Here at Gadget Lab, we bring you all kinds of weird and wonderful toys. Some are great, some not so great. But of these many “labor saving” devices, which ones are truly essential?
This popped into my head on my recent biking vacation in Minorca (famous for its gin, which is why my mother visits every year, and never remembers a thing). Spending a week without internet or other tech is a little odd at first, especially for somebody who spends the better part of the day with his head in the Cloud. But the advantage of having nothing but a janky old cellphone and a DSLR is that you become less distracted and more able to enjoy your surroundings.
This was compounded by my beach reading of choice, Walden by Henry David Thoreau. In the early section titled Economy, Thoreau recommends that a man should divest himself of all but the most essential things in order to quiet the mind, reasoning that we become prisoners of our possessions (if you pay a mortgage, you’ll understand this perfectly). Thoreau goes a little far, at one point suggesting that a man live in a coffin-sized metal box with a few holes for air, but his point is a good one. He is also the model for future geek fashion. Check out that neck beard.
So, I thought, what is the minimum of gadgetry you can get away with owning today. I mean this both theoretically and practically. I will throw away as much as I can. I’ll start the list, and y’all can argue in the comments. Bear in mind that I actually need a lot of stuff just to work.
Computer
A MacBook Pro, in my case. I also have an iBook, a PowerMac G5 and just gave away my old MacBook. Clearly too much. But do I need a backup? If the MBP dies, how do I bring Gadget Lab to you, faithful reader?
A computer is at the top of this list because it replaces so many other things. It is a music player, a workplace, a TV replacement, a photo album, and on. Wedded to this is an Internet connection, but in my case, the neighbor is kindly sharing his network. Thoreau would be proud: He built his cabin on Walden Pond with a borrowed axe.
Camera
I have two. Excessive? No. I need to record video and take close-ups for reviews, both done with my Canon G9. But I’m unwilling to give up my DSLR because it takes better pictures, and takes them when I press the button, not seconds later. Clearly Thoreau would be appalled, but I can’t see a way around it. Ideally, I suppose, both could be replaced with a cellphone, but as I almost never use my existing cellphone, that, too, would be excessive.
Cellphone
In my case, no. But for everyone else, probably yes. A cellphone takes care of music, photos and, if it’s a iphone, the internet. If you are a very light web user, it might even replace your computer. I have a broken old Sony Ericsson P900, a phone so embarrassing that upon seeing it, BoingBoing Gadgets’ John Brownlee cackled in glee, whipped out his far superior (and smaller) phone and took pictures. “I’m posting these on the blog,” he promised’ “I will humiliate you!”
Nevertheless, I’m keeping it. For the odd call on a pay-as-you-go tariff, it does the job.
ipod Touch
Really? Essential? No, but I do use it a lot, and I already own it. So I’m keeping it.
Hard Drives
A boring one this, but essential. Really essential. I might have a very empty apartment in a physical sense, but when it comes to digital files I’m a pack-rat. All my music, all my photos and everything I need to work are inside my Mac, and such valuable ones and zeros need backing up. So at least two external drives are needed, one on site and one in the home of The Lady, just in case.
Bicycle
Despite the trouble they can cause in the city, I consider the bike to be one of the most important things I own. No gas, no parking fees and no metro tickets. It also keeps me fit and helps balance all the alcohol calories I consume. I have owned one car in my life, and I will be happy to live out my days without another. I can’t see any need for one that can’t be satisfied with a bike, public transport or the odd rental car.
So that’s my list. Everything but these things I shall either sell or donate. Now it’s your turn. What gadgets could you truly not live without? If you had to leave your house today, what would you carry with you? And, like me, you can cheat. I actually picked six, not five.
Dutch researchers at Radboud University recently teamed with U.S.-based Progress Software to create an RFID pill that monitors the temperature of runners in order to prevent a cardiac arrest. Because running a marathon is a strenuous physical challenge known to lead to dangerous overheating and dehydration, this could be a way to improve performance and help out people in danger. 
It looks like a recent PlayStation 3 theft took a few more twists and turns than your garden variety console heist, with not one but two individuals finding themselves finding themselves short a PS3 before all is said and done, and one of ‘em eventually winding up with an unwanted Xbox 360. Our story picks up when one Dustin Waller gets a used PS3 as a gift and goes about using it, unknowingly, under the previous owners PlayStation Network ID. As luck would have it, that “used” PS3 was actually stolen, and after a month of good times, the police showed up at his door and took the console away. Apparently, they used Waller’s IP address to track down his location, which we assume means Sony was also involved, although that tidbit’s not exactly clear. But that’s not all, when Waller went back to the 3-D Games store that the PS3 was purchased at to get a refund, they refused him, and would only give him an Xbox 360 in return, which Waller complains “isn’t nearly as expensive or sophisticated as the playstation.”
