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How much technology do you need?

© Lise Hogan

Most of us have a wish/want list. Mine is not a very LONG list, but it is a very pricey one. I'd love to have the latest Palm PDA, complete with some add-on software, or maybe the latest Compaq i-paq handheld computer. I'd like a photo printer that will print photos as large as 13" x 19", Hewlett Packard has one I have been absolutely DROOLING over for more than a year. I think my photography is worth a photo printer that size. I'd like a new digital camera - Minolta Dimage 7 that take 5.2 Million pixel (ultra sharp 2, 658 x 1, 970 resolution) photos. I think my photography is worth this kind of camera also. Digital saves on film developing, but up until now digital could not achieve the kind of quality attained by film in a 35mm camera. We won't even compare digital to larger format cameras. A new compact TV for my bedroom with built in VCR and DVD player that can plug into a cigarette light to play in the car.

I'd also like a fully loaded laptop complete with an obscene amount of RAM, the largest hard drive a laptop can hold, a huge screen with a micro processor that has no trouble running 24 bit truecolor, Ethernet card AND modem that plays DVD movies and doesn't WEIGH a TON since I do take my laptop with me when I travel. This way I can access the Internet either by phone line or high-speed access. This would also eliminate the need for a DVD player. Wireless Internet access would be nice too.

Notice a theme here? The list is not long list since it's only got five things on it.
1. Some kind of cool PDA
2. A photo printer
3. A digital camera
4. A TV/VCR/DVD combo
5. A Laptop

You could write that out on a cocktail napkin. I would not, however, even try to figure out how much all of this would cost me. It would somehow make that list look bigger than it is. I can't afford ANY of it right now, so why bother? It would just burst my bubble anyway The question I have to ask myself is how much do I really need and why would I want to go for all the bells and whistles?

In reality - a midsize PDA would be good to start. A photo printer as big as the one I want can wait. So can the TV/VCR/DVD combo. It would be nice to have them, but their usfulness and need is limited.

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