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What's in Your Gadget Bag, Cory?
Cory Doctorow has taken a two-second break from his road warrior ways to pen this description of the crud he lugs around. Read it and weep, wanna-bes.
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What's in Your Gadget Bag, Cory?
filed under gadgets
Cory Doctorow is the Nerd Prince of Blogging: co-editor of the popular BoingBoing.net, acclaimed science fiction author, and advocate for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. A man this busy needs as much helps as he can get, and Cory isn't shy about what gadgets he finds useful (or awful):
Fido Vtech prepaid mobile: this is the worst mobile phone I've ever owned. I have a bottom-of-the-line Nokia I use in Europe and a similar one that T-Mobile sold me in San Fran, and when I turned up in Toronto last week, I figured I'd just put a prepaid SIM into that one and go with it. However, the scumbags at T-Mobile *locked* the fucking thing, which meant that I had to go buy *another* phone (that's THREE phones in total, now!) and I ended up buying the Vtech used for 60 Canadian pesos at a counter in a Chinatown mall. It receives and sends SMS, but it doesn't have T9, so it's basically impossible to use for texting. The UI is utterly martian, like something designed by throwing dice, and the phone itself feels like it's made out of dried spittle and chewed-up paper. Worst. Ringtones. Evar. Oh, and it's FUCKING LOCKED to Fido. Rilly. Christ.
Exilim EX-S3: This is the BEST camera I've ever owned. The 2MP version of this thing was the first camera I ever owned whose UI made perfect sense to me, the first one small enough to carry around in my pocket all the time. The 3MP version is every bit as slick (and now I'm lusting after the 4MP version with the fast mechanical zoom lens), but higher rez. My only complaint is that you can't charge it off of USB -- I try to charge all my devices off of USB from my laptop using ZipLinq retractable cables: saves on shlepping around a bunch of bricks and is a total lifesaver in Europe, where I need only adapt my laptop to the local plugs. The only downside of this thing: it is so GODDAMNED COOL that it's impossible to just whip it out and fire off a couple casual shots: someone will always come up and ask to fondle it and get their DNA all over it.
iPod 40GB: I've taken to using this to store video as well as audio: I have about 30GB of music and audiobooks, and the remaining 10GB makes for enough storage for several DVDs' worth of ripped movies that I can watch on the road when I tether the iPod to my PowerBook. (Indispensable iPod accessory: iSkinz rubber casing; friggin' iPods scratch if you look at 'em crosseyed).
15" PowerBook G4 1GHz/80GB: Bought an Aluminum Book last September (I usually kill about one PowerBook/year) and am still loving it. The weight is a little bit much -- I've been a 12" iBook and PowerBook user for 3 years or so, and the extra pounds really add up -- but the screen real-estate and that high, high RAM ceiling, c'est magnifique.
Linksys WAP-11 and WS824: I'm trading this rig for the office I borrowed for the month of April. I think that the FCC made Linksys take the 824s off the market cos they put out dirty, lobe-y WiFi at distance, but this building's got a stucco facade whose chickenwire guts act as a natural Faraday cage, so it's not like my signal's interfering with anyone else. Probably.
Roadwired RAPS laptop case: I love this vecro-y computer diaper. It's wicking, padded, and sizes to fit any laptop (though the 15" PB is a tight squeeze). Much nicer than any sleeve for my money.
RoadWired Ethernet cable: hands-down the best retractable Cat5 cable I've ever owned, and the RJ45-RJ11 adapters that hide in the case turn it into a phone wire for those craptacular 56K moments.
BohemianBag.com Czech Plumber's Bag: The perfect-sized, durable leather shoulder bag. Looks like $106, and keeps on getting prettier the more I abuse it. Steel-reinforced handle is super-swell. I replaced the shoulder-strap with a RoadWired cushion strap for extra comfort between departure gates.
TokyoFlash OVO DecisionMaker watch: this is the dumbest and coolest watch I've ever owned (my grandfather was a watchmaker, so I've owned quite a few). It has a built-in f
The first sentance of the article you didn't read is...
Cory Doctorow is the Nerd Prince of Blogging: co-editor of the popular BoingBoing.net, acclaimed science fiction author, and advocate for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
He's a tech writer and a pretty good tech pundit. He makes frequent appearances on TechTV's The Screen Savers.
I tried to go this route ( work was financing it, so what the heck :) )... and tried to merge all my misc crap into one device if possible. In the end I came to the conclusion that if you are on the road... you really cant do without a PC in the end, no matter how nice all this crap is getting.
:( ) on of those Acer Ferrari laptops that slashdot made fun of a few weeks back. It fight my requirements to a tee though. 802.11g, 4in1 card reader, bluetooth plus enough power to play games when im bored as snot in a hotelroom somewhere in Utah... Anyways, I coupled that ( for now ) with a Sony Ericson P800 phone ( bluetooth capable modem ) which is a decent Symbian powered phone. I bought it from Expansys.com, which means its unlocked and truly a world phone. So far this combo is working out very nicely for me. Sadly ive come to two conclusions... 1) wireless phones suck for modems... period! and 2) You need a big screen to do alot of the work you might want to do. I can terminal services into work via my cell phone, and type an office document, if I really want to... but... try doing it :)
The point where it started getting a bit insane for me is when I found myself going on a trip from London, Ontario Canada to Italy, on business... and I looked at what I had in my bag. 1 Palm V, 1 Compaq 3850 PocketPC, 1 Ibm thinkpad laptop, 2 cell phones ( 1 cdma for in Canada on Bell and 1 for use in Italy ), 1 wireless PCMCIA B and 1 wireless PCMCIA G adapter.... Frankly, for what I needed to do, I truly had to carry all that crap around... so when I got back, I spent alot of time looking into "ALL IN ONE" type devices.
First, I got a slightly newer ( 3980 ) PocketPC with bluetooth and a sleeve for it, with a wireless modem from Sierra Wireless. Truth is, the screen was just too small to use for much more then checking simple email. Plus, the Wireless card was just too slow, and way too expensive ( 500$ canadian at the time, plus 50$ a month thru rogers ). However, to get to any reasonable functionality and battery life... the compaq battery pack/pcmcia adapter doubled the size of the laptop. Also, the SW card's drivers were buggy as hell, and within 2 days, I started carrying my cell phone again. Not to mention talking into an Ipaq is wierd at best.
Ok... so that obviously wasnt the right choice... the next idea was a tablet PC / cell phone combo... Figured that would be a good mix. Made a bad mistake at this point, and chose a non bluetooth cell, so I needed to carry a cable to use the cell as a modem. Speeds again were still truly painfully slow. The Tablet PC I got (loaned) was a compaq with a 12 inch screen and I believe a transmeta processor. I dont know much more, as I only used it for about two weeks before giving up on it. Tablet PC is a great concept with poor execution. Use one for a few days, and you will understand exactly what im saying...
In the end, Ive settled on an ok combo... I bought ( personally, not through work
The all in one device, for now, sadly is a myth. However, the voq phone from Sierra Wireless is looking like a very good prospect going forward!
Oh, and before anyone suggests it... linux just wasnt an option... my enterprise is a MS shop... so my hands are tied. THus also, no PowerBook.
T-Mobile will allow their phones to be unlocked after about three months of service. Just send email to simunlock@t-mobile.com with your name, phone number and IMEI number and they'll hook you up.
the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause