Dee-do! Dee-do! Dee-do!

--begin rant--

I was rudely awaked at three this morning by my cell phone. It wasn't a death in the family or a friend in jail this time. It was my phone kindly letting me know that my battery was running low. In my still-asleep stupor, I let it bother for at least half an hour (every seven minutes) before I realized that it was not going to stop. After all, it hadn't stopped all the other times I forgot to plug it so many times before. And, just like every other time, I wondered how much battery power went into letting me know it was low on power. Why, it could probably run for hours on all the needless noise it was generating every seven minutes. Seriously Motorola engineers, I'm rarely more than a half-hour's walk from a charger - a single notification would be enough.

And faceless engineers: while you're at it how about some warnings that would actually be useful? Why can't my phone beep at me while I'm walking out the door when it sits, lonely and forgotten my desk? Why won't it let me know to buy more milk at the store because the carton in the fridge is bad? Why doesn't it sing to remind me when I forget to call a friend or family member on their birthday?

Despite my gadget-lust, I don't dig beeps or dings or rings or buzzes. Truth be told, most of the time they scare the crap out of me because I'm focused on something else. But as long as we have to live with these electronic beasties, why don't they actually make a difference in our lives.

--rant mode off--