When technology doesn't serve you well

We've never been "early adopters" of technology.  That's not for wanting, believe me.  It's really a matter of budget.  I tend to wait until the second generation of a new technology before I take the plunge.  Hence my iPhone 3GS, an off-brand flat screen TV, and an unfulfilled longing for an iPad.  Can I just point out that I have a friend who is a true Luddite now has an iPad!?  This is a man who until Christmas 2011 shared a cell phone with his wife that didn't text, at .25 per minute, who missed dial-up.  He's got an iPad now.  I don't.  But I digress.

One of the few times we were on the cutting edge of technology nearly got me punched in the head.  You may recall the first generation of video cameras. They looked like this -

They were cumbersome and not much smaller than a broadcast camera that the TV news uses.  You put an entire VHS tape in them.  They were not super-awesome to lug around, let me tell you.

The next generation were the hand-held type.  They still weren't sleek (e.g. built into your phone), but it was a huge leap from the previous generation that required a Ph.D in engineering to use properly.  So we got a hand-held and one of the first places we used it was on the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML's first trip to Europe with me.  It was an amazing trip.  We had no plan other than knowing the day we were arriving Frankfurt and leaving.  The rest was up to us.  We were joining SML's mom and her step-dad, The Chief Pilot.  Upon arrival in Germany, we found it raining so we headed south.  We had an awesome trip through Bavaria, the Italian Alps, and Austria.  It was great to capture the beauty of that trip on that hand-held video recorder.

It was in Bavaria, though, where things nearly went nuclear, all because of the stupid hand-held camcorder.  We had just finished touring this place:

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle is spectacular in its beauty and worth seeing.  At the end of the tour, restrooms are available and you need them.  It's a long tour. Anyway, I was glad to stop in and take care of "business."  Now here's the thing - even the views from the modern bathrooms in this castle are incredible and as I was standing there, I gazed out the window and saw another one of King Ludwig's castles.  It had to be captured on video tape.  Right then and there. Much like people who insist on speaking on their phones while in the bathroom, I had to get the view of this castle on tape.  This, as it turns out, was not a good call.  Let me tell you, Europe in 1998 wasn't as liberal as one might think.  Not one person in the bathroom seemed pleased that I was firing up the camcorder. They all needed to calm down, although I was wishing at that moment I'd paid more attention during the three years of German I'd taken.  It would have been easier to explain myself.  

In spite of the hub-bub, I got the shot of the other castle.  It was gorgeous.  I should post it sometime.  Just forgive the sound of the "waterfall" in the background.