I think I’m running out of gadgets to buy. I know that’s theoretically the goal, to have everything you want, but it’s also a little sad. A person needs to covet electronics during the cold winter months, I believe, so he can stay warm by planning and researching and scheming…
But I got nothing. It’s probably a good thing, because I also don’t have an abundance of disposable cash lying around. But one thing doesn’t really have much to do with the other, does it?
Many of you will remember that I was obsessing (OBSESSING!) about buying a new camera at this time last year. We were planning our big trip to England, and I wanted to take along a new fancy-pants pitcher-taker.
For a long time I was ready to purchase either a Canon or Nikon DSLR, with a wide array of replaceable lenses, and assorted douchery. But a little voice inside my head (for some reason it sounded like a harelipped man) told me I’d be wasting my money.
Yes, it was an excruciating affair… yet also invigorating.
Eventually I compromised and bought a high-end Canon point and shoot, as well as a small and relatively inexpensive Nikon Coolpix. I can’t remember why I bought two cameras, but it all seemed very logical at the time.
And you can probably guess which one is rarely used, and which is used constantly. Yep, that $99 Coolpix is one of my favorite cameras ever. I love it.
I’m just glad I heeded the harelip warning… I was prepared to drop four figures on a DSLR, and it would’ve been a monumental error. A person just doesn’t need a National Geographic set-up to capture the kind of images I’m hoping for.
My home computer is fairly new, and loaded-up with so much memory and disk space it can handle anything I throw at it. So everything’s fine there. Same goes for the laptop. God, my laptop is sexy… I’m sorry, I need a moment.
OK, I’m back. I went through a brief but powerful GPS jag. And we ended up buying a Garmin at Circuit Shitty, which has never been out of its indestructible clamshell packaging. In fact, I don’t even know where it is. We might require a GPS device to locate our GPS device.
And that pretty much does it. A person only needs so many flash drives, and I believe I’ve reached that threshold. My music delivery system is doing its job nicely, and there’s nothing to upgrade there, either.
So I’ve got nothing. It sucks. Oh, I have a mild interest in getting my car stereo replaced, with something iPod-ready. But so far it hasn’t bloomed into a full obsession. So, I just don’t know.
And I’d like to replace the upstairs TV with something a little more modern. The one we’re using now is from the Atlanta years, with a 27-inch screen, and weighing roughly the same as a Burger King. But, once again, I just can’t work up a good fixation on it.
For two days last month I was fired-up about one of these turntables you can use to turn your vinyl LPs into mp3 files. I nearly bought one, when I saw it on sale for $79. But that fire’s gone out, as well.
I tried to get excited about a home theater system, but can’t muster even the slightest interest. And I don’t really understand the excitement about iPhones, and Blackberrys, and that sort of thing.
So here I am in the middle of winter, with no gadgetry to drive my friends and family to the brink of suicide about. It’s a sad state of affairs. Will somebody please hold me?
What are you clinging to, during these cold months? What pending purchase are you “researching”? Tell us about it in the comments.
And also have yourselves a fantastic Wednesday. Or whatever day it is.
Could it be? A number one? Holy Crap!
Thinking about a new HP desktop from Sams. Huge hard drive, Ram, and fast processor, for about $1400. It would be my first new computer. Just sayin’
just dropped $1400 on a new 50″ flat screen after my $3500 55″ projection TV i had for only 9 years shit the bed so i won’t be purchasing anything for quite some time…
I’m not into little gadgety crap. I always lose it. I lost my MP-3 player for 2 weeks. It was on the floor of the car.
I refuse to say it.
Top Five!!
Mr. Kay,
You need a new watch. One that syncs to the NIST atomic clock via radio in Fort Collins.
Trust me. You need one.
Yo
PS–They aren’t that expensive.
Really need to get the Boss o’ Me a new desktop. We currently have a notebook/docking set-up but the USB connectivity keeps shite-ing the bed and video hangs and it’s very frustrating. It’s connected to a great 20″ HDTV for a monitor, so, all I need is a new tower or somesuch. Will she let me buy it for her or will she continue to complain about it…hmmm. Coin toss
Top ten. I still don’t own an iPod. Maybe this year….
