advantages of technological obsolescence

I'm often getting disgusted with most of my techno toys as it seems that they become obsolete by the time I have brought them home from the store. From computers, to stereo equipment, cameras and musical gear, even the top of the line toys have replacements coming out within months. So what do we do about this?

Well, one approach is to take the luddite path, and ignore any new developments in technology. I must admit that I've assumed this profile at certain times, and to this day I haven't bought into the i-Pod or HDTV trends. But there are certain gadgets that I just can't live without, such as computers or digital cameras. And as much as I would like to continue to use the same PC or camera forever, the software companies have ensured that we'll have to upgrade if we want to be able to surf the web and be productive into the future. Sadly enough, my obsolete products are still working. So what can I do with them?

This is one of those times rare occasions when being a parent actually results in being "green", as we can often pass on yesterday's gadgets, much to our children's delight. For example, I recently cam across my old digital camera. It is an HP, but only shoot at about 3 megapixels. I quit using it when I upgraded to my current 7 megapixel model, but the old model still works fine. I considered selling the old model on eBay, but it was only fetching around $10, if it sold at all. So I decided to give it to my six-year-old, a budding photographer. She's been using it constantly for like a week now, and the only real cost to me is the time to unload it for her, and the cost of a good set of rechargeable nimh batteries, which are an an absolute must for digital cameras, especially those being used by children who take 300+ pictures in a couple of hours.

In a nutshell, it is difficult to see any advantage in the development of technological "throwaway" products, but we can at least let our children use them for fun.

Amazon's "Kindle" - screen burn-out or sell-out?

The BBC recently reported that Amazon's new e-book reading device called Kindle has just sold out. It was introduced only a few days ago with lots of excitement from the tech gadget community.

Personally, I think it is a joke. Here are my top three reasons why...

1) It can't read PDF files. Guess what the most common file format for e-books is? You guessed it - PDF.

2) It charges you to read blogs online and to add your own e-books to the device - things that you can do for free on your laptop.

3) Screen apathy. We spend enough time behind a screen. Who wants to read books from behind a screen, too? As it is, many e-book readers find the need to print them off rather than reading them online from their PC. What makes Kindle any different?

While I can understand the concept behind having a device that can store thousands of books in one hand-held device, I doubt that most owners will use it for much more than quick referencing. It would be convenient to have thousands of book details available in a search friendly format right at your fingertips, but doesn't mobile access to the web already offer that?

indestructable keyboard!

I just wanted to take a moment to plug a product that I have been using for several years that I find to be very useful and unique. It is called the "Virtually Indestructible Keyboard" and no, I am not getting paid to say that I like it.

I picked it up for around $25 and after a bit of searching, I see that it is still available for about the same price. Aside from the fact that I liked the idea of a keyboard that was "virtually indestructible", this thing is very portable. I keep it rolled up in my laptop bag, and take it wherever I go with my laptop.

It is flexible, made of a silicon-type product (almost like rubber). The keys are absolutely silent, and take a little getting used to if you're used to the usual clackety-clack of hard plastic keys. But it is very comfortable and one of those products that verges on groundbreaking, in my opinion. It is impervious to most liquids and they even make a new one that glows in the dark (mine is black). Check it out if you're looking for a nice portable keyboard that won't take up much space in your laptop bag.

Here's a photo: