Early Adopters Beware

Although this blog is not about previewing the latest new gadgets - there are plenty of other blogs that do this quite well - I couldn’t resist commenting on several items that caught my eye in the December issue of Wired Magazine.

• Trimtac Security Tag: Amazingly, this is almost exactly the device we were just talking about in relation to the proposal to track your car for road tax purposes. It records your GPS position every few minutes and sends the data to an internet database using GSM technology, like a cellphone. It is positioned as a portable LoJack-type device which you can place in any vehicle or even your luggage or golf bag (it runs for 3 months on 4 AA batteries) and then subscribe to the service. The technology is clearly available, but the big hurdle will be the logistics of getting them in vehicles and the political task of mandating it. Given some of the more insane propositions that the electorate has been passing in California, maybe that part will happen sooner than I predicted.
  
  
• MIB USB Drive: Clever little device that you upload MP3 songs into and plug into your cigarette lighter jack. You then can transmit your songs into your stereo via an unused FM frequency. Seems like $115 is a lot to spend for this feature. How hard would it be for cars to have a little jack in the dash so we can upload a bunch of songs or pictures or movies into the car’s entertainment system? Some new cars havea Bluetooth wireless feature, but not many devices support this yet.
  
  
• Arkon Laptop Holder: This clever device clips onto your steering wheel and gives you a platform to support your laptop. Now you can talk on the phone, write e-mails, and finish applying your makeup simultaneously while sitting in stop and go traffic enroute to work. What a time saver! Maybe it's just me but I think that piloting a potentially lethal object, like a car or truck, should demand your complete attention.
  
  
• Nokia Image Album: When you start using your new megapixel camera phone, you will soon realize that you need a place to store all the great candid shots you now take while standing in line at Starbucks. Nokia offers a small portable unit with a 20GB hard disk that you can download everything into and then show the pictures to your friends on your TV. Cost: $400.
  
  Sounds good but here is the problem: I just checked online with Dell and you can buy an entire PC with a 40GB hard disk, 256Mb memory, 17” monitor, and a free printer for $348! Jeez! I doubt if many people comprehend the far-reaching influence Dell has on the pricing of new technology. If I can buy a whole PC for $350, then why should I have to shell out $500 on a PDA, or $600 on a photo iPod? One has to admire Dell for proving that you can succeed in the computer business if you optimize your supply-chain and provide a quality product with a lot of value for the buck.
  
  
• Oakley MP3 Sunglasses: Oakley is known for expensive sunglasses and this one is no exception at $495. It looks like Borg hardware with an MP3 player, 256Mb of memory and ear buds so you can have all your tunes with you and look totally cool while you’re out and about. If you’re worried about running out of battery power, you can probably rig it up to your $425 Scott Solar Recharging Jacket and never have to be without tunes again. You'll be ok if you're walking in New York city or Hollywood in this getup, but I suggest you carry several forms of ID if you plan to be in one of the more rural areas of the country, just in case you need proof that you were born on the third planet from the Sun.
  
  
• Flybar Pogo Stick: If you have $300 to spend on a new high-performance pogo stick, here’s the ticket. This baby claims to be able to get you up to 5 feet of air! I predict a whole new sport emerging from this - I can see it now: 10,000 armored, helmeted athletes bouncing through Boston city streets as they crush and trample each other for the Pogo Marathon Championship!
  

Truth is, I love this time of year with all the cool geek shopping lists coming out; but it’s also time to renew my pledge to think twice before I rush out and feed my habit. Restraint is a virtue here unless one has unlimited funds. Heck, even if you do have unlimited funds, save most of it for something more worthwhile, like maybe a trip to some exotic place like Istanbul or Marrakech. Of course you would want to take along your digital camera and laptop so you can e-mail pictures to your friends at each stop along the way.