After hearing about all the great high tech gadgets our local execs love (“Holiday shopping, executive style,” page 14), I decided to poll the Vancouver Business Journal staff and find out which electronics are near and dear to their hearts. The responses ran the gamut from the very geek-tech to hey-it-plugs-in-and-I-love-it.
Editorial Assistant Charity Thompson, possibly our tech-iest staffer, says she can’t live without her Sansa SanDisk MP3 player. I was surprised to find out she does not have an iPod, but she says, “I call it my ‘not-Pod’ and I’m not ashamed that I don’t have an iPod. This was much more affordable, and it does everything I want it to do.” She also loves her Canon Selphy photo printer, citing size and cuteness as selling points, and that it’s great for art projects. Would love to have: an automatic stapler.
Reporter Megan Patrick, who pretends to be very non-tech and computer-averse, loves her iPod. Why? “Music, TV, movies, photos and solitaire all in one! Plus, it tells me the time in most major international cities!” Would love to have: a 58-inch Samsung 1080p wireless flat-panel plasma HDTV with wall mounts.
Account Manager Alexander Stone refuses to live without his DVR recorder. With predictable logic, he tells us why: “So much TV, so little time.” Would love to have: an iPhone, but adds the he may go with the “Verizon knock-off LG Voyager. $100 less and not on the AT&T pseudo-network.”
Always practical, Account Manager Kris Small said that while he really can’t live without his phone, “realistically I would be happy if I never had to look at a phone again.” But, he says, “My Sirius satellite radio is the coolest gadget that I own.”
I’m going to print the rest of Kris’s response just to see if you will want a Sirius satellite radio as much I did when I finished reading it.
“I can listen to any type of music my mood desires. If we have friends coming over, I’ll put on commercial free satellite radio and groove to the music while I make appetizers and dinner. I’ll also flip on satellite radio when I’m tired of TV or when I want some background music while I read a book. The best part about this gadget is I can take it from my living room and put it in my car and cruise down the road – no interruptions, no dead-spots and no commercials!” Would love to have: a Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. (That’s a camera, folks.)
Account Manager Jane Cullinan can’t look at her cell phone enough. She says, “I carry it everywhere, even in the bathroom – it has become a part of me. I use it for work, personal and keeping track of my teenager.” Would love to have: She doesn’t say; apparently Jane has it all.
Publisher John McDonagh says that through the years, he has embraced “modern electrical gadgets,” and has never thought of himself as a technophobe. But this question – What is the one electronic gadget you cannot live without? – gives him philosophical pause. He says, “As someone born in the middle of the last century I have seen a host of high tech innovations hit the scene. For example I remember when high tech was color TV or a 950-watt Radar Range; not to mention when the home entertainment system came with a remote that controlled the TV, radio, stereo receiver, reel-to-reel, tape player and the turntable. But back to the one I can’t live without. I think that would have to be – wait for it – yes, it has to be the wireless router.”
John cites crowding at the family computer as the number one reason to “fire up the laptop and surf the ‘net anytime I want.” Would love to have: The handheld, diagnostic device used in the Star Trek television series.
Designer Stephanie Hardwick, not at all bound by the conventions of this gotta-have-it tech world, says the item she can’t live without is “My heater. (Substitute refrigerator in summer.)” Technically, a refrigerator is an appliance and not a gadget, but, hey, I couldn’t live with out mine either.
As for me, I just plain adore my computer. It’s big, fast and new. What’s not to love? Would love to have: an SLR digital camera (I don’t have the make and model all picked out like Kris) and a digital darkroom.
Some staffers didn’t divulge their deepest desires. They must think the holiday season is about giving or something…
Happy holidays from the VBJ!