I had a gadget meltdown earlier this year. I’ve ended up collecting sex toys. There’s a fake vagina, an Asian one (I’ve got “yellow fever”) that I’ve got my eye on at the moment. Besides being a realistic Asian vagina, it also plays a catchy tune and takes your temperature.
“It’s a small world afterall, it’s a small world afterall….”
I WANT A KINDLE.
I don’t just read, I devour books. I want one soo badly. Hard to muster the desire to spend $359.00 right before X-mas. Did you know they offer over 200,000 books+Magazines+Newspapers+Blogs.
This is my current obsession.
Go play with an iPhone and see how long you remain disinterested. It is communication the way it was meant to be. And when you add in all of the cool apps, it is mighty indeed.
i want a new hockey stick. not electronic – but a customized composite bauer supreme that will require assembly, so i think it counts.
You can download just about any book from anywhere in the US in about 60 seconds, and be no where near a computer.
I have a Sony 20″ TV in my bedroom that I bought in 1988 or 1989.
It works well, though the remote is flaky.
I really should look at a HDTV for a replacement, especially since I have a new Direct TV satellite service featuring the HDTV DVR tuners.
But I just can’t muster the enthusiasm to go TV shopping.
Maybe after Christmas…..
The problem with the Kindle is that you have to turn it off for take off and landing, which is actually when I need to read on a flight the most.
I just bought an Xbox 360 for my son and I. I’m not so crass as to even pretend this is a Christmas present: I’ll use it more than him. Next up is a LCD TV, but I’m going to let the prices fall a bit more. An external hard drive would also be handy. I also need a new camera (mine was ruined in a canoeing accident while camping this summer), and the DSLRs just dropped below $500….
I’ve been mulling the idea of the USB turntable over in my mind for about a year: I have a lot of old late 70’s and early 80’s punk (Dead Kennedys, DOA, Stiff Little Fingers, etc.) on EP that I would love to convert to MP3, so I’ll give it some serious thought over the holidays.
An iPhone is such a piece of douchery. Glad you aren’t interested.
I’ve been obsessing on a printer that will do a nice job on CDs and DVDs. As I get most of my music through eMusic or Amazon downloads I miss having a cool CD for puttin up on the shelf and using in the car.
Got an Epson 280 and now, after burning a CD from the MP3 download I make it look good with a cool image of the artists.
Yeah…too much time on my hands…
I was all hyped about an iPhone until I bought one last night. I’m typing on it for this very post while sitting in the boss’ office waiting for him to get off the phone. Best money I’ve ever spent in the past week or so. It is pretty cool considering how inexpensive it is now.
Jeff, I got that same turntable at Costco for $71, it was the last one they had new in the box. I have started converting the vinyl I will never be able to find to mp3. Most are classical music, like Beethoven, Mozart Choplin, Dvorjk, etc. I want a Roomba. I afraid though that I will come home and Hairy Bella Fonte will have it in pieces or the cat will be riding on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ-jv8g1YVI
I’ve been considering a Blu-Ray disc player. We were planning a PS3 (with the Blu-Ray in it) but our 6 year old opted for a Nintendo DS instead. Grrrr!
Oh yeah, and a handgun.
Jason, your scaring me again and brother, that ain’t good…
The Ion USB turntable is well worth the money, Daddy-O!
Joe T – I have a Hercules Spy Pen .38 special. The coolest gun I will ever own, all 007 like. Well, maybe not next to my Glock 35…
An iPhone is douchery says the guy that wants to put pretty pictures on burned CDs/DVDs.
It’s okay, i love playing with stickers too!
The iPhone is a big ole steaming pile of fecal matter. Any phone that needs to be recharged after 5 hours of use is of no use to me – especially since it has no user replaceable battery. Might as well call it the iPieceofshit.
I’m kinda hankering for an old piece of technology – a VCR or something I can play my old fambly SVHS movies thru so I can get them to DVD before they start to disintegrate.
I’m also hankering for one of them new Internet radio things but something tells me it would go unused since I’ve always got my laptop within reach (so what if it gets kinda cumbersome at some restaurants).
we want (umm… need) so much stuff that I feel like we will never catch up. My job really should come with a blackberry, for instance. And I suspect we have the same tv. My husband wants a Blu-Ray.
Hell, we even need new cars over here!
It is pretty disheartening, frankly.
