What's in Your Gadget Bag, Cory?

Cory Doctorow has taken a two-second break from his road warrior ways to pen this description of the crud he lugs around. Read it and weep, wanna-bes.

Unlocked phones

[LostCluster]

Is there anybody anywhere in North America selling a GSM phone that isn't locked to a provider? You'd think that true road warriors would want to either chip-swap or have multiple chips and enough brains to suggest which network to make a call on, or could be told by the user which one to use in software...

This will prolly get me flamed, but uhm...

[Dark Lord Seth]

... Who the hell is Cory Doctorow and why would we care?

Re:CmdrTaco

[anethema]

HAHA thats pretty funny.

They say it hasnt really taken off yet.

I would say thats pretty untrue considering there is an effect named after them of a site beeing taken down by a sheer number of click-throughs.

I would consider than popular enough.

Re:CmdrTaco

[FreakyGeeky]

That c|net article says, "He called the site Slashdot, and while it hasn't really taken off yet (maybe that's why you haven't heard of it,) we wish Rob the best of luck with his little project in the future."

Is that a joke, or is my opinion biased?

why should i weep?

[didjit]

i don't understand what's to be upset about. he has normal geek stuff that most /.'ers own. I probably make way less than him, but I have a laptop, bag, digital camera, wireless router, and cell phone. and while i've yet to buy the ipod, i have had multitools and pda's in the past. i clicked the link expected crazy stuff. there's no gps. no plasma tv's. no rackmount servers. its cool to see what's in his bag and cmdr taco's but ... its not like i should 'read and weep.'

Re:i'm a karma whore - for when it's ./ed

[Docrates]

You are, of course, a Troll.

1- The poster posted the article as an AC

2- the slide IS slashdotted so I got to read it thanks to him. So will everybody else on slashdot for the last few hours.

Re:Newton revisited

[cft_128]

When traveling cables are always needed. Every device needs a cable to charge (try as he might Tesla didn't quite perfect wireless power transmission) and some hotels broadband is either 100BT or (gads) 56k dialup.

what is wrong with current PDAs though? Modern Palms, Zaruses (any ideas on the plural of the Zarus?) and PocketPCs are not as elegant as a newton but have quite the range of functionality now. I know for the PocketPC there is VoIP software, web serving software, photoediting software and many of them have built cameras, dual wireless, not to mention music and movie playback.

Re:I challenge you to a gear fight

[betelgeuse-4]

"Does it make sense to put an MP3 player in a phone or pda, if you are limited to 256 MB of music?"

I have a Sony PDA with a 256Mb Memory Stick full of MP3s. That's about 2 hours with excellent sound reproduction. Every night the MS goes into a reader and half the songs are replaced by other ones from my HDD by a bash script (the first half consists of my favourites). Since I only listen to 1-2 hours of music a day, I have as much variety as I would have with a 40Gb iPod. This way I only have to carry around one little box that can play music and games but also do useful things like definite integration (and it cost less than an iPod).

Re:why should i weep?

[C10H14N2]

I was a bit underwhelmed as well. I carry around a laptop, digicam, PDA/Phone (with PalmOS SSH and S/KEY), WiFi router, subnotebook etc. etc. etc. When travelling on business I carry at least as much shit as mentioned in this article, except for the iPod because I have zero interest, but I do have a 6GB handheld drive I use with the camera, so basically the same thing. In short, Big Fat Hairy Fscking Deal.

Re:I carry wallet and keys. That's it.

[kryocore]

Does this make me less of a person in the eyes of /.?

Not at all, I hate carrying around tons of stuff. I think all those gadgets are cool, but they're expensive too. What would you rather have, a new laptop or a down payment on a house? I chose the house.

I had an IBM laptop once when I worked for IBM, it was cool to have, especially as a portable game server or extra client for the occasional LAN party, but it was paid for by the company and as much as I'd like a new T40, I'd rather spend the $4000(cause I'd deck it out) on a new fireplace insert(my wife calls me a pyro) and pay off student loans.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:CmdrTaco

[SuperJames_74]

Um... hell-ooo? It's called *sarcasm*...

Re:CmdrTaco

[Danny Rathjens]

It's a joke. You can tell because he over-emphasizes that the site is small by saying it in 3 different ways.

I find that those types of jokes where you simply say something not true in a believable way are quite often difficult to get. I think because we coders tend to take things too literally, :)

A reality check

[sakusha]

It's times like this when I recall the old TV show "Connections" by James Burke. He said he liked to challenge people to empty their pockets or purse and try to find one object that wasn't mass-produced. Keys, coins, paper, pens, money, etc, it's all mass produced. I've tried this on dozens of people, and only one person had a single non-manufactured object, my sister had a fossilized shark's tooth she carried as a lucky charm. Everybody carries around nothing but manufactured crap. It's all instantly replaceable garbage, nothing of any intrinsic value. If you were stripped naked, you could replace all of it without difficulty, if you had some cash to buy new crap. Is that how you want to live, with a disposable lifestyle? Even worse, do you want to live a craphound lifestyle, reveling in consumerist crap like Cory does?

