|
The Portland Business Journal has asked me to submit my
Christmas gadget list, here goes nothing:
Nigel Ballard's Must Have Gadget Christmas List
1. A laptop computer. So handy, so portable and now actually
affordable. Its hard to buy a new laptop today without
having 802.11g Wi-Fi integrated as standard. Living in a
town with more free Wi-Fi than any other US City (shameless
plug alert), why wouldn't you roam our eclectic coffee shops
sampling their brews whilst catching up on your Emails?
Check out www.personaltelco.net for all those free web
surfing hot spots.
2. An MP3 player, whether you jog, commute on the MAX or
just need to drift away to a happier place aided by the
music of The Decemberists, Portland's very own band poised
for greatness. An MP3 player is a must have accessory. The
Apple iPOD is the cash-rich poseurs choice (I have one,
ahem) but the Dell offerings are as capable and more
affordable. The new and very spendy iPODs incorporate color
screens and the ability to view your photo collection which
I think is stupid. This is all about the music people!
3. A TIVO. As American television dumbs itself down to the
point of banality, it becomes increasingly hard to find
anything really worth watching that is unless you like
vegetating on the couch each and every night to a steady
stream of dross. Grab a Tivo, teach it what interests you,
later you can come back and watch the recorded programming
as and when you want, even fast forwarding past those
irritating Cortislim commercials! Yes I too want to leave
the unhappiest club in America!
4. A Hybrid Car. You could be edgy, eco-aware and save
thousands of your hard earned post-tax Dollars a year by
drastically reducing your visits to the gas station. If you
currently drive around in an SUV as big as an Abrahms tank,
and it is just you sat in there most of the time, ask
yourself Why? With a government tax incentive on hybrid
vehicles, now is the time to consider one. If the City of
Portland and PGE would get together and open up lots of free
charging stations around town, we'd be doing our bit to keep
smog levels down and those hybrid drivers would be able to
flick the proverbial bird at those SUV drivers circling
downtown like vultures looking for a parking spot large
enough to accommodate their organ compensating Detroit
brutes.
5. An 007 spy camera that comes inside a faux Zippo lighter.
It takes remarkably good pictures, can record sound and it
even has a movie mode. For $90 it is more fun than you can
shake a stick at. Head over to http://www.thinkgeek.com/ for
this and a plethora of gadgets none of which you actually
need but would love to own just because!
Merry Christmas Portland.
Cheers Nigel
|
