Infinite MonkeysI'm a techie down to the marrow, so I have a lot of toys/tools that I use at home and on the road. I joke about my "Bat utility belt" laden with various communication and entertainment devices. But there are five gadgets I treasure above the others. Five things that give me the shakes when they're on the blink or otherwise unavailable.
1. iPod - So much more than just an expensive Walkman, my iPod makes travel tolerable, and along with its corresponding iTunes software has completely transformed the way I listen to music.
2. TiVo - As much as my iPod changed the way I listen to music, the same can be said about the transformation in my television consumption based on the arrival of my first TiVo about four years ago. I have plenty of complaints about TiVo's failure to advance during that time, but it still beats pretty much all of the competitors with which I've interacted.
3. MacBook - I've always hated Windows, but until I got my first Mac (a last-generation Titanium PowerBook loaded with OS X 10.2) I wasn't a Mac fan, either (big thanks to Monkey Brad and Father-in-Law Ron.) Now I can't live without it. My company-issued laptop is a perfectly functional IBM/Lenovo unit, but it was worth it to me to spend my own money on a first-generation MacBook and a copy of Parallels Desktop. I almost never even boot my company-owned machine.
4. Line 6 Variax guitar - I play guitar at church, and the different songs often call for very different guitars. Sometimes, it's even ideal to use an acoustic guitar during the verse and an electric during the chorus. My Variax, along with the complimentary Pod XT Live lets me do just that. While an expert might be able to tell the sonic difference from the "real thing" in a side-by-side comparison, when I'm "in the mix" with a full band playing music in church it is very much "close enough" and the convenience of switching on-the-fly far outweighs the modest sonic inferiority.
5. CPAP - I've always felt tired, but I never realized HOW constantly exhausted I was until I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and received a CPAP machine about 18 months ago. The first time I went on a business trip WITHOUT my CPAP I appreciated it even more.