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I do something few people would consider doing: I commute up to 5 hours per day, 3 days a week, to work in Manhattan. I offset the horrible commute by telecom-muting 2 days (gotta love the 6 minute commute and working in pajamas), but the 5 hours can be tedious. To pass the time I carry a wide variety of toys and gadgets in my bag. I figured I’d start with the bags first. I have two that I use, and my primary is the Olympia backpack computer bag from Casual Gear. I picked this up on sale for $20 and it’s the best bag I’ve carried. It’s not fancy or made from Italian leather, but it holds a ton of stuff and is very comfortable to carry (I sometimes walk the mile from Grand Central Station to my office). The padded shoulder straps and computer area protect my back and my computer nicely.The second bag is made by Port and is also a backback, but it’s bigger and the design is a bit awkward to wear. I used to carry a relatively heavy Powerbook, but now I am partial to a very old 2lb HP Jornada handheld computer (I love the excellent keyboard, 11 hour battery life, and compact flash storage). I use it for writing, and in fact I’m writing this story on the Jornada. I still bring the Powerbook in from time to time, but since the train doesn’t offer wireless service, I can’t check my e-mail or surf the Web. I also carry a wireless network detector from www. Wifiseeker.com to find open network connections (I do not break into networks).
All work and no play is boring, so I sometime carry a small portable DVD player. It has a 5.8" screen, which is actually decent for watching movies. I will bring the Powerbook in to watch special movies since it has a 14" high-resolution screen. I used to carry a Rio MP3 player, but since I got the iPaq I’m thinking of giving the old 128mb MP3 player to my wife. I carry a decent pair of Sony headphones to listen to music or watch movies. In case I need to charge my cell phone, connect a computer to the Internet, or use a mouse I carry retractable cable products (www.Tiger Direct.com has a good selection of these cables). They save space and helped to eliminate the cable mess in my bag. I also carry a 128mb USB flash drive for backing up important documents—they are the new floppy disk. I also carry a few “personal” items like aspirin, Immodium, Sudafed, and even a few band-aids. I always have a bottle of water, several “Think Thin” bars (I’ve lost 40lbs and don’t want to gain it back), and some mints in my bag. I rarely leave the house without a book or a couple of magazines to read. An umbrella is strapped to the outside of my bag to guard help me deal with the unpredictable New England weather. I probably carry too much in my bag, but it’s worth it. I’m productive when I need to be, able to relax when I need to, and the bag even doubles as a pillow. What’s in your bag? The concept for this story is based on the “What’s in Your Gadget Bag” series on www.Gizmodo.com. |
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My
Palm IIIc finally died, so I replaced it with a HP iPaq 2215.
The iPaq took a bit of getting used to, since I was a “Palm
guy” for so long, but I’m starting to enjoy the Microsoft
Pocket PC 2003 way of doing things. It has usable copies of Word
and Excel, and also doubles as a MP3 player. The iPaq can accept
a wireless card, so that’s next on my list. I’d love
to be able to check my e-mail from anywhere I can get a wireless
connection, and the availability of free wireless is growing.