My wife likes to tease me about my love of gadgets. After 18 years together, she is still amazed that I am as fascinated with toys now as I was when I was a kid. Given that so few of them live up to my expectations, she must also wonder at my sanity! It is true that most fail to deliver promised blessings. In fact, so few actually deliver on expectations that a pure risk calculation (i.e. determining whether the probability of success x benefit of success is greater than the cost of the items purchase) would have me living in a cave and hoarding matches. I reckon my continued fascination is some combination of 1) the power of marketing; 2) my selective memory when it comes to gadget success/failure and 3) my optimism about technological progress.
Here are some gadgets that have panned out, improving the quality of life in the Perkins household:
- The iRobot Roomba. It has its quirks, but this thing does just what we need it to. With two dogs, two cats, and three kids, we were fighting a losing battle vs. hair and debris (e.g. spilt kix and cheerios). Now, with the help of the roomba, we are holding our own. I just flick the button with my toe on the way to start the morning coffee, and by the time the house is up and running it has cleaned the floors and returned to its base. The quirks? You need to empty it pretty often (for us, it is after every run) and clean the brushes every week or so. It also likes to leave little hair balls at the transitions between carpet and floors. You do have to make sure that there are no small toys or strings laying around, but these are all small trade-offs for the help around the house. The Orec vacuum cleaner gets a nod in this category, as well. It is light and strong. We still use it for the stairs and monthly cleanings.
- The Apple iMac. I used to be good with computers. From tape recorder hard drives, DOS, ibm pc jr. all the way through Windows 98, I was on top of things. In fact, I helped run the IT/data shop in my department at Ohio State University. But things have really gotten complicated, as Microsoft was not helping (with the exception of Office, which is still my favorite). So I made the switch to Apple. I can’t say that it has been as easy as using an ipod, but it is easier than using my old dell. To make the transition easier, I have it running Vista on Fusion. I have a 21” screen, and a 24” second monitor, so space is not as much of a problem as you might think (dual monitors are yet another great innovation). It also makes recording audio and video a snap (cheap audio/video communication technology is another top ten).
- The Apple iPod. Too easy. It’s integration with iTunes and the ubiquity of supporting hardware makes this an audiophiles dream. I have zillions of podcasts, audiobooks, lectures, and 15 years of albums (since the great CD switch). The iPod makes it easy to listen while I work, walk, wake up, and drive my car (so I am including iPod support hardware like my car stereo, clock radio, and airport expresses in with this; not to mention audiobooks and podcasts).
- The Big Screen TV. The affordable LCD screen is amazing. When you combine it with a DVD player and Netflix (via DVD or through a computer via its Instant feature), you have a couch potato’s dream. BTW: Netflix goes in with this package. We have not had cable TV for years. You’d be amazed how much easier it is to do zero-based budgeting when you aren’t bombarded by commercials.
- Electric toothbrush, razor, and clippers. Amazing. Especially the battery-powered ones. Speaking of which, the new rechargeable batteries should be on the list. They make these, my hedge trimmer, the roomba, and a zillion other gadgets worth having.
- PALM Lifedrive. I use it as my mobile computer when I travel, browsing the web, writing homilies, and checking e-mail. Unfortunately, it’s not as good as my gameboy at games (the DS is in the top 20 of great gadgets, BTW), my ipod at music (although it does stream audio from the internet – my ipod can’t), or as good as my Zoom H2 at recording, but it does all these things well enough to get by on the road. I never managed to get it to play movies or get around to setting it up as a GPS. But still, I bought mine used, and it remains a solid performer and stress reducer.
- Senseo Coffee Maker. A perfect cup of coffee everytime. Add a bit of milk or creamer, and it tastes and feels like a cappuccino. It’s part of our morning routine. As a morning person by necessity, not inclination, I’d put it right up there with the airconditioning, radiant heating, microwave ovens, refrigerators, cell phones, and front-loading washers in terms of the gains to life satisfaction.
- Future Tech. While these would still be too expensive and frustrating at present, I expect them to really improve our standard of living within the next few years. Better portable power generation. Solar panels/rolls. Scooters (these are already awesome, but I don’t own one so it still goes in “Future Tech”). Superpaint/sealer/insulator. Miniprojectors. Comfortable beds.
Next list: concepts that have made life easier.
P.S. The great benefits that technology brings lead many to fall into the trap of making it into a sort of idol. The way under-performing technology stresses me out suggests I need to spend some more time working on this.
