Wirelessness
While the cable modem was indeed quite fast and most relieving to have, the cord was a real pain to navigate around. I kept knocking things over and having to toss things aside in order to make room for it... I was not helped that the included ethernet cable was only ten inches long, which meant that I wasn't just moving the cable around, but the modem itself. Naturally, this meant that I accidentally hit the "Internet Off" button that is inexplicably located on the modem fairly often (melancthe observed that such a switch rather defeated the purpose of having the modem in the first place; I am inclined to agree).
I went out today and bought myself a new wireless router. And I am once again typing this to you completely unfettered the ethernet cable, but this time not dependent upon anybody else's public network. Once again my whole "Better living through technology" credo is borne out (I have found that the phrase is also the name of an organization that provides educational technology for people with disabilities).
Speaking of better living through wireless technology, the new phone is colossal improvement over the old one. I can actually make and receive calls in my apartment again, which makes me quite relieved. Furthermore, I tried pairing the Bluetooth headset I had with the phone and found that the results with the new phone were much better than on the other one. Nobody has yet complained about the sound quality, and there is no way around the fact that it really makes life a whole hell of a lot easier.
Bluetooth has caused more people to come around to the fact that hands free devices are just a better way to communicate in general; I started using the headphone in for my cell phone several years ago for car use and found that I just preferred it to holding the phone to my ear in general. I would therefore carry my headphone with me at all times, which meant another cord to get all tangled. Now, no cords and no hassle; the Bluetooth fits easily in my pocket (I don't wear it all the time like those yuppies on the street that look like Locutus of the Borg), only when I'm using it) and the answer features are fantastic. I love Bluetooth.
I'm off to jailnurse's for dinner tonight.