be much faster because you cut out traffic. And once the new home is selected, then abracadabra, you go to the office to sign papers. That’d be nice. But we’re not all sorcerers. Until such a thing is possible, the stress level of getting into a new house is reliant on how well you chose a real estate agent. And not just a singular real estate agent, but a team.

House Hunting for Real People

When you’re looking for a new home, it’s a wonderful time as you look at model homes and home pictures to determine what home is right for you.

Pre-Approval

To make those dreams a reality, the first step is often getting pre-approved for a home loan. If there’s no paperwork involved, then you’ll most likely do all of this online through your bank. You’ll most likely have to provide proof of employment with pay stubs. You’ll also have to declare any outstanding debts you have. This is stuff like your current mortgage (if you’re already living have a house), credit cards, your automobile loans, and any other significant purchases you’re still getting a bill for. After all, this is submitted, your bank, or the lending institution of your choice, will run a soft credit check. They’ll decide to approve you or not. Seasoned real estate agents caution, even after pre-approval, that you avoid large purchases. It might even help not to buy anything on credit. This is because once you’re pre-qualified for a loan, it’s based on your credit score on a particular date. It’s not set in stone. Throughout the purchasing process, more than one entity will be looking at your credit score. If it goes up or down too drastically, then this will hamper the closing process. This is not to say you can’t buy anything while you wait for your house to close. What you should do is avoid large purchases on credit. Speak with your real estate agent to get a better idea of how big “big” is.

HOAs

Another surprise to look out for is when it comes to selling your home. If you live in a neighborhood with a Home Owners Association (HOA), these can be especially problematic. First off, let me just say that HOA’s are helpful in many ways. But they can also incur strange and unseen costs. If the seller isn’t paying attention, then it’ll be a shock when the HOA demands a fee out of seemingly nowhere just as the house is about to close. A good real estate agent, backed by a good team, can help you avoid these types of problems. You’ll most likely deal with a lead real estate agent the entire time. But they’ll have others working behind them to make sure all the boxes are checked. A good real estate team could mean the difference between a smooth selling and buying experience or an incredibly stressful one.

Get a Home Security System

JJ Gorena, of The Trey Group based right here in San Antonio, TX, advises homeowners to get a home security system. There are a lot more home security options available these days. And some are very affordable. Furthermore, a home security system will help you save a lot more on homeowners’ insurance. ”It’s not as expensive as it used to be and as long as you don’t go overboard with the new technology, it almost washes itself with cost.” —JJ Gorena, CEO of The Trey Group

Be Honest

While there is no such thing as sorcery, buying a home has a way of revealing things you wouldn’t have expected. A real estate friend of mine relayed one such story; When it comes time to finalize the buying process, you get herded into an office with a stack of papers. There are pens galore. Real estate agents and other necessary specialists come in and they hand you paper after paper to sign. If you’ve got a good real estate agent, that person will explain each document to you, what it’s for, and most importantly, where to sign. Almost every one of those documents requires you to double check the information and ensure its correct. One such paper will have the names of the people buying the house. And not just the current names, but all previous aliases. In my case, it was my full name right underneath my wife’s full name, and her maiden name. My real estate agent told us about one such signing where the husband was handed this document first. He saw his name and signed on the appropriate space. Then he looked to the line below. There was his wife’s name. And then about three or four more aliases. When he asked wife why there were all those names, THAT is when the wife decided to tell her husband she’d been married before. And not just once, but about three times. My real estate agent recalled that the signing process stopped at that point and everyone had to leave the room while the “happy” couple had a discussion. The moral of the story- be honest!

Moving On

If you’re in the market for a new home, make sure you find a real estate agent who’s backed by a good team. If you’re in San Antonio, TX or the surrounding area, look into The Trey Group. They help both residential and business clients find a new home. You won’t be disappointed. For those who are just looking, or have just moved into a new home, make sure you get the best internet bundles and packages available. You’ll save some money to put towards that new home. And then you can kick back and relax while you watch Dr. Strange. It’s a good movie, trust me.

Compliment a Techie Today

Let’s compliment a Techie today. They’re the ones doing the hard work of creating and maintaining technology. Today we give them their due celebration!

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Compliment a Techie Today
Let’s compliment a Techie today. They’re the ones doing the hard work of creating and maintaining technology. And technology is great unti It stpp wrk… Let’s try that again. Technology is great… until it stops working. That’s when we stop to notice it. And not in a good way. We’re usually looking for why it went wrong. We’re not gawking over the design, the sophistication of the engineering that went into the thing that is now part of our everyday lives. Nope. We just want it to do what it’s supposed to do. And that’s when we go looking for a techie.

