Failure To Land

I love gadgets as much as anyone. So much so that I can honestly say I love cell phones these days for everything but the actual phone feature. And the fact that electronic devices are getting smaller and smaller means it’s getting increasingly easy to take all my gadgets with me wherever I go and never have to go through withdrawl from my music, email, photo taking, movies, etc.

Only problem: while the devices have shrunk, the cables stay the same size, and it’s coming to the point that the mass of cables can easily be larger than the portable electronics themselves. Because of this, and my obsession with pushing the envelope of packing light, I’ve had to re-think my approach to powering and connecting all my gadgets.

The ability to both access and power devices off of a USB cable has been a godsend for me. It basically lets me cut the amount of cables I have to tote around in half. With the above cables, I can charge my iPod, my phone, my TomTom GPS, or my PSP from a computer, a wall jack, or a car outlet, as well as transfer data to and from them via a computer.

If I’m going to be gone a while, I’ll probably want to upload or transfer some photos, possibly even burn some to a CD to give to someone. This multi-card reader and micro-SD adapter pretty much gives me full access to any of the memory cards I might need to access, either my own or someone else’s.

For traveling overseas, this little beauty from Targus kicks ass. Regardless of where I go or where I got my gear, it can adapt any plug into any other plug, even if they have ground pins.

And all said and done, it all fits in a sealable sandwich bag. It’s not very pretty and has limited durability, but security can see inside (they do love their clear plastic bags), it keeps the stuff dry and organized, and it’s easily replaceable. Add my camera battery charger and an audio cable for connecting my iPod to a car stereo, and I’ve got everything I need to keep my stuff charged and usable. Best part is, none of these items are very expensive; you can expect to pay at most $50-60 for the lot.

Filed under: Activities | Tagged: cables, gadgets, packing |