It's over between us, Vox.

Ever since I started using Vox as my main blogging engine, it has for the
most part held up pretty well, and its features are really nifty.

However, there were several instances where Vox would throw a Javascript
error in my browser, and I would be unable to compose, edit or view properly
the blog. This entry is made by emailing the Vox server - for the past two
days I have not been able to compose via the normal means.

Usually, I would take this kind of situation with some measure of calmness,
compose my entry on Writeroom or Darkroom, and then head off to bed - and
attempt uploading the entry the next day.

Not this time, not this time. I've had it with you, Vox, and I am getting my
data out and closing my account. I wouldn't normally do this, blogging is
not a large part of my life, but something special today happened -

I read this article["A
Call for Revolution Against Beta Culture", Jesus Diaz, Gizmodo].

Jesus made a strong opening line -

I'm tired of this. This sense of permanent discomfort with the technology
around me. The bugs. The compromises. The firmware upgrades. The "This will
work in the next version." The "It's in our roadmap." The "Buy now and
upgrade later." The patches. The new low development standards that make
technology fail because it wasn't tested enough before reaching our hands.

and I was taken aback at the very start. Didn't the 'beta features' stuff
kept us geeks totally excited? Be it over the Windows 7, the latest OS X
release, hardware such as iPhone and gaming consoles? Heck, even Gmail
hasn't left Beta yet!

Jesus Diaz brings up examples of circa-90s technologies such as CRT TVs and
radios that work till today - and contrast it to modern day gadgets. I
counted the dead in my cupboard: 3 iPods, 2 cameras, 4 wireless routers, 3
notebooks, and god knows how many cellphones.

I used to think - hey, if a gadget spoils it just gives me an excuse to get
a new one - how cool is that? In light of today's economy, and the way we
spend our hard-earned money chasing after the latest and the greatest -
suddenly it seems very, very wrong. I'm standing with Jesus on this one, and
making a stand right now :

1. Stop giving us gadgets that are unstable and don't last a reasonable
amount of time. I rather cut back on the so-called 'new features', and have
something that works, and works well, and will serve me for a good time to
come.
2. If corporations are intentionally creating lacklustre products that
doesn't last, in order to drive consumers into maintaining product cycles -
that is totally wasteful. Our natural resources are dwindling at an
astounding rate, and toxic waste from electronics dumps are causing harm to
our environment. By giving us a product that can last, corporations are
doing their part to save the planet for future generations.
3. Software coding and hardware engineering quality have dropped
tremendously over the past two decades. We used to create solid software
that never fail, and engineer devices that never break - nowadays everything
seems to be in a permanent state of instability. Remember :
- iPod batteries that didn't barely manage to last a year?
- Windows XP SP1 and Vista that gives a BSOD every now and then?
- Government e-services that is horrendous to use, and is down every
now and then for maintenance?
- Apple MacBook / Pros that heated up like crazy and is prone to
warping, discolorations, etc?
- ... and the list goes on and on.

So, I'm changing my philosophy towards tech. What used to be "go for the
latest and greatest", is now "go for the most stable, and the
longest-lasting." For a start, I'm dumping Vox, this unstable platform. I've
already got my own server, and I've installed wordpress. My experience with
Wordpress has been rock-solid, and if any hiccups happen, I can dive into
the code and solve it.

Farewell, Vox, I sincerely hope you can get your act together. People's
memories are in your hands.

This site is now officially dead. If you want to find my blog, you can do so
by going to http://kelvin.scoopdreams.net.