Usually this blog is focused on all things mortgage, or at least, all things economy. But today, a little screed about technology.

I find myself absolutely awestruck at how far technology has come at times. This feeling was especially powerful yesterday.

I was out and about, running a few errands for the family. I'd forgotten my ipod, which is bad for an FM radio phobe like me. So, what to do?

"Oh, no, I'm going to be stuck listening to...wait for it...commercials! Oh the humanity."

But wait. There's my newest gadget sitting on the passenger seat. My Palm Pre. So, just plug the Pre in to the stereo, stream Pandora, and we're right back in music heaven.

For those of you who don't know about the parts of this, a couple of them are pretty cool. First of all, the Palm Pre is an excellent phone. It's similar in many ways to the seemingly ubiqioutous iphone, but works better for me because it's on Sprint, and co-exists so much better with all the Google apps I depend on for business.

The Pre also has a cool Pandora app, much like the iphone does.

For those who have never heard of Pandora, let me tell you, it's the best thing ever invented for music control freaks. Pandora lets you set up a free account, and then creates "music stations" for you, based on favorite artists, favorite songs, whatever.

So I found myself joyfully listening to my "Pat Metheny" station on Pandora, all streamed through the car stereo.

You might be thinking it's not a big deal. But I thought it was huge.

Have to remember, I'm old enough to remember 8 track tapes. And accessing AOL on a computer with a 14.4 modem. And tan cell phones that were the size of a loaf of bread, NOT a deck of cards.

With all the bad things that happen in the world, it's certainly nice to be able to say that I'm glad I've been around to see some of the things I've seen. And heard. Like a tiny cell phone streaming stereo quality music over car speakers.

In case you're wondering, this author is not affiliated with, or compensated by, in any way shape or form, Sprint, Palm or Pandora.com.

Although I should be.