Technology fairies, free me from boredom

Every once in a while I notice some really silly behavior in myself, or just profound naivete, and I spend a little time reflecting on my own dumbassitude.

Take tonight, for example. I'm sitting around, too tired to get going on any of the four or five too-large projects that I've got on the permanent back burner, but I feel like being entertained in some way that doesn't require any effort besides clicking. I'm surfing around idly, and I notice that the Firefox 1.5 beta is out. WHOOPIE! Salvation! Something to do tonight! My whole life is going to change!

I download it, install it, runs great (in fact, I'm blogging from it right now). But...it's not any different, really. I mean it is, there's the faster forward/back behavior, apparently SVG support, redesigned preferences tab...in other words, my day-to-day experience is the same as it ever was.

There's this disconnect in my mind between potential and reality. Every time I install a new piece of software, I expect that my life will change dramatically, which is obviously a really ridiculous bar to be setting. In looking back over the last few years, these are the only pieces of software that have really made much difference:

1. Firefox 1.0
2. Bloglines
3. Thunderbird
4. Rhapsody
5. Eclipse
   
6. The Cisco VPN client.

And of those six, Bloglines is the only one that's really changed the way I do things. But for some reason, every point release of every app that comes out gets me all excited, and then...well, things are pretty much the same.

I'm even aware of this propensity in myself, and still it gets me every time. We're creatures of habit, I guess.