I’m kind of coveting a Kindle the book reader thing from Amazon. However I like to browse in barnes & Noble so I think it would be kind of useless. Want to talk some sense into me?
Back when Jeff was camera shopping someone here recommended a Panasonic Lumix compact camera with 10x optical zoom. I got a good deal on one at Costco earlier this year, and it is most excellent. So thank you, whoever you are!
I’m now jonesing for one of those tiny “netbook” laptops. Dell has one with Ubuntu and an 8″ screen that appeals to me. For a bit more money Costco has an HP model with XP and a 10″ screen. Decisions, decisions.
Jason, you made me spit coffee on my computer screen!
I was happy to see Funnel Pants again.
The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective…
YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS3….I want one. And I want that dang karaoke game to go with it. Played it at a party at a friends house….wet your pants with laughter good time.
and I want to play Rock Band….on any of the systems it now comes on.
and I want to Wii bowl.
I want one of those sewing machines that can do monograms all by itself…does that count?
I’ve been debating the iPhone for quite some time, there is one thing holding me back. The ability to view pics. If someone texts you a picture, you can’t just view it in the message like most phones, it’s a big old messy hassle. You have to click on some link that takes you online to look at it, and it’s automatically removed after 30 days. That means you cannot store the picture on your phone. That sucks.
LOL, I just about shit the headrest.
http://thewvsr.com/atthebank.htm
I am gadgetry goddess.
MIsselle- I loved my Blackberry, but as an “industry insider” I know a bit about the university market.
If you guys are on Groupwise I wouldn’t waste my time. Blackberry is really designed for outlook. Notes and Groupwise are also supported but the experience is not as good.
Also remember the that Blackberry is an electronic tether that you pay for. Or that your employer pays for. Either way, tether.
And I think Jeff needs a Kindle. Once the cost comes down I thini I’ll probably bite.
And we habe the BluRay player on the PC with a 40″ LCD monitor and it rocks. I’m going to watch Nacho Libre on it next, just arrived fresh from Netflix
Good2go: stick with the HP… I fired Dell from my life last year and haven’t looked back. And I used to work for Dell, they’ve just forgoten their qc and csr skills.
An external hard drive….for the super duper major backup that was supposed to take place two weeks ago but which was unfortunately put off until last night, right after the online shop where I bought my very LAST Christmas present decided to send a Christmas present of their own embedded in my confirmation e-mail. The blue screen of death, my friends, does not put one in the Christmas spirit.
My husband, computer extraordinaire that he is, was able to rescue my CPU from the abyss, but I’m officially yule fried and considering giving only McDonalds gift cards next year.
Jeff, I think that I have a solution for you. You need a KEGERATOR!!
It’s not exactly a gadget, but you can shop and obsess over it (trust me, been there). Better yet, once you do the deed and buy it, IT POURS BEER!! Oh, and you can constantly tweak and upgrade and read forums, etc.
That’s my prescription for your wintertime obsession blues. Buy one of these (http://www.micromatic.com/kegerator-cid-5.html) and call me in the morning.
You’re welcome.
our Jeff is finally growing up.
USB turntable? I did not know such a thing existed. What an excellent idea. Gotta have one. Now.
The only idea pending that requires money to be spent is paying off my gasoline credit card, which expanded to epic proportions during the last 6-7 months. Unfortunately, my incoming monies aren’t expanding enough to cover it.
Electronics don’t do it for me. Tools do. Most of which get used once every decade or so, but get me into the Craftsman department and I just know I can’t die until I have one of each.
Wowie Zowie! I just made a giant pot of chili (20 lbs of beef) with NO beans. And it is to die for. I recommend everyone have chili soon.
Oh, and if you buy a kindle today you can expect it to ship in about 3 months. WTF is the deal?
I’d like to know the dimensions on that pot please. I use a 2 gallon pot with 2.5 Lbs of beef and 16 ox of beans when I make chili.
I don’t know how many gallons the pot is. I took it off my turkey frier. I use 15 lbs of ground beef and 5 lbs of cubed sirloin.
LewInBama,
You can save pics from a message on an iPhone. Just touch the image for a few seconds until the option appears to save it. Love my iPhone!
Where in Bama are you located? I’f from Hsv but now in Tusc.
I put a big ole steak in my chili too. Can’t beat it!
Jason uses the hottub for his annual chilli extravaganza.