A reality check for you too

[gad_zuki!]

> Is that how you want to live, with a disposable lifestyle?

Wait, so the only "real" "non-consumerist" you found was a credulous superstitious person who carries a lucky charm? Yeah, believing in fantasy, what a wondeful saving grace. Maybe next time you'll find someone with an "real piece of the original cross."

> Is that how you want to live, with a disposable lifestyle?

Nothing like an english speaking westerner with a computer and an internet connection telling us to go back to the woods. Its called hypocrisy. You happen to be using a large "disposable consumerist gadget" yourself.

>If you were stripped naked, you could replace all of it without difficulty, if you had some cash to buy new crap.

So if there was a fire in my apartment its good to know I can get back to my business, my lifestyle, etc with minimal effort. Heck, these evil "consumerist goods" are compatible with my off-site backups! Comrade you have truly awakened me!

>Even worse, do you want to live a craphound lifestyle, reveling in consumerist crap like Cory does?

Craphounds look for junk with no resale value like a clock found in the garbage that has a 1950's pinup girl painted on it. (its called ironic appreciation) Going to the local thriftsore or garbage-bin to collect 'crap' is the polar opposite of consumerism.

digital things are unique

[gad_zuki!]

> speaking as a multilingual buddhist

Yeah, its fairly obvious you're some religious view.

>Filling your pockets with crap will not reduce the emptiness in your life.

What emptiness? Don't try to be play "everyone's shrink." Thanks.

Now, if I pull out a USB drive from my pocket and it has all my writings on it and my art then guess what - it is exquisitely unique. But from the ignorate macro level, to you, its just another gadget.

If I pull out a mass-produced camera full of data which when rendered are photos of all my loved ones then its unqiue and important to me. But to you, its just an consumerist addiction and I'm a gadget buying fool.

I seriously suggest you stop and think about what you're complaining about and realize that good things come in "Evil consumerist packages."

Finally, little grasshopper, what if my USB keychain had a photo of a cool shark's tooth I saw on the beach, but didn't want to take for my own moral reasons. I would think that someone who did that would be much more respectful of nature than your (as you define it) "craphound" sister.

Re:Only two things needed...

[bm_luethke]

A "real" geek would use kroil [eastwoodco.com]

This is the greatest lubricating oil ever made (well, at least industrial lubrication like WD40 that is).

I'm actually being serious here on the greatness of it (along with the bit of humor). We use it on almost any metal-to-metal moving parts we own. From guns to the inkjet plotter. It beats 3-in-one oil, WD40, REMOIL, anything we have ever used. I have literally had rusted bolts that with wd40 or remoil I could not remove with a torque-wrench and the kroil allowed removal with *finger* pressure - no exageration. Purchase some now - you will NOT be disappointed.

Duct tape, OTOH, has no equal :)

Road warrior vs. bandits

[cruel_elevator]

If you have $4K worth of equipment on you and you walk into a shady neighborhood, you are asking for serious trouble. If you have very good insurance or you're an affluent geek, then this should be a non-issue. For the budget-conscious / paranoid geek, it is a big deal. If you're heading off to a country where crime rates are high, you might consider leaving your precious gear at home.

Here are a few ideas that could save your valuable gear and data.

1. When stepping out of your secure environment (hotel, office whatever) empty your pockets and wallet. Carry enough cash to get around and back comfortably, but leave credit cards, important papers and other stuff at home. If your "lucky charm" is a $2.5K De Beers diamond pendant, leave it home. Trust me, you'll feel lucky. Take off that tacky Rolex as well.

2. All the data you need to carry can be stored in CD-Rs. If you're going on an installation / demonstration, you'll definitely get a computer on site. Live CDs help too. Alternatively, have all the necessary data on your website. If security is an issue, use encryption. I think most places have computers these days, so no use carrying your own.

3. Long travel time? Get a paperback. Losing a $5 paperback vs. $250 ipod - do the math. I've noticed that it can be hard finishing a paperback in a busy 1 week road trip because too many things come up. Besides, I don't see why anyone needs to have their lifetime's music collection with them in a trip.

4. Digital camera - what's wrong with film? Scanned film from an Olympus Stylus Epic (~$85) can beat the quality of any $800 digital camera. Batteries go for a long time, and you won't worry about cables, chargers, NiMH batteries and memory space. You can buy film and batteries in most places.

5. Phone - Any cheap-o GSM phone will do. Just buy a "SIM card" from a local provider. Skip SMS and stick with email. Internet cafes can be found in most areas. I'm assuming you'd be heading out of the USA, so finding GSM would be easy.

In summary, travel light, keep gadget count to a minimum, and ensure the safety of your precious gear and data. If you're facing the wrong end of a gun, losing a paperback, few CD-Rs, and $200 worth of gear is an experience you can live with. $4K? That would hurt.

Of course, if you are a high profile geek who *needs* to have $4K worth of gear wherever you go, you could probably afford a bodyguard in hostile environments.

C.E.