Curtis A. Bronzan

How hip is my alma mater!? Good to know tuition money is going to important things, like an iPhone app.

As my friend Craig would say, “Just kidding. But seriously.”

With just over 1200 students – nearly all of whom live on campus – is this necessary? Maybe not, but it’s another testament to how communication is being reconfigured to fit our ridiculously busy and mobile lives, which is reconfiguring our brains.

But that’s another post for another day. Maybe there’s an app for that?

Though I keep it fairly uncluttered, I’ve mentioned before some apps in use on my iPhone. One of my favorites is Stay in Tune, which utilizes the iPhone’s microphone to chromatically tune any instrument.

I use it for guitar primarily, though it’s come in handy for banjo and bass as well. Well worth the $4.99.

I realize the above title sounds rather pretensious, though it is not meant to be so. I’m simply surprised that the banking industry is only now developing apps by which their customers can access their institution’s services.

Though, I suppose banks have been busy with some other issues. In fact, it was the demise of Washington Mutual and its sale to Chase that alerted me to this app in the first place.

And though this shift has not been the smoothest for me as a customer, I will utilize this application, thank you very much (there’s that pretension again).

If there’s one thing that gets my pocketbook in trouble these days, it’s my neverending interest in books. This is compounded by the ease with which I can peruse new titles via the Amazon app.

Oh how our technological advances instill an even more profound consumerism!

Now if only there were an app that created more time in the day with which to read such books! (on second thought, I suppose that one is built in – and it’s called the alarm clock)

First there was Napster, using the technological innovation that is the internets, attempting to take down music label conglomerates. Then, Skype was developed to take on the telecommunications industry.

Interestingly, the iPhone allows app developers to usher in a somewhat ironic development. Ping! is the latest I’ve been made aware of (hat tip to the Unlikely Pastor’s Wife) that uses the handheld device to do something it was designed to do, only for free.

Essentially a text message application, by using Ping! one iPhone user can text message another without any charges. Of course, you must have an iPhone, and thus pay the not-too-cheap monthly services (though iPod Touch works as well, with a wifi connection).

Maybe there’s a bit of what Emile Durkheim would call in versus out-group solidarity going on here, but that’s nothing new for cell phone companies, who’ve had their friends and family plans for a while. That said, I will gladly Ping! (user name: kertice)

And from the looks of things, these days U2 loves Blackberry. Which makes me wonder, when did they stop loving all things Apple? This advertisement even looks similar to their previous Apple adverts, until the final seconds, that is. Apparently Blackberry is sponsoring Bono and Company’s new tour – as if they needed a sponsor!

How classic that the first line of the song they’re singing – I’m Gonna Go Crazy (If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight) – is “every generation gets a chance to change the world.” Apparently, selling things remains the best way to do so.

I’ve heard it said that 99 out of 100 questions can be answered with one word: money. In hypermodern capitalist society, I’m starting to wonder what that other question is.