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Sometimes
size really does matter, but not in the way that you
may have been lead to believe. Sometimes the most
significant productivity enhancements amount to those
little improvements, those little touches, those uncomplicated,
elegant tools. Not the Swiss Army Knives, but
the Roto Zips. Not the Jacks of All Trades,
but the Masters of One. Those Simple Things Done Well.
I have three of them for you.
First, but not least, is the
CoolPad. The original CoolPad,
shown on the left (US$19.95), and mentioned
in Out
of Sync: Build Your Own PowerBook NadPad For
Less Than $10, is a sturdy little Lazy
Susan of a thing, designed to (1) be extremely
portable, (2) improve cooling efficiency of
your PowerBook by raising the back edge and
increasing airflow, (3) pivot, which makes it
easier to share the display for presentation
purposes, (4) make it much easier to
reach the PCMCIA slot and video, parallel and
serial ports, and (5) tilt the keyboard to a
more ergonomic angle to help protect your wrists.
The CoolPad Podium, shown on the right
(US$29.95), has the same goals as its little
brother, but (1) is wider, (2) with four points
of support instead of just two (a real bonus
for the PowerBook Titanium), and utilizes little
Lego-like pieces, which makes the tilt
angle (3) adjustable, and (4) even more so.
It is a slick piece of work.
I have used a CoolPad
from Day One, well, make that from Day Seven,
switching to a CoolPad Podium a couple
of months ago. While I have not noticed any
significant temperature drop (my PowerBook
always seems run at a balmy 147F/64C, regardless),
the ergonomic benefits outweigh all other
considerations. If you have a PowerBook, buy
one of the CoolPads, period.
I suggest spending the extra few dollars,
and going with the CoolPad Podium.
But, regardless of which CoolPad you
and your PowerBook choose, you will thank
me, and your wrists will thank you.
Second, but in no way mediocre,
are the PDA Panache Styli. This again
is like buying a shaver that is slightly improved
over your older model, but because you use
it every day, the little added conveniences
really pay off. Well, maybe it is more like
a better toothbrush.
The PDA Panache Stylus
that I have been using is the model P55 for
the Palm V/Vx (US$17.95). I have the chrome
model with the orange tip, third one over
on the image to the left (there is also a
chrome model with a black tip, not shown).
It is all metal, which gives it a nice heft
and feel, it is very easy on the screen, and
it is slightly curved in shape, which makes
it very easy on the fingers, opposable thumb
or not. After using this stylus for about
a month now, going back to my original stock
Vx stylus makes me feel like I am jabbing
at my Vx with a twig. Highly recommended.
The end of the P55 unscrews,
revealing a thin metal whisker, should you
ever need to hard reset your Vx. One minor
gripe that I had with the P55 is that the
end would keep coming loose during use. No
matter, I just wrapped the threads with some
Teflon plumbing tape. If you are like me,
you have about half a dozen tiny rolls of
the white, filmy stuff from all of those faucets
and shower heads that you have purchased over
the years. Problem solved.
And, last, but not lacking,
is the Kensington Flylight (US$19.95).
This handy little USB powered device utilizes
a white, 100,000-hour rated LED affixed to
a thin, flexible goose neck. From stem to
stern, i.e., from the business end of the
USB connector to the tip of the LED lens,
the Flylight is 19" in length. The
flexible neck itself is 15" long.
The Flylight is invaluable
in shedding a little light on the keyboard,
or in particular, on something that you are
trying to read. And the Flylight only
uses 90 seconds of the PowerBook's battery
power per hour of use, which is a fancy way
of saying 2.5%.
Unlike the way that the Flylight
is positioned in the image on the right, I
find it best to come over the top of my PowerBook,
and bounce the light off of the screen. This
gives me just enough light so that the keyboard
is clearly illuminated, minimizes the glare
from the finger grease, and does not leave
me feeling like I am making shadow puppets
while I work. If I want to read something,
I just flex the Flylight over to the
right.
What it comes down to is that
when you need to shed some light on the subject,
the Flylight it is an indespensible,
sturdy, and well-designed product that is
a pleasure to use.
Hey, got any more leads on some
simple, nifty, productivity enhancing gadgets?
Drop me a line. And remember: "Things
should be made as simple as possible, but
not any simpler." -- Albert Einstein
Sometimes
size really does matter, but not in the way that you
may have been lead to believe. Sometimes the most
significant productivity enhancements amount to those
little improvements, those little touches, those uncomplicated,
elegant tools. Not the Swiss Army Knives, but
the Roto Zips. Not the Jacks of All Trades,
but the Masters of One. Those Simple Things Done Well.
