Plugged in

I’ve been home since Tuesday. My bags are not unpacked. This and the fact my wife did the laundry before we left for home makes packing for my flight tomorrow a lot easier. It’s made it so easy that I haven’t started yet, unless you count putting the suitcase on the floor in front of me while I play with all my toys.

It’s the toys the brought me to the table tonight. I fear I may be 100% on Fonzie’s shoulders as he makes that fateful jump over the technology shark. Within just feet of me I have:

All of these things will be in my backpack as I depart for my nine-day work trip to the Caribbean. All of the items except the digital book reader are fully tested and vital to my travel survival. [This is not to mention the portable XM radio player that is a complete luxury and one of my new favorite toys.] The book reader was a holiday gift. At first, my neo-Luddite tendencies bristled at the idea of a book reader. Everybody likes the feel of a book in their hands, right?

Then I thought about it for about two seconds. I canceled my newspaper subscriptions about five years ago and have never missed holding an actual paper. I read 100% of my news online. What’s more, when I travel, the weight of my pack is always an issue. I generally carry two books for a week-long trip. If either or both of those books are hardback, that’s a lot of unnecessary weight. The digital book reader weighs nine ounces and is 6.9″ x 4.8″ x 0.3″. It’s easy to slip in my bag. If the specs are right, I can read 10-15 books on the thing on one battery charge. It also came with about 500 free books. The reader will get its first run on this week’s trip. I don’t think I’ll ever go completely digital in my reading, but I like the idea of being able to carry dozens of books with me wherever I go and have it weigh next to nothing.

There used to be a time I thought I not only could, but wanted to live without tons of technology. These days, I can’t imagine going a week without any of my toys.

Or, as the saying goes, I’m not selling out. I’m buying in.

Sue me.