Techies

It’d be easy to talk about techies as if this were a nature special. Fade into a Steve Irwin impersonator talking about the “majestic and reclusive techie…” And other biologist-related puns and in-jokes. We forget that these are real people doing real work. And we only care to notice them when something goes wrong. Most of the time, we forget, the technology is working the way that it’s supposed to. It’s designed to perform some task in a shorter amount of time than we can. Or, if we can’t do said task, then we get this technology to do it for us. The technology usually makes it easier and more cost-efficient than paying a person to do it. I like to think of my crockpot at moments like this. I cut and season the required ingredients, add them to the pot, and set the timer. You see!? Technology has made it easier for me to prepare a meal for my family without having to risk burning down my house. Well, the risk of fire is still there. That’s why I read the manual and move the crockpot away from any flammable items. I realize the crockpot isn’t going to strike awe into the mind of the reader here. It’s a simple kitchen appliance. The design and functionality of it are basic and there’s really not much to improve upon there. It’s antiquated technology. Now, when it comes to my home computer, well, that’s a different story. That thing is slow. Absurdly slow and I want nothing more than to put my fist through it as I have to wait for a file to open. Now, when I was younger, it could have been considered a “lightning fast” computer. “4 Gigabytes of random-access-memory” was not available in Macintosh’s Apple II. And despite my frustrations with it, the machine was designed well and is doing the job it’s supposed to do. With the technology available to it. The problem with this equation is the person who bought it- me. Sigh. I have only myself to blame here.

The Unsung Heroes

In the case of my god-awful home computer, it was still designed by a team of trained professionals. The details of it, even the slight bevel around the edges of the screen, was designed by a person who knew the exact angle that bevel should be set at. And thus, the pieces came together, and the computer was born. I don’t know the names of anyone who designed the thing, but I’m thankful they know what they’re doing. And as for my crockpot, it’s still a work of art. Despite the “outdated” technology, someone still had to design the look of it and to incorporate all the parts. The wiring within needs to be calibrated. A regulator of some type is installed to make sure the heating coils inside don’t burn too hot and too fast. Each turn of the knob needs to correspond with the right amount of temperature delivered over a set amount of time. And the fact that it does this so reliably makes my life easier. Not to mention adding a few inches to my waistline. But that’s another issue for another post. And while I named off “coils, regulator, and wiring,” I’m not entirely sure those are the accurate terms for such a thing. I’m just a writer and not much of a techie myself. To all the techies reading this, I apologize for my ignorance.

A little bit of Techie in all of Us

When it comes to video games, all of us are gamers to some degree. This is true when it comes to technology. Someone may call themselves “technologically challenged.” But in truth, they lack confidence in their technology skills. Most of the population are techies of the lowest order- they have a smartphone, cell phone, or just a crockpot at home. Knowing how to operate the basic functions of these gadgets makes them a techie. And then there are the techies who know a lot about a specific type of technology and not others. For example; my father-in-law is quite familiar with how to operate his home theater system. He set it up. He knows all the remotes and how to navigate to the proper input to watch his blu-rays. I’m familiar with my own home theater system. Therefore, when my father-in-law comes over, one of the first things he does is ask for me to turn on the Cowboys game. The differences in our two home theater systems aren’t terribly extreme. But the nuances between them is enough that one wrong button push will cause disaster. And by disaster, I mean missing the Cowboys game. Part of the reason I’m able to do this is I’ve been able to find the best internet deals and packages available in my area. Make sure you do the same so you can at least save a few bucks while you watch your favorite team play this Sunday. It’s up to me to turn on the tv and navigate to the right input so he can watch his precious Cowboys. After all, we all know how to run. But those who train and practice it become track stars. Does this mean we’re all inept at running? Absolutely not. Some are just more avid about their running than others. This is what separates basic tech skills from techies. It’s the techies who can pick up a broken smartphone and know how to fix it.

To Each Their Own Skill

Thanks to techies, we get to watch our Sunday football, catch up on emails, and watch YouTube Clips on our phones. And while we have awards for athletes, authors, and soldiers, we don’t spend time celebrating the techies. It’s these techies who facilitate the connecting of information that allows us to watch football, read and listen to books by authors and keep vigil over our dedicated civil servants and armed forces personnel. Thank you, Techies. Today we stop to recognize you not because something is broken. We recognize you for all your hard work despite the technology not always working right!

Bigger Screens Are Not the Answer!

Nearly everyone has a smartphone these days. Or, advertisers want you to believe nearly everyone does- "smarter phones with bigger screens!" Is it true?

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Bigger Screens Are Not the Answer!
Nearly everyone has a smartphone these days. Or, advertisers want you to believe nearly everyone does- "smarter phones with bigger screens!" And when you do finally cave to peer pressure, they want you to buy a smartphone with the biggest screen available. There’s an obvious joke to play here; something about being bigger is better, and some sort of innuendo. But that’s not going to happen. What will happen, however, is that screens on smartphones will get bigger and bigger. But why?

