NFIB

Gadgets I Want
01/ 21/ 2003

by Harvey King

Whenever I bring home a new gadget, my wife shakes her head and says, "You must be happy to be living today. Your time has come."

In self-defense, I first must defend myself against the gadget-junkie label. I’m not a first adopter of new technology: I’m too cheap, too cautious and too techno-challenged to be an "alpha geek"--the front-line scouts of the next new thing.

However, once I see the practical application of a new gadget, and it receives a seal-of-approval from one of the alpha geeks I trust, I start getting antsy. However, I’ll patiently sit through at least a couple of price drops before I pounce.

In other words, I’m a second adopter, a card-carrying beta geek. In my current grab-bag of beta geek gadgets, you’ll find a wireless PDA, a digital cell phone, a pocket-size 2 mega pixel digital camera, a hand-size digital mini-cam, a mid-price laptop souped up enough for amateur video editing, a wireless home network and a $98 DVD player for my non-digital, big box of a TV. Oh, and broadband Internet access.

Admittedly, those are a lot of toys, but my list notably lacks many of the current alpha geek gadgets: A Treo or TiVo. Anything with Bluetooth. A DVD burner. An iPod. A GPS device. Flat screens.

Also for the record, I do not consider the gadgets I now have, nor those on my Amazon.com wish list, the dream toys I’ve always wanted. At best, they are merely precursors to the real thing. So, for the convenience of my wife and others, here’s how you’ll know when my time truly has come:

My time will come when I can purchase a flying car for the price of a Mini Cooper.

My time will come when we’re all wearing Dick Tracy watches.

My time will come when I can give my teenage children a low-cost iPod music player that is embedded with a GPS tracking device.

My time will come when holographic videoconferencing is universally available and included in the price of the monthly basic cable package.

My time will come when there is a simple device that translates into English what the person is saying on the speaker of the fast-food drive-thru line.

Also on my list are technologies providing world peace and cures for cancer, but you get the drift. Despite the challenges we all face, we’re living in an amazing time. And it’s only going to get more amazing. So enjoy today--and tomorrow.

Happy New Year.

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This article originally appeared in the December/January 2003 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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