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Since last week everyone with a keyboard has thrown in their two cents about Apple’s newest device, the (poorly named in my opinion) Apple iPad. A tablet computer built to be ‘better than an iPhone and better than a laptop.’

Many have called it a ‘jumbo iPod Touch’ and they’re not far off. Built on the iPhone OS, the iPad really does have some impressive features and what it represents is far more important than it’s current form.

I’m a geek. I know computers pretty well. I’ve fiddled with multiple operating systems, learned to dig through Explorer windows, folders, and libraries to find files, jumped through hoops and at times inflicted upon myself headaches unparalleled trying just make things work *and* look nice.

The iPad is not a tinkerer’s machine (unless [until] you can jailbreak it, then it’s another story.) It’s meant to be a easy, no nonsense way to write emails, check out videos, listen to your music, and browse the web for the Average Joe, who know nothing of command lines or even Start buttons (yes, they’re out there, I work with them.) Computer users who don’t know a program exists on their PC unless there’s a shortcut right on the desktop. There are big, clearly labeled buttons to explain what things do on the iPad, and when you open them, they open full-screen! No managing windows or minimizing or searching the taskbar, no setup required. I think there’s definitely a place for such a device in people’s lives. I think the iPad is going to be a huge hit with baby boomers. No more haranguing their children and grandchildren into teaching them to use a computer; it’ll just come naturally.

Recently I watched a clip on youtube where someone had cut up the keynote last week into just the adjectives. Simple. Easy. Beautiful. That’s what Apple envisions as the future of personal computing. I can’t say I disagree, so long as there’s still something around to tinker with, be it a PC, or an Android device. I’m looking forward very intently to the next iteration of the iPad, or a tablet device running Chrome OS or Android. Apple has made a bold move heading down this path, hopefully others will follow.

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I’m completely ripping off both Lifehacker and a buddy in writing this, but I’ve been meaning to write this up for a while anyway.  As a geek with a penchant for collecting assorted gadgetry, one finds that pockets alone can’t handle the sheer amount of technology I load myself up with, like a 21st-century packmule.  So here we go:

The Bag: The bag is an Urban Outfitters East-West Messenger bag.  I like it because it has several external pockets as well as a large interior.  A bit light on padding, but it’s not a huge loss.  Another dislike is it’s magnetic snap that closes the top flap of the bag.  Aside from that it’s a great-looking bag that’s well-made and should last a long time.

The Gear:

During long waits or trips, the workhorse known as the Nintendo DS has served me well.  It’s become a bit scratched from use, but that only adds a touch of character.  It’s loaded with an R4 card with copies of games I own but would fill the bag with if I carried them around all the time.

Next is another staunch companion, my old 5th Gen 60GB iPod Video.  I’ve had the poor guy for several years now and he’s seen his share of abuse, but thanks to an InvisibleShield he’s remained relatively unscathed. Loaded up with my entire music collection, it also serves as an emergency harddrive.

For the times when a quick note or scratch paper is needed, I’ve got a small notepad and a handful of Post-It notes, as well as a trio of Pilot G-2 pens in assorted colors.  They’re cheap but of a decent quality and write well.  Great for scribbling something down then uploading to Evernote.

As reviewed in a previous post, my portable computing device of choice is my Dell Mini 9. Thought it’s no longer available at Dell’s site this compact, light, and fully capable netbook is great accessory. This little guy is always in my bag, ready to go at a moment’s notice.   Also included is my portable Logitech mouse.  Small but not tiny, it’s great for longer periods of browsing when keyboard shortcuts and GNOME-DO won’t cut it. To protect ‘My First Laptop’ I’ve got a soft slipcase from Kroo, as well as a larger case from MUJI to hold accessories.

One such accessory is my Seagate FreeAgent 160GB USB-powered portable harddrive.  Useful for holding onto music and video that I don’t want cluttering up the onboard HD of my Mini 9, it fits great into the MUJI case.  Included on the drive is the fantastic PortableApps suite, with a number of handy programs that can be run straight from the drive, including Firefox, Pidgin, VLC, and many others.

Finally, I have a variety of Moleskine notebooks tucked away in an interior pocket.  The largest is for doodles and long-form writing, while the smaller pocket notebook is for jotting down information or ideas. After a bit of hackery on my part it includes some Post-It Note Flags and Notes so I can bookmark specific pages if need-be, with everything held together with a binder clip. The last notebook is an old planner that I’ve hollowed out to hide my Shure earbuds, a spare SD card, some aspirin, and anything else I might need to squirrel away out of sight.

Not pictured of course is my latest aquisition, an iPhone 3GS.  Very happy with it.  If you can afford it, it’s the best smartphone experience I’ve ever had.

In the future I’d like to add a Leatherman multi-tool of some sort.

I’ve decided to start this site for a few reasons.

• I wanted to finally snag my own domain
• I’m finding that LiveJournal really doesn’t do it for me
• I want to play around with some web dev stuff
• All the cool kids have their own website

So this is where I’ll be posting most of the time now.  I’ve been writing more often with actual content, rather than my old “oh woe is me” rants on LiveJournal.  Here’s where I’ll be throwing up photos, rants, commentary on news and entertainment, with a healthy sprinkling of puns throughout.

Some things may wind up being double-posted to both ToC and my LiveJournal, as I know some folks solely follow my goings-on through it.

Enjoy.