The only thing I’ve ever been an “early adopter” of was the New Beetle. That, of course, was because I hadn’t been an adopter at all of the Old Beetle, and always regretted it. I had ridden in them. I’d driven them. Id’ admired them. But I’d never owned one, which I always felt made me something of a lesser-order Baby Boomer. (As a car owner, I’ve been something of a Baby Boomer and American-love-affair-with-the-automobile failure. I was well into my thirties before I owned my first car – a 1981 rust bucket Civic – and have only had two cars since, including the aforementioned New Beetle. At present, I am car-less, and there is certainly a high probability that I will never own another car in my life. Here’s hoping, anyway.)
Early adopter of anything to do with technology? Not me! Second wave only… For tablets, well, the iPad’s on my to-do list, but I may have already missed the second wave – at least I feel that way when I get e-mails from some of the least techie of my friends that come with the signature “sent from my iPad.”
And I suppose I’m spending enough time fretting over whether my next laptop is a laptop or a super-tablet that looks as cool as a tablet but has all the nerd business functionality I need for my work to put me line to become a second-wave super-tablet adopter.
At any rate, I do enjoy taking a glance or two at the wares on display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. (This year’s edition was held last week in Las Vegas.)
Not that I have to worry about potty training, but does the world really need an iPad connected to a potty chair (or is it a potty 
chair connected to an iPad)? And not that I haven’t been known to read on the pot, but holding a book or a magazine seems to me at some remove than having a hands-on iPad experience with the same hands that, well…We’re talking little guys here. Little guys who, in fact, may not consider things like pee and poo gross when they come into contact with their little fingers.
And electronics, we are told, are complete germ carriers, that need to be regularly sanitized. I’ve never heard that about a book. So I'm not a huge proponent of electronics in the toilet-place. Can’t you just give your toddler a physical copy of One Fish, Two Fish or The Tawny, Scrawny Lion? Or just sit there with him and have a bonding and affirmation experience?
On the other end of the how-a-mouthful-becomes-a-dump spectrum, there’s the HapiFork, which promotes a healthier approach to eating for those who bolt their food. The HapiFork does so by vibrating if you don’t take at least 10 seconds between bites. As a gulp-and-go gal myself, I think I’d get used to a small vibration pretty darned quickly. This product would work better for most, I suspect, if it gave you an electric shock. Or if it whipped out of your hand and put the food back on your plate. Or said, out loud, “You’re eating like a pig.” In any case, that name HapiFork is something of a misnomer. HapiFork? Says who? A HapiFork wouldn’t be reminding me that I’m wolfing my food down…(Not to mention that the picture of the HapiFork shows the inventor eating raw veggies with it. Do you really need to slow your eating down if it’s carrot sticks and celery?)
This item,which looks like something designed for
a paraplegic, is the uChair, a reclining chair with half a keyboard in each of its armrests. As a carpal tunnel sufferer, this sure looks like it would help relieve wrist strain. On the other hand, it also looks like it might well cause brain strain. For those of us used to a keyboard of a certain size, how easy would it be to retrain your typing fingers so that, at such great remove, your left hand knew what your right hand was doing. With the footrest, you can take care of functions like carriage return. More brain strain. It reminds me of a one man band: foot pedal to thump the drum, harmonica on a brace around your head, using your hands to play the accordion. Too much going on… Plus it’s ugly. And weird. Carpal tunnel aside, I’ll take a pass.
For those who thought that watches were going the way of the spat and the puttee, there’s a new smart watch:
On the surface, the Pebble seems to be your standard smart timepiece. It syncs to phones, either Android or iOS, to display incoming messages and caller information. What sets this device apart, though, are its powerful and flexible software skills and stunning good looks. For instance you'll be able to configure the device via the cloud and have custom alerts pushed to the watch.
Let me get this straight: your smartphone now needs a companion device of its own, for when you don’t want to have to take it out of your pocket to check the time or your text messages. O-kay…
And girls, don’t let your husbands know that Samsung’s come out with a 110-inch TV screen that would do a multiplex theater proud.
What else was there out there?
Sorry. Need to know basis only.
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