The Space Race

Back in the 40s and 50s, computers were a new thing. They were bulky and crude compared to the technology we command today. Beyond that, they could compute equations only if the input was just right. The tubes involved in computers had to be moved just right, or they wouldn’t function properly. And then came the computers with the punch cards. To make the computer do exactly what you wanted, you had to have the right punch cards to make that happen. Those cards had to put in the right order as well. If you had a stack of punch cards for a computer, you had to make sure they stayed in the right order. If someone dropped them or moved just one card out of order, then the whole process was messed up. Computers, though helpful, were not as useful as they were meant to be. Organizations still relied on the time-tested and trusted source of computing numbers- the human mind. To do this, having a math degree came in handy. Once someone attained the appropriate degree and proved they could execute the right calculations with reasonable accuracy, they were handed stacks of equations to double-check. This is detailed in “Hidden Figures,” by Margot Lee Shetterly. The movie touches, briefly, on this skill. Therefore, you must read the book because it’ll show you so much more about what went into computing. In fact, that’s where the term “computer” came from; a person who computes equations.

A Computer is a Person

Back before NASA existed, there was the NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA was concerned with creating superior airplanes and missiles after World War I. Naturally, when the Second World War erupted, NACA was expanded to research and test new airplanes and aerodynamics. To do this, they needed help to compute the mountains of data that came with the researching, testing, and experimenting. So they hired people with math degrees to do the analysis. Entire buildings of “computers” were hired out. And with the draft invoked, NACA had to look beyond the typical male candidates they were so used to finding. This was part of the catalyst for women, both African-American and white, to find their way into the NACA, and soon, NASA.

The Moon

After World War II, there came another conflict the United States was intent on winning- The Cold War. Hence, NACA was still needed. But now they had to go beyond the skies- they needed to go to space. Then John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, gave his iconic speech on September 12, 1962. In it, he spoke these lines that would forever define space exploration; “We choose to go to the moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and others, too.” With that, the race to the moon was on. As exciting as it was to claim that we would make it to the moon first, there was a problem- they had to figure out a way to get up there. To do that, they needed to train pilots to be astronauts. And therein lay another problem- astronauts can only do so much. To pilot a craft out of our atmosphere, there needed to be a support staff capable of doing it. Constant communication was required. Data needed to be taken and analyzed rapidly. That’s why they started making computers smaller, faster, and lighter. You can read up on the speech through NASA’s site, or watch it on YouTube. Just make sure you’ve checked the best internet deals and packages first so you can save some cash before you do.

Then and Now

Think about this- the smartphones we now use have more computing power than all of NASA did when they put a man on the moon. And yet, we’re using them to play games and watch fail videos. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Fail videos are fun to watch. And setting a high score is great. What NASA inadvertently started in the late 60s—the miniaturization of the computer—has become an obsession. Now the latest trend is to pack more and more computing power into a smaller device. But there seems to be one drawback to all this- the screens are getting bigger.

The Screen Race

I currently use an iPhone SE. The screen is 4 inches. And it works for me. I don’t need a huge screen on my phone. The size of this thing is just right because I have to carry it with me and I don’t want to carry it in my hand all the time either. I also refuse to use a cradle or hustle of this thing. Call me vain, but I wouldn’t be caught dead with a smartphone holster on me. But fashion these days is taking a disturbing trend. Pants are coming with fewer pockets. They’re also becoming tighter and tighter.

Why This Trend?

This fascination with tight pants is beyond me. Then again, I was never on the cutting edge of fashion. I grew up in the age when baggy pants were “in.” And better yet, add in a couple extra pockets to make them cargo pants. At first, I didn’t want to buy into the trend. I was so thankful when I did. They were incredibly comfortable! It wasn’t the material that made them comfortable, but the room inside them. I was sealed into some denim torture device. No, I had room to breathe. My pants didn’t judge me, instead, they embraced me and said, “You’ll fit right in!” What could make these pants even better? Pockets! Who’d have thought? By adding an extra pair of pockets you could carry extra stuff on you, like a phone! Yet, as these phones get bigger and bigger, cargo pants are shunned from the fashion world. They’re ostracized and cast out. They’re not “fashionable.” And yet, I’m doomed to carry a massive phone on me without a pocket to carry it in. I ask you, why must we be condemned to this existence? Do we really need screens this big on our phones? And if so, why can’t we have pants that can carry them?

The Next Trend

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the one who refuses to switch trends. But that’s okay. I’m an outsider anyway, and always have been. Therefore, I’ll stick with my outdated sense of style. I do this because it’s comfortable. Beyond comfort, I know what looks good on me and what I like to be seen in. Therefore, it will be relaxed bootcut jeans, flannel, and a pair of tennis shoes. Even if they come out with a new phone to fit in every pocket, it won’t affect my sense of style. But I have heard of Samsung creating a foldable phone. That might be the new trend. I hope so because a phone that folds will make it easier to fit into a pocket. And when that happens, we’ll have the best of both worlds; big screens, and a pocket that can fit them.